I have now been on the Camino for three full weeks, and have covered over 400 km, with about 150 to go.  That should take me no more than 6 days to complete.  The end is near.

In the week since I last wrote I have moved from the flat lands of Castilla y León into the mountains of Galicia.  That's quite a shift.  Starting two days ago the predominant movement is uphill.  Today, for instance, I climbed steadily from 770 m above sea level to 1355 m asl.  This was a 22 km day, with at least 18 of those uphill.  I find that very demanding.  Unlike several of my travelling companions I prefer the downhills; they're much easier on my legs.

The consistent element of this experience has been the all-encompassing sense of God's loving care for me.  It manifests itself in so many different ways.  From the yellow arrows that mark the way that always seem to show up just at the moment when I am beginning to doubt if I'm going in the right direction.  To the various people who seem to pop up just at the right moment to prevent me from going astray, or to offer assistance.  

Today, as an example, as I was beginning a strenuous 4 km up to O Cebreiro, a woman stopped her car and offered me a ride. Now I learned early in this experience never to refuse a spontaneous, unsollicited offer of help.  So I gladly accepted.  It compensated perfectly for the fact that I had  just walked 4 km further than I needed to because I chose to follow the highway rather than the pilgrim path.

Another of the constants is the experience of making new friends.  Relationships on the Camino form quickly, but often don't last long, maybe a few hours, or exceptionally a few days.  But they become very strong relationships in a very short time.  Today, again, I came across people I had last seen two weeks ago.  It was like we had known each other all our lives.  

In the meantime, there are people whom I have seen every day for the past week, stopping in the same albergues, meeting in cafés, etc. It is a genuine blessing to share this experience with so many interesting and wonderful people from all over the world.  Happily I speak enough languages that I can usually find one that will work.  But today I kept bumping into a man who speaks only German.  He insisted on delivering long speeches of which I understood only one word… a bad word at that!

So the end approaches and I am happy for that.  But to get there I will have to traverse another mountain range.  So keep praying because I need the strength.