20 km to go

Hi Everyone, we appreciate all the emails, sms and phonecalls checking to make sure we´re ok....sorry haven´t posted on the blog for a few days, a week?, perhaps longer. we´ve been walking and walking and walking on the Camino and tomorrow we reach Santiago de Compostela. it is incredible that we have almost reached our destination. the last two days were hard, 26 and 28 kilometres respectively in heat, ´muy calor´, the locals would say as we passed them. Very hot. We were on the road for around 12 hours, Rosa and Luna are now famous for their stamina and smiles in the evening after such long days. After Astorga (perhaps my last post?) we found our amorphous caravan of pilgrims, the people who are on the same path at about the same speed. we catch them here and there, have a coffee, swap notes about places to stay and body pains and perhaps share a dormitory with in the evening. the girls love walking with other people, especially Rosa Chat-a-long, and the kilometres do tick over more quickly if you are in conversation, connecting and learning about other people and places.
Our fellow travellers include Canadians, Brazilians, Danish, Korean, Italians, Spanish and...Australians: Emily and Brian, 20 something backpackers from Tasmania who we´ve been crossing for the last ten days and today we met three people from Narooma who are taking a marionette called ´Flem´on a tour of Europe. have to check Flem´´s blog.

I´m sitting in an Albergue in ARCA, people are shouting at some cyclists going by. Everyone is relaxed because we only had 20 kilometres today and we have 20 tomorrow. The girls and I have a private room - pink - tonight so we can set our alarm in the morning. After been woken up by a Kraftwerk synthesis of an ambulance siren next to my head at Rabanal del Camino in the mountains because some guy wouldn´t wake up to turn it off, I fastidiously avoid setting my own alarm. Luna wants to leave at 6 so we get into town early with everyone else.

Will try to post again later. have to get to the pharmacy before it closes because the heat brought on the blisters for most of us and I need to get a sterile needle.

oh yes, i did a rough calculation - about 428 kms since we left St Jean Pied de Port.
hasta luego and love, Josephine, Luna y Rosa