It poured last night. But when we left in the morning all that was left was a little light rain that was intermittent all day. There was some mud on the trails but mostly were were on rural roads to we didn’t have a problem with the ground.  Mostly the rain wasn’t enough to soak us, but our jackets were quite wet and so were our hats until after lunch. Then it began to clear and although we never really saw blue sky, the clouds lifted and the rain became just a few sprinkles.

We had three things for this day –
First, after this day we only had 16 km for the day we entered Santiago, so were going to spend the night in Lestedo.
Second, the maps showed a 1000 ft decent to the river at Ponte Ulla then an equal amount of vertical climbing out the other side. This wasn’t as bad as other hills and we had out climbing legs by now anyway.
Third, knowing about the rain and the decent and climb out I sent our packs ahead. We really were tired from the last few days and the made it easier for us.

After about two hours of walking the rain became heavier.   And the ground became muddier.   We caught up with a group from the U.K.  They were mostly aged 60s + and were in clusters.  I guess in total maybe about 15-20 people.  None of them had packs. One group appeared to be part of a tour and were talking with what looked like a taxi driver when we walked past them.  We think the heavier rain resulted in that group calling the tour operator to pick them up due to the rain. Discretion is the better part of valor or maybe in their case health. The second group was about 8-10 in total, with two chase cars and maybe 6 or 8 walkers.

We didn’t see the cars until later, but we guessed all this because about 11:30, as we approached a bar (a welcome event – the first break since leaving Banderia and a nice escape from the rain) two members of the group approached the same door to the bar from around the corner about a minute before we got there.  They quickly laid claim to the two empty tables and about 10 chairs.  They had rain gear on but were dry so they couldn’t have been walking very far.

We sat at the bar and ordered lunch (coffee, ham, cheese and bread).  Within 10 minutes the group of U. K. walkers we had just past, entered and joined the two who had arranged the chairs.  As soon as we all had some refreshment were were a chatty group.

The rain finally lessened about the time we were ready to move on so we said good bye and headed out before they did.

Within a 5 KM we had completed the decent to river and crossed over at Ponte Ulla.   On the other side  of the bridge we saw 4 of the people from the bar.  They had driven to Ponte Ulla in their cars and they were waiting for the rest of their group.  We exchanged hellos and we all questioned why the Galicia tourist office was not open.  Then we were on our way up the hill to our hotel.  We never did see then again but it was a nice validation to see people on any Camino at any age.

The climb out of Ponte Ulla was on partially paved and/or dirt road, but not mud.  The rain had mostly stopped and we were walking through a fairly dense forest.  Quite peaceful.

Once we passed the Albergue in Outeiro and made a couple of turns we reached our Casa Rustica for the night.

We stayed at Casa do Casal. The rooms were sort of expensive but the hotel was really nice – good rooms with updated accommodations. The hostess (Patricia and her year old daughter Sara) were really welcoming and made us feel so welcome. They had a large sitting room on the second floor with over stuffed chairs that looked out over the valley. We were offered a glass of (exceptionally good) wine and then a bowl of popcorn. Our hostess asked if we wanted dinner and told us she would cook whatever we wanted. We asked for some local specialty and she made us a fresh salad from the garden and croquettes.