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Published: October 20th 2014
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We rose early and had breakfast at the alburgue. The walk ahead was largely along minor roads with a concrete barrier between us and the traffic. It was pretty quiet and on the left side was forest and the Rio Pereje, a rapid river which accompanied us all the way to Herrerias, so we were well compensated for following the road by the aromatic scent of the moist morning forest. We passed through a number of small villages, Pereje being the first. We called in at the bar for our first coffee of the day and the walls were adorned with stuffed animals and small agricultural implements from yesteryear. The road out of this village took us back to the larger road and again we followed the river through three more villages until we reached Herrerias.
The forest had a very strong smell of pepper from fennel growing along the road and wild mint popped up at different stages to change the tone. At one stage I casually leant over to pick some mint only to find I had a handful of stinging nettles. Nice one! Chestnuts were everywhere on our path and often you would see locals out with
buckets collecting these tasty morsels for themselves.
Counting down the last couple of kilometres becomes tedious because it always seems to take longer to walk them than you had hoped. As we entered the last part of the day, Herrerias came into view and it was like a fairy tale come to life. You looked down on lush green fields with a small river meandering through, and cows with bells on their collars were grazing, in tune, in the fields. The little village sat as the backdrop of all this and it really was inviting.
We found our alburgue quickly, settled into a room for three, showered and set off to explore the town. We arranged to have our meals there as it was vegetarian and most meals we were eating were meat and bread overload with very few vegetables.
On the way to Herrerias we noticed a sign advertising the opportunity to go the 8 kms up the mountain in the morning on horseback. When looking around Herrerias I made some inquiries and booked the horses for the morning trip to O cebrerio . Some of the purists on this journey may not agree, but it
Local wild cat.
These are not a tabby but rather a breed of wild cat. thought it was to good an opportunity to pass up on. It was not expensive and the horses follow the same route as other pilgrims. Can't wait!
Dinner that night was soup, homus on bread and a lovely fresh vegetable and fruit salad. It was capped off with a delicious custard tart with a sauce drizzled over it. Red wine and water are staples at any spanish meal. The company was fun with two American sisters who were doing the Camino before volunteering on a farm in Spain. There was also the Spanish equivalent of Billy Connelly with the same beard as well. He gave us funny insights into Spanish culture and came from the Basque Country up north. We went to bed at about 9.30 excited about our ride tomorrow. I've already decided Sue's horse is Dobbin, Tim's Mr Ed, while I will be astride Silver. Tomorrow will tell.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Beauty
We love going in churches when we travel. The architecture is simplistic and lovely.