Ponferrada to Ferreira

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Geo: 42.5999, -5.57175

I'm way behind in posting to this blog. As you might know if you've seen my Facebook post, we're already in Santiago. I spent a couple of days sick with some stomach stuff last week and fell behind. But I wanted to get this much out before it got too long.

Tuesday, June 7. Ponferrada, Day 2. Having a rest day in Ponferrada. We got caught up on sleep, rest and my last blog entry. But t seems like my rest days involve too much work, and the internet connection was not the best. I spent a lot of time waiting, waiting…. The highlight of the day – ketchup! I don't think I've mentioned that French fries come with everything – even fried eggs. Every "pilgrim meal." But never any ketchup; no salt on them either usually. Charlie ordered a hamburger for lunch and the owner brought a bottle of ketchup to go with it. So then I had to order some French fries. And they were made from scratch. So good. Then back to work. I worked on the blog, and Charlie went to a laundromat to wash clothes since the place we were staying had no laundry setup. The owner was from the US – New Hampshire, had Portuguese parents and was opening a chain of laundromats in Spain. Sadly, we did not have time to go back and tour the Templar Castle.

Wednesday, June 8. Ponferrada to Cacabelos. We left Ponferrada, walking through tree-lined suburbs and a series of small towns. We marveled at all the large gardens we passed, and, being gardeners ourselves, had to stop and check out what was growing. People seem to own or rent large plots out in the country, and we passed many out working them. There are all kinds of flowers in bloom, many I can't identify and lots and lots of roses. Every house has them. We overslept this morning and wound up in the afternoon laboring in the hot sun (mid-80s), with a little too much road walking. We're back in wine country again. 15 kms today, air conditioning (!) at the hotel and a tub to soak my tired bones in.

Thursday, June 9 to Trabadelo. We had a great breakfast buffet this morning (included) of Spanish cold cuts, cheese, hard boiled eggs, cereal and the usual toast and coffee, so we got a late start. The scenery's starting to change – lots of rolling hills and vineyards. Also cherry trees everywhere. Another hot day – mid 80s. We took an alternate route again today – much nicer than the road, but it added a couple of kms. We're staying at a “gastropub” with 3 rooms upstairs. The food was really good (salmon!), but took a lot of time. Charlie had “burritos,” Sort of. Tomorrow we start the climb to O Cebreiro – the last big climb of the Camino, which also means a long and steep downhill walk the following day. It's the walking downhill that always wears me out.

Friday, June 10 to Laguna de Castilla. We have a break from the heat for the next several days, thankfully. Most of the day we've been walking along a river, also along a small road with not a lot of traffic. Not too far off is a super highway, which would be noisy if the river rushing by weren't so loud. We passed through several small villages before starting our climb towards O Cebreiro. It was pretty strenuous, but manageable. I was surprised I didn't have any trouble with my feet, just a little knee soreness near the end. We're stopping about 3 kms. short of that, saving the final climb until the morning.


Saturday, June 11 to Biduedo (not on most maps). The climb to O Cebreiro was not as bad as I expected, and the view from the top was incredible. We've moved into Galicia now (the last province we'll go through). The locals speak Gallego, which is closely related to Portuguese. Staying in a nice old place, but with stone walls. They look beautiful, but they sure make the room feel cold.

Sunday, June 12 to Samos. A nice cool day walking down the mountain through a forest and next to a stream most of the way. We took the alternate route to Samos, which is famous for its Benedictine monastery founded in the 6th century. Getting closer to Samos, we decided to walk along the highway instead of the rocky trail, and we soon regretted our decision, as the road shoulders were narrow and there were lots of cars zooming by. We thought we were the only ones foolish enough to take the highway and had stopped to rest at a bus stop when a very upset young Korean girl came by and joined us. She had heard fireworks going off (some celebration) and thought it was gunfire. We had her walk with us - looking for where the regular Camino path crossed the road and turned to Samos. So I guess it was providence that we were able to help her.

We got in early enough to tour the monastery, then stayed for vespers sung by the monks, a Mass and lovely pilgrim blessing. We stayed at a brand new albergue run by Ashley, an very nice American who just opened it on June 1. At 5:00 there was a wine and cheese get together to relax and chat with the others. Nice touch.

Monday, June 13th to San Mamede do Camino. We took Ashey's advice to avoid walking along the highway today (even though easier) and to take the regular Camino route. She said it would be our last chance to walk alone before “the masses” descend upon us at Sarria – more about that later. It was indeed a beautiful walk through forests (the most forested we've seenn so far) and small hardly-populated towns (with, sadly, no bars for café con leche). We had intended to walk to Sarria but wound up in a nice fairly new albergue a couple of miles before it. It's a traditional albergue, with bunks and a couple of private rooms, but not at all looking like one – laid out like a motel, with a covered patio in front of the rooms and a big front yard with deck chairs, hammocks, and lots of flowering plants. We had a private room, but overheard the girls in the next room (bunkbeds) squeal with delight when they learned there was a hairdryer in the room. A good communal vegetarian dinner and an interesting conversation with a man who had walked all the way from Holland.

Tuesday, June 14th to Ferreira. We may now be less than 100 kms. from Santiago de Compostella – not sure. It seems that Galicia has installed new pylons every approximately ½ kilometer that differ from the old ones listed in the guidebooks. We walked through Sarria – the traditional starting point for those peregrinos who for whatever reason choose to only walk the last 100 kms. to Santiago (time, health, ease). For those of you unfamiliar, you must walk (or ride a horse) the final 100 kms. (or 200 for cyclists) in order to receive a “Compostella” at the Pilgrim's Office in Santiago showing you have done so. This document is quite nice – it's written in Latin and personalized with your name – suitable for framing. So lots of people choose to walk just the last 100 kms. and they can receive the Compostella the same as those who have walked 800 kms. Thus, “the masses” referred to earlier who are often looked down on by Camino purists. Well, we didn't see any masses today, but maybe because we had started in San Mamede do Camino and didn't get to Sarria until 9:00-ish. In fact, we spent lots of time alone on the trail today, lots of ups and downs through the countryside, through several small villages, often no more than a couple of houses and cow barns. We're staying in one of those small villages – another new albergue with an ultra-modern look – almost out of place here. A little rain today -75%!c(MISSING)hance tomorrow.

Will update soon about our walk into Santiago.

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Comments

[Raul A. Gonzalez]

Thank you; more beautiful memories came alive for me. We stayed two nights at the monastery in Somos. Delighted that you are now in Santiago. Congratulations and cheers!