Have lost our card reader to upload pics, so apologies for the text only updates! Will hopefully get one in a couple of days so please have a look again then to see them then.
Off to bed now in the smelly prison like place that is our dwelling tonight...
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Portomarin to Palas do Rei 26km
Another day of downpours.. all day rain. Didnt take any breaks as it was too cold to stand still.. kept going mostly on roads to the ´fabulous´ town of Palas do Rei where the hostal has won our award for most revolting on the whole camino..
Huge excitement to now be 65km from Santiago.. cannot believe we have made over 700km on foot, a lot of people cheating and we havent skipped one metre!
Huge excitement to now be 65km from Santiago.. cannot believe we have made over 700km on foot, a lot of people cheating and we havent skipped one metre!
Calvor to Portomarin 28km
Oh rain rain rain. What fun. Pretty much all day was downpurs but it was a very nice rural walk, no roads or villages to be seen, other than passing through a town of Sarria early in the day.A lot of muddy wet tracks, hard walking but quite relaxing after the mountains.
Isabel still facinated by the jet black slugs that are all over the tracks on wet days... quite endearing really!
Feet feeling very blistered arriving into Portomarin the hostel was found and a nice restuarant to sit in for the evening. Isabel purchased a souvenir t shirt to later find she had bought size: Age 12-15, oh well, it will do as a replacement for the lost pj´s!
O Cebreiro to Calvor 42km
What a day. We dont even know how to start explaining this....Leaving the mountain top in thick thick mist we set off down the far side, steeply decending (our most hated aspect of walking) through small villages to the bottom 20km later, arriving in a revolting spot called Triacastela.
Along the way we bumped into Danny from California who we hadnt seen since day 1, having no money he is content sleeping in churches and eating grass.. properly roughing it this one is!
Paella was ordered for lunch as our usual stale bread sandwiches werent going to cut it today.Off we set again after a 1 hour break, heading straight out of the town in the direction of Calvor..or so we thought. This was the VERY crucial sign which we missed..
5km later a slight look of bewildermant crossed our faces when we saw the direction the signposts were heading in, and it certainly wasnt west.Several expletives did leave our mouthes at this moment as the thought of an additional 5km on top of the 37km we were already taking on that day was less than funny.
Even worse, there was nowhere to stay before Calvor, so we just had to get there.
After only about 5 minutes of thumbs out on the road we managed to get an 18year old boy racer to drive us back to the town of Triacastela, where, for a second time we attempted to leave.
To cheer us up more, hills, hills and more hills. After many many moments of áre we going to make it?´and using our phones to call people to distract ourselves from the pain (Sorry Amber in Sydney at 2.30am!) we trundled down the hill to the delightful Calvor. Hungry, dirty and now cold at 8pm, our day was made perfect by finding that the village didnt exist, there was a hostal with not even a vending machine. That dinner we had dreamt off was not going to be.. alas.. a solution.. with a lot of hand signals and nodding of heads the hostal manager arranged for an owner of a local hotel to come and collect us, take us to the hotel, feed us and bring us back.With only the starter consumed and exhaustion taking over as food was starting to miss our mouthes we were dropped back to the hostel for a very good nights sleep.
Villafranca del Bierzo to O Cebreiro 31km
Setting off nice and early this was our most dreaded day of the whole trip.. we had been warned, warned and warned again about how steep it was but we got off to a good start when a small Fair Trade cafe was found along the way.. Muesli with Yogurt and Honey.. you have no idea how good this was.. may as well have been served caviar, foie gras and truffles it was so exciting to eat proper food!
After about 10km on the road we started to climb, and steep, yes it was. A definate highlight was when we were going up a hill faster than a bicycle.. definately gave a good giggle and great pleasure to overtake a ´pro´on his bike..he wasnt looking so cool just then!After coming off the roads we hit about 15km of well, vertical walking, steep as in you are leaning so far foward that your head is only about 24 inches off the ground.. yet, again, it was ok.. both of us questioning why? Possibly as we have climbed so many now we could be getting used to it? Who would have thought.
Absolutely breathtaking scenery, now in the Galicia region, quite similar to Scotland or the west of Ireland. Absolutely unspoilt, walking through tiny tiny villages that make you feel like you are living ten centuries ago.. cows strolling freely around the streets etc.After arriving at the top 11 and a half hours later, to the disgust of some of our fellow pilgrims we were given a first class room upstairs with normal beds, no bunks, sheets and a pillowcase. Amazing.
After a nice dinner we were straight to bed for another big day tomorrow..
Molinescea to Vallifranca del Bierzo 32km
Today we treated ourselves to a nice lie in and werent up until 9.. such a luxury but really not worth it in the end.. we just ended up walking through the hottest part of the day and a tough walk it was. We decided we were pushing for the over 30km mark again to get us to the bottom of what looked like a nasty ascent for the following morning.
Walking through Ponferrada we managed to get totally lost, but on our way again we headed off into the hills.. walking seperately both Isabel and Vanessa managed to take unnecessary detours (also known as getting lost).. adding up to about an extra 4 km each..
Vanessa took a nice snooze in some forrest we walked through while Isabel put her head upside down in a fountain to get rid of the 38 degree heat.. no fun with the 10kg rucksack! After the soaking of all the hair and continuing on my way, a man stopped in his car, jumped out and insisted on giving me a hat from his boot.. (mine was off momentarily)He owned a local vineyard and had the hats for the staff... I think he saw all the water dripping off me from the fountain and may have thought it was sweat! Nice.
Eventually arrived into Villafranca with some tired and sore feet at about 7pm, and stayed in the house of a local ´guru´ called Jesus, who believed himself to be able to cure any pain we had.
We both still have sore ankles, knees, shoulders and a lot of blisters. Not convinced.
Walking through Ponferrada we managed to get totally lost, but on our way again we headed off into the hills.. walking seperately both Isabel and Vanessa managed to take unnecessary detours (also known as getting lost).. adding up to about an extra 4 km each..
Vanessa took a nice snooze in some forrest we walked through while Isabel put her head upside down in a fountain to get rid of the 38 degree heat.. no fun with the 10kg rucksack! After the soaking of all the hair and continuing on my way, a man stopped in his car, jumped out and insisted on giving me a hat from his boot.. (mine was off momentarily)He owned a local vineyard and had the hats for the staff... I think he saw all the water dripping off me from the fountain and may have thought it was sweat! Nice.
Eventually arrived into Villafranca with some tired and sore feet at about 7pm, and stayed in the house of a local ´guru´ called Jesus, who believed himself to be able to cure any pain we had.We both still have sore ankles, knees, shoulders and a lot of blisters. Not convinced.
Rabanal del Camino to Molinesca 32km
Long day today - and it was tough. We were climbing to over 1500m to the Cruz de Ferro, a very steep and strenuous trek, but which we found remarkably easy in comparison to previous mountains.
Passed through a small village called Foncebadon which got renamed by Isabel in an attempt to pronounce it.. ´Funkybacon´
This was definately one of the most beautiful walks of the whole Camino, snow on the mountains but stunning scenery, amazing flowers etc.
After a one hour snooze at the top we started on the decent, where Isabel declared this the ´Best Day so far´, well talk about speaking too soon..
About 5 minutes later on what were the steepest and most rocky decents we have encountered Isabels head decides to go before her feet as she takes a flying fall down some rocks..
Amazing Vanessa came to the rescue along with Dominic and Eric... all pouring water on scarves and shoving it on the forehead.. straight into the next village for ice and a clean up.. other than a bruise and some blood we were shortly off again in 36 degree heat.. Adventurous, not fun, and grumpy for the rest of the day!Arrived into Molinesca, really gorgeous town but unfortunately the day had taken its toll and it was bed by 8.30pm.
Astorga to Rabanal del Camino 22km
Well today was the day of breaks... every village for far too long, every time. Excuse being we had a massive mountain in front of us and we were saving our energy for the following day... Quite a pretty walk but without and shade and intense heat we just had to stop for drinks along the way.. it took us 9 hours to complete 22km however we all arrived feeling great and ready for the following days challenge. The heat was definately prevalent in this pic..
We stayed in a private hostal for the night which felt very luxurious, we had shower curtains and their were laundry facilities.. quite astonishing really. Mothers - yes believe it or not we usually hand wash our clothes every day in buckets of cold water. Lovely, I know.
Early night to bed but not much sleep, had two award winning snorers in the room that absolutely no earplugs or ipods at full volume could block out!
Early night to bed but not much sleep, had two award winning snorers in the room that absolutely no earplugs or ipods at full volume could block out!
Villadangos del Camino to Astorga 33.5km
A nicer day today as we managed to escape some roads.. Traveled through grassy fields to Hospital de Orbigo which had the longest bridge on the camino.. Quite beautiful but the cobblestones across the bridge made the walking so painful we were only delighted to be off the far side..
Isabels knee was acting up so we had a break under a big tree about 10km before Astorga and a picnic lunch. On we trundled into the Municipal Alberge (Hostal) where we got a nice room of only 6 ppl, which we managed to fill with some of our favourite people.. such a luxury in comparison the the rooms of 60 or more that we have become accustomed to!
Had a very cultural afternoon in Astorga where we visited the Cathedral and Camino Museum before what may have been a far more fastinating Chocolate Museum..
Spagetti Bolognaise was in order for dinner which Isabel was put on duty for again, for 8 people in a kitchen that was so ill equipped that everything had to be chopped with Vanessas pen knife. Fun..not. Most beautiful skies however as we had dinner on the balcony.
Isabels knee was acting up so we had a break under a big tree about 10km before Astorga and a picnic lunch. On we trundled into the Municipal Alberge (Hostal) where we got a nice room of only 6 ppl, which we managed to fill with some of our favourite people.. such a luxury in comparison the the rooms of 60 or more that we have become accustomed to!
Had a very cultural afternoon in Astorga where we visited the Cathedral and Camino Museum before what may have been a far more fastinating Chocolate Museum..
Spagetti Bolognaise was in order for dinner which Isabel was put on duty for again, for 8 people in a kitchen that was so ill equipped that everything had to be chopped with Vanessas pen knife. Fun..not. Most beautiful skies however as we had dinner on the balcony.
Leon to Villadangos del Paramo 20km
Well this was tedious to say the least. 20km of walking on a main road to get out of Leon, nothing too strenuous just not very appealing having massive trucks flying past you with only about 12inches to spare!
We were stopped by a police vehicle which turned out to be some guy we had been talking to when we were out for the night in Leon.. lucky we were behaving as had no idea he was a policeman!
Stayed in a hostel by the main road with nothing less than treble bunks, Vanessa braved it and went for the top, no less than about 4 metres off the ground.. cooked a dinner of pasta with tuna and prawns, on a gas burner that took 45minutes for the water to boil.. certainly a patience test for Isabel.
We were stopped by a police vehicle which turned out to be some guy we had been talking to when we were out for the night in Leon.. lucky we were behaving as had no idea he was a policeman!
Stayed in a hostel by the main road with nothing less than treble bunks, Vanessa braved it and went for the top, no less than about 4 metres off the ground.. cooked a dinner of pasta with tuna and prawns, on a gas burner that took 45minutes for the water to boil.. certainly a patience test for Isabel.
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