Arca

Last night's spruikers were advertising the Circus Aquatico which is
pitched here in Arca.

The rain started during the night and continued for most of the day -
one up for the weather forecasters. Todays walk was on easy trails,
mostly thru pine and eucalyptus plantations.

Hunting is BIG in Spain, throughout the walk the sound of double-
barelled shotguns has been a constant companion. Although there were
hunters galore in Rabanal I hadn't seen any in action until Melide.

Near Melide, I came across two hunters and their pack of small dogs.
They were working the edges of the path for whatever game they were
after. Their game sacks were empty at that stage. Each hunter was
armed with an old-fashioned, side-by-side, 12g shotgun complete with
sling.

Most of the time the guns are close-by but out of sight. Makes me
glad my pack and wet weather gear are brightly coloured. Also saw the
sign of fustrated hunters, several eucalyptus trees showing the
obvious signs of shotgun blasts.

Three four-stroke trail bikes passed me today. Judging from their
luggage and adornment (scallop shells etc) they are 'doing the camino'
in their own way.

Probably not Spanish riders, most of the local trail bikes are two
strokes. One feature of two stroke motorbikes here is the use of
expansion chambers rather than mufflers, this gives the bikes a very
distinct (and loud!!!) sound.

Tomorrow Santiago!

Cheers
John

Arzúa - Sunday Afternoon

The countryside looks so pretty but 30km through this with backpack
does hurt!

Again, a light frost this morning followed by a sunny day reaching
20C. Unfortunately the forecast is for a drastic change overnight,
low temperatures and heavy rain.

I've had fabulous weather so far so I'll just gave to wear it.

There have been cows (lots of cows), sheep, chickens and a few goats
along the way. But very few horses, made up for that today after
seeing nearly a dozen ponies as I entered Melide.

Melide was jam-packed! There were market stalls all over the place
and dense crowds of people. Helpfully, people kept pointing out the
pilgrim route thru town - I would never have found my way otherwise.

Arzúa us a 'road town' it stretches for over a kilometer along the
main road but doesn't go back very far from that road at all. It was
very quiet as I walked in but someone is driving around town with loud-
speakers on his car spruiking some 'spectacular'. Haven't worked out
what it's all about yet.

Cheers
John

Palas De Rei

The photo shows one of the better rest spots on the way today. Last
year, Gen and I stopped here for a break and chatted to Dick and Mary
from the USA.

Today, I stopped for lunch of tuna empanada and beer in the adjacent
cafe/bar. After lunch I chatted to Rory and Katrina from Dublin.

It's a good spot for a rest as there are still about 5kms to go to get
into town.

About 1km out from Palas, there is a sports centre, Centro Deportivo.
Today it was full of people, through open doors I could see what
looked like one thousand people sitting down to lunch. The music was
going full belt and many of the older people were in costume.

The day started out with very heavy fog that didn't clear until mid
morning. A bit chilly but good walking weather, once the sun came out
it was a glorious day.

The distance from Portomarin to Palas is listed as 26.1km. Mostly on
very good tracks and paths. Through hilly countryside with broadacre
farms, lots of tree plantations and with scattered house but few
villages.

The whole day seems to be gently uphill.

Saw a eucalypt plantation and these will be more common as we approach
Santiago.

I don't seem to have as much stamina as earlier on and I'm travelling
at a slowish rate, but get there in the end. I am oftened passed by
younger people who soon disappear into the distance.

One young lady from Germany is particularly fast. She is not tall and
carries a very big pack, she walks very fast with short, quick steps.
Each time she goes by we say hello, and each time she goes by I find
that I pass her again soon after - as she takes another rest.

The farm dogs have changed along the Camino, at least in a very broad
way. Initially there were lots of very big, white-coated dogs. Then
slighly smaller yellow-coated animals. Now, the majority seem to be
dogs that look like german shepherds.

'Summer' time here ends tomorrow, although I'm not scared that summer
time will fade curtains, the earlier start of daylight will be great.
It means that I can get on the road by 7:30am instead of after
8-8:30am. This will fit the daily schedule much better.

Cheers
John

Only 90km To Go!

Late afternoon in Portomarín. After lunch, washing done, lazing in
bed till just before dinnertime. Later I'll dress and wander around
town for a bit of sightseeing and dinner.

A typical day starts when the alarm goes off at 6.50am, this is
usually ignored. After a couple of presses of the snooze button, I'll
wash, dress and pack. Then pay for my room and start walking. I'll
usually drink a couple of glasses of water before leaving and ensure
the waterbottle is full.

I set out between 8.00 and 8.30am but it isn't really light until
after 8.30. I travel fairly slowly at this stage because it can be
very hard for me to see the way markers until it is fully light (not
really great at seeing them then either......).

Generally after 1 to 2 hours travelling, I find somewhere for coffee
and a bite to eat. Then back on the road, hopefully with a break
every couple of hours or so. Although breaks depend on many things,
like weather, company, location of nice bars etc.

Walking is mostly completed between 2 and 4pm, although a couple of
days have finished after 6pm. Today, for instance, I finished walking
at 2.40pm.

After finding a room, it's shower, laundry and a late lunch or snooze
- depending on my condition and just how late it is.

Much of Spain shuts down at 2.00pm and doesn't reopen until between 4
and 6pm. So sightseeing is best left until everything has reopened.
Also, dinner is not usually available until after 8pm or so, which
makes getting to bed early a bit difficult.

So that's the outline of a typical day.

Passed the 100km to go marker this afternoon, and now have just under
90km to go. Should take another four days of walking.

The season is quite different from walking in spring. Many things are
closed and there is only minimal outdoor dinning now. The riverside
dinner area in Sarria, which was bustling in May was virtually
deserted last night.

The number of peregrinos, which had fallen away dramatically over the
last little while, seems to have doubled since Sarria. This is
probably due to the number of 'short walk' peregrinos who must walk at
least 100km to qualify for their Compostela. Still, the total number
of peregrinos on the way seems much less than in May.

Galicia is as green as ever, quite a contrast to the meseta and even
to El Bierzo. The paths are now very good and not too difficult.

Cheers
John

Portomarín

Hi from sunny Portomarín. A beautiful day, light frost this morning,
a very gentle breeze and now a sunny 17C.

The extra two hours of walking yesterday were certainly felt today. I
was much slower up the hills than normal but it didn't matter, I just
took it easy and eventually reached my goal.

The terrain was superb today. Rolling hills with intensively worked
fields, a hive of activity at present. One key characteristic of this
area is the delineation of the small fields and pathways by dry-stone
walls. Very rustic.

Another feature is all the 'horreos', the little raised houses for
storing corn (pictured). Some of these are plain and functional but
many are elaborately decorated.

Portomarín is one of those towns that has been moved to make way for a
large (but now nearly dry!) dam. I don't know where all the water
went the lake is nearly drained, quite a contrast to last year.

Cheers
John

Perro Peligroso

Today was unusual in an odd way. For the first time I encountered
agressive dogs. Not once but on a few separate occassions.

Twice I was actually attacked, once by a small terrier that posed no
real threat and once by a fair sized dog that meant business.
Fortunately, my loud voice and the pointy end of my walking stick
prevented any contact.

These events were most unusual and probably occurred because I was off
the usual pilgrim route. But it shows how valuable walking sticks can
be!

Cheers
John

Sent from my iPhone

Samos & Sarria

A very frosty morning heralded a fine but cool day.

Leaving town I had a choice of going directly to Sarria or re-visiting
the monastery at Samos on the way.

Samos adds 6.5km to the but what-the-heck. So I went to the monastery
arriving 15 minutes before the next guided tour. As I waited,
peregrinos came and went, too busy to look inside the monastery they
had gone out of their way to visit?

So I was given a personal tour by the guide, which was great. Instead
of the usual Spanish language tour with a few words in English I was
got the whole story in English.

Leaving Samos I followed the recommended route into the hills and
promptly got lost. Two solid hours of tramping finally got me back to
a place from where I could navigate to Sarria.

Needless to say it turned into a long day!

Cheers
John

Triacastela

Started the day with a bit of a howler. I paid for my room and after
a coffee headed off. Fifteen minutes later, I realized I hadn't
retrieved my passport from the hostal. So I trudged back for it
before setting off again.

Cebreiro was in the clouds and the icy wind was howling. For the
first time on this trip I was fully kitted-up, with a jumper under my
jacket, waterproof pants on and even gloves. I needed every bit of it
to keep the cold at bay.

Initially the mist was too dense for any sightseeing but it thinned
after a couple of hours. Then the magnificent hills came into view.

I stopped eventually for breakfast and asked for tortilla as usual.
The proprietor didn't have any prepared tortilla so she went and
cooked a delicious, light and fluffy omelet for me. Coffee, softdrink
and omelet cost 4.90€, great value.

Made it to Triacastela by mid afternoon and booked into Casa David,
a good spot where Gen and I stayed last year. Even better than last
year the heating is on!

Caught up with laundry, I was too tired to do it yesterday. It's now
on the line as it's much warmer but still windy at this lower altitude.

Luckily this blog doesn't have smell-o-vision. The aroma of all the
cattle stables lining the route really cleans out ones nostrils!

Met up with another Aussie, Ed, who I had not seen for several days.
At 5.00pm he was planning to walk the further 10km to Samos in order
to see the monastery there. A very long day.

In Galicia there are regular distance distance markers along the
way. Just before town I passed one saying 130km till Santiago.

Cheers
John

O Cebreiro

A bit of a grueling walk today. I set out from Villafranca in cool,
cloudy weather. And with the firm intention of stopping at Vega del
Valcarce (23km).

Of course, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The problem
was that I got to Vega a bit early - so just a little further ......

Then I was slogging up the hill to O Cebeiro in the driving rain.
Well I might as well keep going, it's only the cold, the exhaustion
and the pain that gets in the way.

So a bit over 30km travelled, but with the last mountain range climbed.

I finally trudged to O Cebreiro and the girl following me cries out
"what a beautiful mountain!". It's shrouded in rain and my legs hurt
like hell, yes it must be a beautiful mountain!! Argh!!!!

Had a couple of wines with Amelie and some other French peregrinos,
they are celebrating a compatriot's birthday, so don't want to intrude
over dinner.

Luis and I, I met Luis on the way up, drank red wine and discussed
many things over dinner. He is from Ponderrada but now lives in Madrid.

Luis is into film and is trying to complete a novel while working as a
barman. Our wide-ranging discussions were interesting and fun.

It was great to talk extensively with someone who really knows this
area!

The worse the day (physically), the better the day!

Cheers
John

Villafranca del Bierzo

Yet another glorious sunny day in Spain. The 23km from Ponderrada
should have been an easy stroll but it was really quite tiring. I
think the previous days descents took a bit of a toll.

Crossed the Bierzo wine district with all the vineyards clothed in
autumnal colours, reds, golds, yellows etc. It all looked superb.

Leaving Ponderrada is a longish stretch along the road before one is
diverted into the rolling hills. Walked for a while with a Canadian
couple from Ottawa.

Villafranca nestles in a deep valley and is hidden from view until the
last minute.

I now suspect one of the hotels in town does not take peregrinos.
They were full last year when Gen and I came through, and full today
when the town is really quiet. A bit odd. Also, the Parador is no
longer advertised.

Found a cheap, clean hotel before heading down for some lunch (at
3.30pm). Met up with some of the French and Spanish peregrinos for a
drink.

Highlight of the day, so far, was seeing and talking to two cycling
peregrinos. A couple, he from Melbourne and she from Canada. The
unusual bit was that they are each towing a trailer behind their
bikes. In the trailers is all their camping gear and, one in each
trailer, their two dogs.

The dogs get to watch the world go by as their owners struggle up the
hills. It's a good life for a dog.

Cheers
John

Ponferrada

A glorious Sunday night in Ponderrada, the evening promenade is in
full swing.
This an institution in Spain, where people dress up in their best
clothes and meet and greet friends and family on the inner city
streets. They seem to eat and drink quite sparingly but socialise
heavily.

The Templar castle looks magnificent now that restoration work is
complete. Of course, it closed at 2.00 this afternoon (I arrived at
3.30) and doesn't reopen till Tuesday - I'll be long gone by then.

The walk today was tough due to the steep descents, especially into
Acebo. Otherwise it was a beautiful day. Walked again in sandals, much
easier than boots for the steep descents - nothing in front to crush
ones toes.

Passed Alto Polo which at 1515 metres is the highest point on the
Camino. Last year walking up these hills was really hard for me and I
was always soaked in sweat, today I cruised up without a sweat and
only just puffing on the steep bits.

From Molinaseca I walked with two French peregrinos (I met them
separately over the last few days). Amelie works for a French saddle-
maker and has worked as a jillaroo in Australia.

She is making a photo record of everyone she meets along the way.

I couldn't catch the Frenchman's name, it's a name I'm not familiar
with and it seemed rude to try to get him to repeat it again. His
English is limited but better than his Spanish or my French, he is one
of the very few people I have been able to assist with the local lingo.

We shared a similar love of the villages in this area.

Cheers
John

Foncebadon

A cool and very cloudy day. Very nice weather for a walk.

First, a little correction, Don Suero de Quinones defended the long
bridge between Puente de Orbigo and Hospital de Orbigo.

I walked the 21.4km to Rabanal Del Camino thoroughly enjoyed the
change from meseta to hills. Passed thru a couple of really pretty
villages, Murias de Rechivaldo and Santa Catalina de Somoza.

Arrived in Rabanal and felt like continuing so headed uphill to
Foncebadon. Once virtually abandoned, this village is now thriving,
quite different to what we saw last year.

The extra km today make it now reasonable to go to Ponferrada tomorrow.

Found a nice hotel/refugio in Foncebadon so took a private room. Only
problem was the space-age shower, it didn't come with instructions!
Managed to work it out eventually.

Cheers
John

View from leather chair as I enjoy lunch.

This is from the bar downstairs. Croquettas and beer lunch in a smoke-
free bar!

Today has been a good day (and it's only lunchtime). Just 17km to
Astorga and my feet are much better.

I have worn that ultimate peregrino fashion statement of sandals and
thick socks for the last two days. Much easier on the feet! The
boots may not reappear unless it rains.

There is a shorter and more direct route from Hospital to Astorga,
16km, along the main road. Instead I chose the slightly longer route
that goes over the hills. Having maps of the route in my guidebook
really helps, we didn't have this resource last year and sorely missed
it.

The hills were gentle and very pretty. They were alive with the
steady chuffing of old diesel tractors as all the fields need
preparation for the next planting.

Went thru a couple of pretty villages (we must be off the meseta!).
Villar de Orbigo and Santibanez de Valdeiglesia were hives of
agrarian activity, in stark contrast to many we have traversed.

One of the villages has a story around it's bridge. A knight vowed to
defend the bridge against all comers. Knights from all over Europe
came to challenge him. He successfully defended the bridge until he
had shattered 300 lances, then he retired undefeated to give thanks
for his success.

I'm sure this story has inspired many imitations in fiction And film.

Cheers
John

Gaudi's Bishops Palace, Astorga

Alternative title: View out my bedroom window.

Hospital de Orbigo

Moving quite slowly today due to sore feet, I had a tremendous feeling
of déjà vu.

First, after breakfast at the hotel, I had to decide how to manage the
distance to Astorga. The guidebook recommends a 23km walk to Mazarife
and then a 30km day to Astorga. I don't really want to do a 30km day
until my feet are better (or never maybe).

So I decide to return to Hospital de Orbiga and then do a short day
into Astorga. Well, Hospital is 35km from central Leon but only 25km
from Virgen del Camino (an outer suburb of Leon).

This is where experience counts, I had walked those mean streets of
Leon before and had no need to repeat the experience. So a quick taxi
ride saved me 10km for the day and took me to the same modern church
in Virgen that I remembered from last year.

After surviving the scowls of two fellow peregrinos as I exited the
taxi, I hobbled off. I think they disapproved of my use of a taxi.
Slowly but surely the déjà vu set in. Gen and I hobbled this same
road last year with sore, sore feet (we had walked those ten km
through urban Leon in new boots!).

For 4.4km we had watched that water tower at San Martin appear to
never get any closer as we marched (I was sure it moved further away
if you stopped looking at it).

On reaching San Martin, I went to the same bar for refreshment, was
served by the same young ladies and used the same (still) unfinished
bathroom. Then I soldiered on for the final 7km to Hospital where I
booked into the same Hostal with it's magnificent view of the bridge.

Unfortunately, won't have the same lovely dinner as the restaurant is
closed until next spring. There are two other bar/restaurants in town
so should be OK.

From now on I will be on familiar turf, that will make things a
little easier. Constantly dealing with unknown places and an
unfamiliar language is quite ardous when alone.

Cheers
John

The Little Water Tower of Horrors

San Martin

Leon - Day 2

The photo was taken from my Cafe table as I enjoyed lunch, not a bad
outlook!

Have hit all the museums again and just enjoyed a half day of sight-
seeing. Even managed to find an English language newspaper to enjoy
with lunch.

Stocktake: Logrono 634.2km to Santiago. Leon 326.1km to Santiago. So
I've walked 308.1km, plus another 40km for San Millan which adds up to
348.1km done and just the 326.1km to go.

Please note that all distances are rubbery, no two guide books appear
the same and signposts are just unreliable. At one point, two other
pilgrims and I covered 40km in 15 minutes - rather remarkable on foot
- if we believe the signposts.

So, more than half done and an estimated 14 days minimum to get to
Santiago.

Physial condition: two very sore feet. Which just proves that one
pays a high price for rushing, although I am very glad to get off the
meseta. The legs can go all day but the feet wear out sooner.
Solution - don't do 37km days and take more breaks.

The second physical problem is that I have completely lost my
appetite. This happened on the previous trips due to falling off my
gluten-free diet. The real problem is that if I don't eat I just
don't have the energy to walk. So I'm forcing myself to eat three
times a day but it is hard to finish any meal.

Trying to stay on a gluten-free diet is just not possible for me here,
the choice of foods is too limited and I just don't have the language
skills anyway, but I'm trying as hard as possible.

The hotel in Leon has free wifi which is marvellous. I have several
audiobooks on iPod which I love but they aren't much use when dinning
alone. So I've put several ebooks onto my phone. I can sit and read
these on screen anywhere, which helps avoid the discomfort of just
staring around the room while sitting in public. Just like paperbacks
really without the weight.

The iPhone is working out superbly for travel, nearly as good as a
computer while very small and light. If only the battery would last a
bit longer it would be ideal.

On a side issue, the fleas didn't make it to Leon with me. Before
leaving Australia, I treated my sleeping bag, sheet and backpack with
permethrin. The pesticide has worked wonderfully in keeping nasties
out of my gear. So now I can confirm it was the accommodations not me.

Still many peregrinos in Leon. Quite a few look to have worse feet
than mine but hopefully we will all recover quickly. Villages and
places to stay will be more frequent from now on, making it much
easier to manage reasonable days.

Cheers
John

Leon

A chilly departure from Mansilla developed into another glorious day.

I travelled slower today than any day so far, the long effort to get
to Mansilla has left me sore and exhausted. Didn't expect to recover
so slowly, just as well I'm stopping here for two nights.

An uneventful journey today but I should mention the dangerous entry
into Leon. Peregrinos must cross a major, dual-carriageway highway
from which the off-ramps are posted at 80kmh. It's dangerous in the
extreme and a disgrace for Leon.

Cheers
John

Mansilla de las Mulas

In Sahagun and Mansilla the battle rages. Who will win, the plump
human dinner or the fleas? It's 50/50.

The unfortunate facts of an Autumn Camino. Harassed by flies, wasps
and mosquitoes by day, one is subjected to the onslaught of fleas (and
mossies) at night.

Relieved that my dinners were fleas rather than bedbugs (yes, I know
the difference) I have evolved a simple strategy to get some sleep.

First, scour sheets for fleas - kill same. Then, coat oneself with
insect repellent - head to toe. Finally, get a little sleep. Must
buy some bug spray tomorow in Leon.

Today was a 37km marathon, I want to get to Leon. I've just had
enough of the meseta and the bugs! I guess it's just the wrong time
of year for this, can't imagine how it is in Summer.

Wrong time of year. Went to four hostel/hostal/hotel in Mansilla to
find one that was open. All 'cerrado' - closed. Accommodation and
food supply has reduced to meet demand, everything that is open is
full, just most things aren't open.

Met a lovely German couple as we scoured the streets for somewhere to
stay. Fortunately, their friends pointed us in the right direction.

Met Andreas and John from Germany (near Hanover) after dinner, they
are cycling the Camino on mountain bikes. They plan on 90km tomorrow,
I plan on 18.8km into Leon.

I keep having doubts about doing this thing, I'm not really into
pain. Then I meet nice people and it's all worthwhile.

Cheers
John

Sent from my iPhone