Triacastela (Three castles)

Todays hike was only 12.9 miles, the majority of which was across the crest of the mountain range.  The vistas were beautiful from the top.  We started to drop down off the mountain after walking about 10 miles and into Triacastela our final destination of the day.

Because of yesterday's fiasco, our travel agent moved the remaining of our reservations up a day giving us and extra night in Santiago. Tomorrow we walk to Sarria with only 83 miles to Santiago.

We hope you enjoy our pictures along the route today.

Why take the easy road?

As we left Villafranca del Bierzo this morning we had a choice...to take a walk through the Valcarce Valley (the easy road) which was relively flat but had traffic noise or climb up and over a mountain. The description of the hike up the mountain said we would be rewarded with "stunning views".  So, we choose the mountain route which end up being the hard road.  The stage today represents one of the steepest of the whole pilgrimage.  It took us about 3 hours to climb to the top of Alto Pradela.  The ascent was the steepest and fastest elevation gain we have done.  My legs were burning! Today really tested my fear of heights...and all I could do was a lot of praying and self talk.  At one point I was not able to look out over the horizon as we seemed to be so high up.  In actuality we weren't as high as the other day, it just appeared to be since the drop off the sides was so much steeper.  The decent down was steep through a chestnut orchard and we had to be careful, as they can be like stepping on marbles!  Below is a map of our route and some pictures along the trail.

Once we came off the mountain, we had lunch in the town of Portela.  The pilgrim statue below was out front of the cafe we ate at.

The schedule our travel agent gave us said we were to hike to O'Cebreiro that day, close to 19 miles.  To tell you the truth, I was done walking after we came down off that mountain! By lunch we were only half way there.  I couldn't believe our travel agent would schedule such a strenuous day for us. The road gradually got steeper and steeper. We past through Valcarce, Herrerias and struggled climbing to La Faba.  The sun was going down and Lee's ankle started bothering her.  We were both pretty wiped out by that point and for the first time on this trip called for a taxi.  We only had 3 miles left to climb to O'Cebreiro but it was all up hill and we were beat!  The taxi came and hauled us up to the very to of another mountain range to the small secluded village of O'Cebreiro.  We went into the hotel and they said we didn't have a reservation for that night, we had one for the following night?
What? How could this be? We asked them if they knew where our luggage was, they called the luggage transfer service and they said it was in our hotel in Herrerias at the bottom of the hill! One of the town we walked through about 3 hours earlier! Mucho Problema!  Luckily the hotel at O'Cebreiro had one more room available.  We called our travel agent and explained our predicament to her and she had our luggage transferred to O'Cebreiro where we checked in one day early.  It was either that, or take a cab back to the bottom of the mountain where our luggage was, spend the night where we were supposed to in the first place.  If we did that, it would mean hiking to the top of O'Cebreiro the following day and there was no way in hell we were going to do that again!

It was already dark by the time we got things squared away.  We were sitting in the cafe/bar of the hotel waiting for our luggage to arrive.  There was a couple of Spainish men playing their harmonicas, and Lee decided to pull her mini harmonica out of her pocket and go play along with them.  It was a site to see and hear and everyone was really enjoying themselves!
Below are some pictures from our day.  Tomorrow we head for Triacastela.

I thought we'd never get to Villa Franca del Bierzo!

Yesterday's post was short, partly due to poor internet connection and a larger part to fatigue.  Yesterday's hike was like Heaven and Hell.  It was one of the most beautiful hikes we've had yet on the Camino.  The weather was perfect and the scenery from on top of the mountain was spectacular!  Looking down on all the trees that had their autumn leaves reminded me of a patchwork quilt.

I have a confession to make:  I have a fear of heights, and I worked myself into a frenzy all worried about how I was going to get up and over the mountain without having a panic attack.  As we hiked higher and higher I just kept looking out over the beauty of the landscape and my anxiety slowly went away.  The top was nothing like I had imaged as usual and I had no problem whatsoever being up there.  On the very top is a monument called "Cruz de Ferro" marking this gateway on the Camino. It's a tall weathered pole with a cross on top.  It is customary to leave a token behind at the foot of the cross.  Lee spread some of Peggy's ashes there and also left a San Diego AA token and I left two white rocks, one for each of my daughters and a "believe" token given to me from my friend Sheena for this trip. See pictures below.

We stayed in Molinaseca the following night after coming down off the mountain.  Our hotel room was right next to a river and we could hear it rushing by.  I can say one thing about Spain...they seem to have plenty of water and it isn't even rainy season yet!  We have crossed rivers every day on the Camino and it's very refreshing for us Southern California girls to see as we are experiencing a drought back home.

We left town early this morning, and it as cold for the first hour or so.  There was a blanket of fog rolling over Ponferrada as we approached.  We stopped in the center of town at a cafe right across the street from the Castillo de Los Templarios.  This 12th century Templar castle was amazing to look out and see from the cafe!  We continued on and walked through the villages of Componaraya and Cacabelos.  We walked a long 19 miles today to Villafranca del Bierzo, I thought we'd never get there! We arrived finally right before 6pm and we had dinner reservations for Lee's birthday dinner at 8pm.  A couple we met in Leon from Alberta, Canada (Yvonne & Terry) made reservations to stay in our same hotel just so that they could join us in the celebration.  They are such a sweet couple and we are so glad that got to get to know them this past week.  See pictures below of today's walk.  Tomorrow is our second and last rest day for this trip.  We just did 16 straight days of walking and we really deserve this break!

Molinaseca

Todays hike was by far the hardest and highest day yet. From the time we left Astorga yesterday and including today's ascent we had an accrued ascent of 5,000 feet.  Climbing up to the top of the mountain wasn't bad; for the most part it was gradual with a few steep areas.  It took us about 4 hours to get to the top including our rest stops and coffee break. What nearly killed us was the decent!  We climbed down the other side of that mountain and it took us about 5 hours to get all the way down.  The path was extremely steep and rocky we needed to be extra cautious so that we wouldn't fall, strain or break anything. Good thing we had our trekking sticks with us because they saved us both a couple of times. Below are some pictures of the terrain.

This is going to be a short post for today, we just wanted to let you know that we are still alive and didn't fall off the side of the mountain!

Tomorrow we head to Villafranca Del Bierzo and celebrate Lee's birthday.

Rabanal Del Camino

Today we headed for the mountains and tomorrow we climb to the highest point of the entire route. We walked about 13.5 miles today, much of it was a gradual uphill climb.  After leaving Astorga this morning we walked through several small villages; had lunch in Santa Catalina and stopped off for a cold drink (water & orange juice) at a "Cowboy Bar" in El Ganso.  Below is a picture of the outside of the bar. Neither Lee or I drink wine, but it's plentiful here.  You get your choice of water or wine with every pilgrims meal.  The cost of a glass of wine is about the same as a soft drink so most people  prefer wine.  I found out the other day that those underground homes in the side of the hill are called "bodega's". They are actually wine cellars where they make and store wine in these parts.  We've seen a lot more of them lately.

Today's walk was past oak and pine trees.  Along the side of the path are little purple flowers that seem to just pop up out of the earth, no leaves, just the flower.  See picture below. Fall is definitely in the air; trees and grapevines are changing colors. It was cool heading out this morning and we needed to wear gloves for the first couple of hours.  The rest of the day was sunny and beautiful.  We've been lucky with the weather this week...I hope it continues!

Tonight we are saying in Rabanal Del Camino. This town continues a centuries old tradition of caring for the pilgrims before they take the steep path up and over Monte Irago.  The Knights Templar are thought to have a presence here as early as the 12th century ensuring the safe passage of pilgrims over this remote mountain terrain.  The parish Church of Santa Maria was reputedly built by them.  Out the window of our room is the church about 50 feet away.  We will be going there this evening to listen to Gregorian Chant with Vespers and receive a pilgrim blessing from Benedictine monks who live in the monastery.

Below is a picture of our modest hotel room with a beautiful view out the windows.  The bath tub is the smallest tub I have ever seen...it's just the perfect size for Lee and she really enjoyed it. As for me...well, I should be able to soak my feet in it at least!

We hope you enjoy our pictures from today.  Tomorrow we head up and over the mountain to Molinaseca.