Monat: August 2018

Today I walked about 30km ( 600m up and 400m down) from Monforte de Lemos to Chantada.

This nice path could be the scenery in a film like ‚The Hobbit‘.

100km left to Santiago de Compostela….

I begin to think about the end of my Camino… planning the camino to Finisterre… how and when travel back to Munich… have I learnt something from my Camino?

The most difficult part was the path down to the river Rio Mino and up again.

Now I am in the Pension in Chantada and it is time for the shower, washing clothes, resting, shopping and eating.

Today I walked about 36 km with many ups and downs from Quiroga to Monforte de Lemos. It is maybe the most difficult day so I stood up early at 4 o’clock.

The morning was cloudy.

Here are three horses…

Only about 125km to Santiago de Compostela…. I cannot believe it….

After about 25km with the second major up and down hill I feel my feet, my legs and my right hip. At that moment I thought… another 10 km…. this is not good. I was lucky that the last 10 km were rather flat.

So after resting a little bit in the hostel I am very pleased that I have no blister and no other important medical issue.

Yesterday in the evening I talked with a Spanish pilgrim couple with two daughters ( 15 and 18 years old ). I had a room for my own and my alarm was set to 4 o’clock.

I made a holder for my smartphone in the callipers ( Bauchtasche ) so that I have a light in the nights without a moon.

I thought… one of the great things of the Camino is the trust in people you do not know. You have a albergue with rooms full of pilgrims…. you have not seen many of them before…. and everybody charges the own smartphone and can go out of the room.

The guides differ with their information about e. g. the length of the daily route. Today I walked about 27 km with many ups and downs.

I walked in the hills and saw the big river…. but for each small river I had to go down….

… and up again…

The first blackberries (Brombeeren) are ripe.

Tomorrow the distance will almost be 10 km longer. And it is public holiday, so no normal shopping.

Today I walked about 23 km to A Rúa de Valdeorras.

Today it was a shorter day so I did not start in the dark. Here is one of the ’shadow with long legs‘ photos….

I liked this suspension bridge and crossed it just for fun…. so I had to cross it again.

The albergue / pension in A Rúa had mixed recommendations…. normally this is not good. Here the owners ( a old woman and their daughter ) want to be so helpful that it was too much for some pilgrims ( e. g. help with medical issues ) who gave then bad recommendations.

I liked it very much… the mother invited me to eat ‚with them‘ (normally no cooking for the pilgrims). Then she cooked the main meal (chicken) only for me…. because she and her daughter did not eat or ate no chicken. Afterwards I talked long with the daughter… often with the help of google translator. The only thing that some pilgrims maybe would not like was her introduction to her view of astrology. I just said ’si‘ and it was okay.

 

Today I walked about 29 km to Sobradelo. 

There was a nice sunrise.

It was not that easy because of the many ups and downs in Galicia.

Here I felt almost at home in Bavaria / Germany.

In Sobradelo I had a nice dinner in a bar…. this time with no other pilgrim.

Yesterday after the dinner I drank wine with Vince from Hungary… he was the pilgrim with whom I have walked most in the last week. We huged us in case we would not see us the next day.

Today I start walking on the Camino de Invierno. I stand up early to meet some pilgrims and say goodbye…. even if I could begin my small walk later. Saying goodbye is often sad… and I do not want to leave the Camino Frances with the many pilgrims I know…. even if I think it is the right decision for me to choose the lonelier Camino… especially after Sarria.

Here I have to leave the Camino Frances and follow the Camino de Invierno.

It is so much lonelier on this way. I walk today about 15 km and see in my direction only one time pilgrims. On the Camino Frances I saw often several groups at the same time.

A nice view near my albergue in Villavieja.

The albergue is closed and I have to call a Spanish phone number. The call is not easy with my ‚basic‘ Spanish… but after a few minutes a Spanish man shows me the albergue. After some time a Spanish pelegrina who has a 31-year-old daughter came to the albergue as well.

Today we wanted to be at the Cruz de Ferro during sunrise.

The hills of Galicia in front of us and Ponferrada in the background….

The Camino de Invierno starts here in Ponferrada. So I walked about 27 km and it will be tomorrow much lonelier.

Today we want to cook together… the organisation is still a bit chaotic…. but probably it will be a lot of fun.

Yesterday I wanted go further on, but I met some pilgrims and so I stopped in Astorga. In the afternoon I went to the cathedral of Astorga and the museum of the cathedral.

Today I went to Foncebadón about 26km.

Galicia is the region that welcomed me with a rainbow or several rainbows. I have not seen such bright colours in a rainbow for such a long time before…. directly above the Camino de Santiago.

I came from these plain fields… the meseta….

Tomorrow we want to be at the Cruz de Ferro when the sun rises.

 

Yesterday I met the Dutch man J. and he had a big problem with his army boots after his second day ( already 2 deroofed blisters ) …. he wants to go by bus to Astorga and then buy new shoes.

After dinner I wanted to check my smartphone in the bed…. but maybe I was a little bit to tired.  As I looked again it was dark and 00:30.

Today I went from Hospital de Órbigo to Astorga about 16km. On the Camino de Invierno the distances between the albergues are much higher than here on the Camino Frances…. for coming to the first albergue I need either two long days with about 35km or 3 short ones… so I decided for the 3 short ones.

David has a donativo rest camp for pilgrims. It is very special…. you have to look for the donativo box…. and he has many different fruits and many other things. I asked him, if he has built this all…. and he said „God has built this place“ – his answer for yes. David has been here for several years…. and in some weeks he will leave…. to walk again. But without any money…. „because only then you are really free“.

Later I could see Astorga and the mountains in the background.

The „pilgrim torture tower“ is here as well…. so called because the tired pilgrims have to go many ramps up and then down just for crossing trail rails. But I knew from a camino forum that you can just go around it….

Yesterday we had a nice communal dinner in the albergue. The albergue had some funny things like e.g. hammocks for us pilgrims.

There is a San Martín del Camino on the way….

After two hours of walking I felt a tendon (Sehne; I think at least it is the tendon) on my left foot. It did not really hurt but I thought it got worse after a short distance…. so I decided to make shorter steps and walk slower. Then it was okay during the walk.

I walked the last 3 or 4 days faster than before, because I was fitter. And I tied the shoes relatively hard because one time I got a small blister because of too much movement in the shoe…. maybe faster walking, the record day and the too hard tieing was too much.

I came to this bridge in Hospital de Órbigo after about 21km. I thought…. was not this the bridge with the famous tournament?

Yes, it was. In 1434 the Leónese knight Suero de Quiñones was scorned by his love. He wanted to fight for his love in a tournament against every knight, who would come in a month to the bridge and would take the challenge… after that month he had won more than 300 tournaments and very much fame and even nowadays the story is a comic on the walls of my albergue.