Day 41, 42 and 43 Puebla de Sanabrias to Gaudina

Day 41               Puebla de Sanabrias to Requejo                                                                 12kms

We enjoyed our stay so much in Puebla de Sanabrias that we decided to sleep in and enjoy the morning there. We also have come to the realization that we don’t really need to rush. We only have 243 kms left to Santiago and we have over a month to do it. We have also decided that we will do another 136kms past Santiago de Compostela and go to Finnestere.  The only fixed date we have is August 9^th when we  fly to London.

Last night we had a fabulous octopus dinner. I swear the food in Spain tastes so much better than “cold climate places” I am not sure if it is the sun that matures things and their tastes, but everything just tastes so good. Exercising everyday might be a contributing factor??

The other thing about doing the camino is we have a lot of time to reminisce. Spencer has been thinking a lot about his time, 36 years ago, when he and 2 other friends traveled through Europe for their “gap” year. They spent quite a bit of time in Spain.  Check out these pictures of Spencer, 19 years old, taken in Castellar de la Frontera in Spain.I see alot of Spencer in Aram.

Today we only walked 12kms to Requejo. Another small village, almost deserted, only inhabited by elderly people, gorgeous though. Water running everywhere, in between houses, on the sides of the streets.  Picturesque. 

 Day 42                                Requejo to Lubian                              19kms.

Today was my favourite walk of all so far. It was Heidi all over again. We went up over a mountain pass, through picturesque villages, crossed streams, the weather was cool, it really couldn’t get any better.

 We are staying in an Albergue tonight but this one at least provides blankets so we won’t freeze. It gets very cold here at night. We were the first to arrive in the albergue, threw our packs down on bunk beds and then went for lunch. When we got back to the albergue 7 more pilgrims arrived. There were 2 Germans, 2 Polish, 1 Italian, 1 Swiss, 1 Spanish and 2 Canadians(us). We had a lovely evening meal of everyone contributing something and laughed and talked until late into the evening. We all went to our bunk beds to sleep. Sleeping in albergues feels like summer camp for adults.

Day 43         Lubian to Gaudina                                       24kms

A glorious day of walking though villages, mainly ghost towns that are left over from building the railway in the 1950's.

Day 39 and 40 Olleros de Tera to Puebla de Sanabrias

Day 39                              Olleros de Tera to Mombuey_______________________ 27kms

We managed to survive the night. We each have a silk sleeping bag liner, so we curled up, on top of the dirty mattresses and managed to sleep not too badly. We went to bed rather late because Spain was playing Italy in the final Eurocup soccer game. Spain won and what a celebration it was!!! The village we were in only had about 100 inhabitants and every one of them was in the bar watching the game, from great-grandma to newborn. Every time Spain scored the noise was deafening. But what fun,.. just what a country is crisis needs.

                              Today we passed through a couple more dying villages. 

This one, called Villar de Farfon, has a population of four. Spencer was a brat and climbed up the church tower and rang the 8 o’clock bell. Not one of the 4 people came out so I guess no one minded.

It was a beautiful walk to Mombuey, fairly flat, along a reservoir and through oak trees. The weather is now quite chilly in the mornings, so cool that we are wearing socks as gloves until about 9am. Today was a low of 10 and a high of 27. Perfect!!!

How many arrows can you count?

After last night’s trying sleep we thought we might check into a hostal in Mombuey. We finally arrived at the lone hostal in town, only to find it full. (It is summer holidays) So… off we trundled to the Albergue, only to find it worse, even dirtier than last night. Oh dear. After much thought and discussion we decided to catch the bus to the next major town and find a proper hostal to get a good night’s sleep. It was a hard decision as we are getting so close to Santiago. Only 255kms to go.

Day 40     Puebla d Sanabria                                            surprise Rest Day

One of the best reasons for doing this camino is you get to visit places like this village. In summer it is paradise. It gets very, very cold here in the winter but summer is perfect. The river Tera runs right through the village, it is clear, cool and just perfect for swimming. 

  The village itself is very picturesque, so gorgeous we thought we would spend a rest day looking around.               The town is classified as a Historic-Artistic Site. 

 Strolling through its streets, the plazas, walls and buildings I feel like I have been transported back to the Middle Ages. The roofs are covered with actual slate tiles. A great place to spend the day.

Day 36, 37 and 38 Montamarta to Ollera de la Tera

Day 36                     Montamarta to Granja de Moreruela                       24kms walked

The temperatures have finally dropped!!! This morning was almost cold but fantastic for walking. A large part of today’s walk was beside a reservoir but unfortunately there has been no water in it this year. They have had an incredibly dry spring, many of the farmers are worried. Very few olives have appeared on the trees, so stock up on olive oil now ‘cause the price is going to rise.

Today we are staying in a lovely Casa Rural called Tio Ouicos.

 This has probably been my favourite of all the places we have stayed so far. The whole place was done up in the old fashioned style, complete with well in the patio and fireplace in the kitchen.

 This is a great way to end the “Via de la Plata”, tomorrow we begin a new path on the camino.

So far we have walked almost 900 kilometers. 

Both Spen and I are have been exceptionally fortunate with our feet. We have had NO problems whatsoever. Except for a few worn socks we have been lucky. Many pilgrims don’t fare as well.

Day 37                               Granja de Moreruela to Tabara                             28kms

I can’t believe how cold it was this morning,we could actually see our breath. We have now left the “Via de la Plata” and are on a new camino called the “Camino Sanabres”

Direction -Orense or Astorga, we chose Orense

 We had the option to continue on north and join the “Camino Frances” or turn left and take “Camino Sanabres.” We chose the “Sanabres” because it is a road less travelled, hence there are fewer people. We have now left the flat, bread basket of Spain and are continuing on into a more mountainous region.

crossing Rio Esla

It felt good to be back in the cool mountain air and trees. 

entering Tabara

Day 38                Tabara to  Ollera de laTera                                                30kms

Well… we ended up in this Ollera de la Tera place all because we wanted to take a shortcut. You would think we would know by now. ??

At first we thought it was pretty cool because we passed a cave village. All the houses were built into the banks.

The stairs down

 After 30 kilometers we have ended up in the village of Ollera de la Tera, that I don’t think has seen a pilgrim stay for years. We were so tired, the next village with accommodation was about 14kms so we decided to look for the albergue, We ended up asking an elderly woman in the street if there was one. Well… she suddenly got fired up and started shouting “Maria, Maria, you have someone” Maria came out of the house down the street, all excited but said it was time for mass and she had to go because the priest only comes once every 6 weeks, but, she would meet us after mass in the local bar and show us the albergue. This was fine as we had just walked 6 hours and could use a coffee. Well,….  now I know why the priest only comes every 6 weeks. He gives all 6 masses in one, it must have been the longest mass in history. Finally after hours of sitting, waiting, Maria shows up at the bar with all her friends and tells us that she has to have “brunch” first before she can take us to the albergue.  So Maria goes in to have her brunch and leaves us to talk to several of her older friends. One woman casually mentions that we are brave to stay at the albergue because that is where they put the sick people. She hopes that we wouldn’t have to use any of the sheets or the blankets. At this point, I am scared. Finally, Maria’s husband surfaces (after having had a 3 course breakfast) and says he will take us to the albergue. It was basic to say the least. !!!!!

Spen trying to feel at home

 There were no infected sheets or blankets, just a pile of mattresses and 2 beds.  We don’t have sheets or blankets so I am not sure how we will pass the night, it gets cold up here. Stay posted

Day 34 and 35 Salamanca to Montamarta

Day 34                     Salamanca to Zamora                          17kms walking,  42 km by bus              

Just like in life, one must carefully choose their battles and today we chose to let the heat win. These last few days we have had record setting temperatures of above 40 degrees. It was 41.4 degrees. The last record was 41degrees in 1994. In that kind of heat it is impossible to walk past 10am, and even that is pushing it. Yesterday morning, whilst having breakfast, we met another pilgrim from Romania. He told us how this was his third pilgrimage, how he started in Seville but was now abandoning the trip here in Salamanca. He felt it was too dangerous to continue. He was alone and felt that if he twisted or broke an ankle and wasn’t found, he would die alone in the heat. He recanted how he got lost between Canaveral and Galisteo just like we had and had to cross the river by dragging himself across a log. (we found a small bridge) With his words resonating in my head and visions of buzzards swirling overhead and knowing the next 50kms were on a stretch of road with NO shade, I pleaded with Spencer to let us take the bus to Zamora.

The long, hot road

 

We walked 17kms to the first village of Calzada de Valdunciel and caught a bus to Zamora.

Zamora is the city with the most Romanesque churches in all of Europe. Unfortunately due to the record setting heat temperatures we couldn’t sightsee as much as we wanted to. 

 

Day 35                               Zamora to Montamarta                                             20kms

We left Zamora this morning at 5:30am only to find the streets teeming with party goers from the night before. We walked out of our hostel and were greeted by a stream of teenagers asking what we were doing and where we were going. They were such fun, not at all scary or drunk, just still out enjoying themselves. These past few days have been “Zamora Fiesta Days” The festivities don’t start until midnight and continue until about 6 am. Of course we couldn’t stay up for the events but we watched them set up all the platforms.

We walked for about 4hrs and came to Montamarta.

Entering Montamarta

 We had made a reservation in a Casa Rural for tonight. I told the woman we would be arriving around 11 am. We arrived at the house, knocked,.. phoned, waited ….waited….waited, only to find out from neighbours, the owner had been to the fiestas last night and was sleeping. Suddenly this tiny man rode by on a bicycle and asked what we were up to.

 We told him we needed a place and he took us to his cousin’s house for about ½ the price of the other one. But, you get what you pay for! The place was a little grimy, the sheets a little gritty and who knows how many people have slept on them?? Based on the numbers of hairs, I suspect quite a few. Am I a princess or what?

Here in Montamarta they have a funny tradition. On January 6^th, all the kids that turn 18 years old, dress up as a “Zangarron” and run around the village terrorizing people. It is unique to this village. Interesting! Maybe it is a good way to let kids “sow their wild oats” in a controlled manner?

The Zangarron costume