We had some of the best walking today as we finished our first five days before our rest day. Our journey took us along the Río Oribio which became the Río Sarria. There were many side streams joining the river which gradually increased in flow. At the beginning of the walk, the rocks were weeping …
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Day 4 O Cebreiro to Triacastela
Over night the fog had descended. I had hoped to see the Milky Way the previous evening, which is reputed to be spectacular at this height, but it was not to be as there was complete cloud cover. It was about 5° as we set off in the damp air. There was no wind but …
Day 3 – Las Herrerías to O Cebreiro
Our journey third day took us to the heart of the re-energised Camino. Dom Elias Valiña Sampedro was born in nearby Sarria and appointed priest for the small, impoverished village of O Cebreiro in 1959. The Camino de Santiago had largely fallen away. Valiña wrote at large about the Camino and redefined the route. In …
Day 2 – Villafranca del Bierzo to Las Herrerías
Our 21 km route today was a steady uphill climb through wooded hills. We followed a river up the valley. Our walking was much more enjoyable today than yesterday. We now feel settled into the venture. In the last two years we have travelled down to Spain more slowly by train or by boat. A …
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Day 1 – Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierzo
It was good to be back on the road again but we both found it surprisingly tiring. At the beginning of April we walked four similar days to today’s effort along the South Downs Way which seemed much easier. Hopefully we will get our legs back in order over the next few days. Otherwise it’s …
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Camino Francés part three
We’ve arrived back for the third and last stage of our Camino across northern Spain. Our preference would have been to take the train but that was all rather convoluted and complicated. So today we flew to Santiago de Compastela (both agreeing the train is more pleasant) and had arranged for a car to take …
Day 14 – Acebo to Ponferrada
The path today was 16 km mostly downhill. We haven’t been below 600 metres for more than two weeks. We had to pick our way down steadily as it was rather steep and rocky at times. Fortunately we had no slips. The flowers were magnificent. Cistus was just coming out and what I take to …
Day 13 – Rabanal del Camino to Acebo
Today we went over the highest point of the Camino Francés. It was a steady climb up and rather steeper coming down. The 17 km was dominated by the 445 metres of ascent and descent leaving us at much the same altitude as last evening. It was good to be in the mountains again with …
Day 12 – Astorga to Rabanal del Camino
Today we started our walk up over the highest point on the Camino. On our way out of Astorga we passed an interesting modern church which was attractive both inside and out. The path was mostly a moderate gradient with only one or two steep sections. We went through a couple of pleasant mountain villages. …
Day 11 – Villavante to Astorga
It was an easier day today after yesterday’s epic walk. We started out over more flat fields accompanied by the sound of frogs in the irrigation ditches getting all excited about each other. It’s that time of year. The Puente de Órbigo was an impressive old bridge built upon Roman piers. In previous centuries this …
Julian and Beryl's camino 