The hostel provided a thermos of coffee and do it yourself breakfast on a tray so I was fed and on the road by 6.45. I headed up the road less traveled, the high road via Pradela to Trabadelo which lived up to its reputation of being both very beautiful and very hard going. I passed only one person, a perigrina toiling away head down up the slope. Apart from her it was wild, desolate and cold, but covered in wild flowers and spectacular views. Before I left home I'd downloaded all the tracks to Santiago onto my GPS, and at one point it was telling me I'd missed a turn. I retraced my steps but could see nothing to suggest that the faint footpad heading off through the chestnuts was the right path, but I trusted the GPS and after a lot of twists and turns I arrived at the village back on the main trail. I don't know what happened to the perigrina behind me. Maybe she is still up there somewhere.
The way goes through the Valcarse valley, the upper reaches of which are in my opinion some of the most beautiful on the Camino. Trouble is everyone is too stuffed to notice. There were a lot of tired looking people out there today, especially along the last 8 k when the grade kicks up. I was one of them.
After visiting the beautiful church of Santa Maria with its 12th century statue of Madonna and child, and after lighting a couple of candles, I retired for a bit of a lie down, and passed out till 6.
Being in Galicia now I thought I should sample the local delicacy Pulpo, steamed octopus. Perhaps not the greatest dinner idea and a bit of a struggle to finish the specially heaped wooden platter the senora proudly presented to me. But it is all very colourful and relaxed here. The guy who runs the bar is sitting out in the last of the afternoon sun playing Galician bagpipes - or trying to. The patron sent me a glass of grapa as a nightcap, a nice gesture. I am crossing paths with some of the people from the early days today - nice to see familiar faces. I also met a fellow allergy sufferer who agreed that is the broom or cotton wood plants that are the culprit
Tomorrow a shortish day maybe, to Triacastela. Short but steep down hill which is hard work and can be tricky.
No comments:
Post a Comment