Pilgrims on the Way

Like El Acebo before it, Riego de Ambrós is a clean and well-kept village. Tidy, even. It is, however, seemingly bereft of inhabitants. The official population is 40, which seems high to me. Three years later, in 2016, we stayed here and it was as if there were no people but pilgrims here after dark. Date: 22 April 2013Place: Riego […]

A little bit before Riego de Ambrós the Camino leaves the highway in favour of walking on a rough path somewhat beside it. The slow descent into this village is nowhere near the goat path down into El Acebo, but it’s a brief respite before a really big drop coming up. This is a good view of the two sorts […]

After El Acebo, we’ve got some roadwalking. The view, however, more than makes up for this, as we look into the panorama of the great valley of El Bierzo. This region, squashed between León and Galicia, has its own distinctive culture and history, which we will explore somewhat in the coming days. Date: 22 April 2013Place: between El Acebo and […]

Once you get past the cafés at the start of El Acebo, the village almost looks like an old movie set. The houses are all of a design, and if it weren’t of the overhead wires, you might almost imagine yourself walking around in the 18th century. Date: 22 April 2013Place: El Acebo (Region of El Bierzo, Province of León, […]

After scrambling down “the goat path”, we come to the village of El Acebo and, perhaps more importantly, its cafés. There are two of them, roughly across the main street from each other. We had a late (~2pm) lunch in this one, where we met up with several pilgrims from earlier in the Camino. Cliff from Massachusetts caught up with […]

Although we’ve used the designation for other, similar paths, Francine first named the descent into the village of El Acebo “the goat path”, and the name sort of stuck. We now use it as a general description of these sorts of rocky, treacherous downhill bits – but this was the original. And yes, it’s exactly as steep as it appears. […]

After Manjarín the Camino follows a dirt and gravel path that parallels the highway, sometimes taking a much steeper route than the highway switchbacks. The going was only a little rough, but the view was pretty good. Of course, being up in the hills means that eventually you have to come down. Date: 22 April 2013Place: between Manjarín and El […]

About thirty minutes past Cruz de Ferro, the Camino comes to the mostly ruined village of Manjarín, population 1. The only actual standing building here is this crazy-fantastic albergue, the Refugio de Manjarín, where you can get a cup of coffee or sleep in what is essentially a stable with no running water. I hear the evening pilgrim dinners are […]

After Cruz de Ferro, the Camino traverses some scrubby ground with views of the surrounding hills and the mountains ahead. Off to the left, you can see a fire in the hills. Eventually, we saw two helicopters come to put it out. I suspect that as dry as this area gets, brush fires are common. I recall seeing a fire […]