Pilgrims on the Way

The Camino climbs out of the great valley of El Bierzo towards the Galician border. In my journal, I noted that I reckoned this the second biggest climb of the Camino Francés, after crossing the Pyrenees. Of course, after weeks of walking, pilgrims tend to be in much better shape than they were on day one, when they made the […]

Down by the banks of the rather grandly named Río das Lamas, we come to a refreshing place to stop for some water and a sit. I love these little spots. We are still very much within the bounds of the village of Las Herrerías. In fact, although we see a meadow in front of us, behind us are the […]

As the Camino approaches the Galician border, we pass through a series of small hill villages and hamlets separated by increasingly steep uphill roads and paths. This particularly delightful building is near the start of the long, strung-out village of Las Herrerías. Once you get a little past this place, there’s a long section along the road where the village […]

Although it’s hard to tell, we are already beginning the slow uphill climb to the steep uphill climb to O Cebreiro. I believe the village in the distance here is Herrerias, which means that we are passing, or have just passed, the hillside refuge of the hermit San Frolián. Anyway, it was a gorgeous morning for a walk. Date: 25 […]

As we enter the hamlet of Ruitelán (population 31), you can get a pretty good view of those crazy flying bridges that the freeways use to avoid this valley altogether. As for the village itself, the only real claim to fame is that San Frolián (whose feast was celebrated yesterday, on October 5th) established his hermitage near here in the […]

Well, the ruins of a castle, anyway. Upon the hill to the left stand the ruins of the Castillo de Sarracín. Despite the similarity of names, the castle has nothing to do with the Saracens, except perhaps that the Moors destroyed the original Christian castle on this site in the year 714. It was rebuilt by (or possibly for) a […]

We had planned to set out just after first light, but it was after 8:30 by the time we were one the road. Vega de Valcarce is a lovely little village, and despite the trouble we had getting there we very much enjoyed it. In fact, Iain and I spent some time in the local bar the previous night hanging […]

Day 24 dawned, and we had our first breakfast in Vega. After yesterday’s heat, we hoped to get to the top of the long coming hill quick as bunnies before lunching in O Cebreiro. We figured that after that, the altitude and forest cover of Galicia would mitigate the sun. Thanks to a good rest and copious amounts of water, […]

It was nearly six in the evening when we arrived at last in our stopping point for the day, the village of Vega de Valcarce. If you look over to the left, you can just see one of the crazy highway flying bridges that jump valleys all over Spain. They always freak me out, particularly being below them. Date: 24 […]

Somewhere past La Portela – I’m guessing in or near Ambasmestas – we saw this exceedingly unhelpful sign showing a sort of London Tube map of the next 60km or so of the Camino. It’s the sort of map that only helps if you already know where you’re going. Date: 24 April 2013Place: between La Portela and Vega de Valcarce […]