Camino : Villares de Orbigo to Foncebadón

I started walking at 7:45, after spending over 11 hours in bed and really getting a great night's rest.

A half hour in the walk, the sun was rising, and the sky turned into beautiful colors.

It was a great sight to see the sun peak out from the horizon.

Another pilgrim came from behind me and started talking to me, I recognized him as my bunkmate from a couple of days ago in Léon.

It was beginning to be quite steep, and I kept walking up the relentless hill. At the crest was a crossroad and a nice spot to take the picture. I ran across a Hungarian person who was from near Budapest by the name of Martha.

The young guy, my bunkmate from Léon, was a 22-year-old Italian student, studying International Relations, and had a few months before the last year began for his bachelor's degree.

I asked him why he was walking, and he said, “I don’t know. But this is a long road, and something will happen”. He was quite tall and with his long stride, he literally left me in the dust.

As I kept walking, after a mile or so, I came across an oasis of sorts. It was set in an orchard, had a nice garden, sofas, old wooden chairs, a hammock, and offered lots of different types of foods and drinks. A person with a very peaceful face was playing a guitar.

A few pilgrims walked by, but nobody stopped there. I asked the peaceful guitarist, whose name was Kevin, why people don’t stop. He said that they only stop when is very hot or when it is the later part of the day. During the early hours of the morning, people just choose to continue walking.

Sitting down, I helped myself to some coffee, yogurt, a boiled egg, freshly baked bread and some olives. All of this was free, and people had a choice to leave a donation. They also had a composting bin. I was rejuvenated from my 5 mile walk so far and took the silla (stamp) they had on my credential and continued.

About five minutes later, I saw someone approaching me walking briskly and I discovered it was Norwegian Anne from yesterday, the fast walker. She had stayed in some other Albergue, which had no running water, no internal plumbing but an outhouse, no heating, all leading to a little bit of a miserable existence.

We walked together for a bit, but her superpower was walking briskly uphill, and she said she slowed down going downhill. It so happens that my superpower is running downhill at full force, so I lost her in the subsequent steep downhill and never saw her again for the rest of the day.

In the distance, I could see a city. I was planning to stop and have something to eat as well as get some coffee.

There was an interesting sculpture of a modern pilgrim with his sleeping bag and sleeping pad, the two items that I had sent away because my backpack was too heavy.

I sat outside and had 'pan con tomate', basically toasted bread with tomato paste in olive oil, that tastes delicious. Next to me was a couple which happened to be from San Francisco. We talked as if we were long lost friends and they told me that it was their last day on the Camino and they were going to stop at Astorga. The husband wanted to continue walking further but had no recourse against his wife's wishes.

A metallic bridge across the river represented the continuation of the path.

In my prior stop, I also saw Dwayne and Laurie from Saskatoon, Canada and they were afraid of jinxing themselves by saying they want to go to Santiago de Compostela. This was because they were on the third attempt.

The snow clad mountains at a distance juxtaposed against the green farmlands made for a very pretty scene.

I could see Astorga in the distance and it’s huge cathedral loomed large.

There was a railroad crossing and the only way to cross it was by using the structure above. It had five switchbacks to go to the top, followed by an equal number coming down. I would much rather had one steep staircase to climb and descend. I wondered why that option was absent.

The town was situated on a bit of a hill and at the start of the hill was the name of the town in its old Roman form.

it was clear to me that the pilgrims who have been walking to Compostela for centuries are celebrated across Spain, given that there were so many different sculptures of pilgrims throughout the over 500 km I had traversed so far.

As with other towns, Astorga also had beautiful churches with really ornamental gates.

The main square of Astorga had a very large plaza with shops and restaurants on the side. It was a great time to take a break and enjoy the local cuisine.

After the usual coffee and croissant, I continued further and discovered that the town had many shops and it was one of the very big towns on the Camino.

It was interesting to see a shop selling huge pans for cooking paella.

A huge mural covering an entire side of the house showed a man enjoying the bounties of the region, wine, cheese, and bocadillos.

I came across the Gaudi museum of pilgrims, which look like a giant castle and had beautiful gardens. It had a entrance fee. I considered going in, but decided to continue marching ahead.

The ‘cathedral de Santa Maria de Astorga’ was right in front of me, one of the most ornate churches that I have seen so far. As I was admiring it, I ran across the couple from Saskatoon again.

The gothic gate and the carvings on the pillars of the saints and pilgrims were so detailed, and it was impressive that this artwork was more than 550 years old.

As I was exiting Astorga, I noticed a very cute looking Albergue for peregrinos, i.e. pilgrims.

Continuing through to the rural parts of the trail, I was back in nature, trees, farmland, mountains, and it was back to a very serene environment.

There was a spot next to a small river, with a place for rest as well as a water fountain for pilgrims.

In Villares de Órbigo, the lady who ran the Albergue had commented on the different types of construction methods, including some with rock foundations for a few feet above ground followed by mud walls. I could see them here in comparison to modern construction right next to it.

It was heartening to see the 800 km had whittled down to almost 250.

Passing through the next town of El Ganzo, the path continued through a very wooded, steep area with lots of loose rock making walking a bit difficult. The pebbles aggravate the blisters and each step has to be negotiated carefully.

Stopping to get a drink, I came across Thomas from Nurenberg near Munich, Germany. He was taking a break because his shins were hurting, and he had discovered a nearby monastery where he could spend a few days to recuperate.

After working for seven years in the public sector in Germany, he had quit his job and was going to spend some time hiking and discovering what he could do for rest of his life. He also wanted to get to United States and attempt to do some sections of the Appalachian Trail.

The ‘Church of the assumption’ at Rabanal Del Camino was an imposing figure. It was followed by a nice Calle Mayor, the main path through the town. Seeing a good looking restaurant, look who is there how are you doing, man? I can’t complain. I decided to enter.

This restaurant had Michelin rating for several years and the waiter was really very polite. For €15; I had a three course menu with a very good sweet white wine.

In the restaurant, I met a couple of ladies and they were from Namibia. I told them about my visit to Namibia and we got to talking.

they told me that the Dead Vlie that I visited above which was very dry, was full of water recently and people were swimming in it last they knew it.

They asked me where I was headed and I told them about the next town. They cautioned me that between the spot we were at and the next town, I had to climb more than 1100 feet in 6 km. It was already past 8 PM and sunset would be in a few minutes.

I did not mind the climb, I was the only person walking, the path was very beautiful, although there was a steady stream of water running down the hill and at many places it was very muddy, making crossing a little bit difficult.

Purple flower trees, were everywhere on the path along with yellow wildflowers.

The path was muddy, hilly and had lots of pebbles.

Just past Sunset, I could see the silhouette of the town I was going to spend the night at.

Finally, I arrived at the convent, which was also an Albergue.

The owner of the place stamped my credential and now I had two pages full of stamps.

After walking more than 27 miles, I was tired and promptly fell asleep.