Camino: Villafranca del Bierzo to O Cebreiro

Villafranca del Bierzo

Today we get an early start at 8:30 to bus back to Villafranca del Bierzo and pick up where we left off. Alex briefed us last night that it will be difficult and longer, with an uphill climb of a couple thousand feet at the end to O Cebreiro which sits on the top of a hill.  Many of our number are looking to use the van for part of the way today. All of us are calculating whether this will be too difficult.

Our path out of Villafranca del Bierzo leads along the Valcarce river and a highway into or out of town.  There a few pilgrims out, and a few vehicles in the cool morning air.  The mountains around us are high, so the sunlight is only hitting the higher hills. We are in shadows.  We all are  walking at a much faster pace today.  It occurred to me that perhaps we were going too slowly yesterday. We got passed by so many pilgrims, and we passed very few if any ourselves.  I suspect the newness of the experience, the many opportunities to take photos, and the diverse conversations slowed us yesterday. Perhaps also we know that this will be a more difficult day because of the altitude we must climb to O Cebreiro. But at the start it is pretty flat.  

Pareje - the balcony

We barely paused at Pareje, which had the longest balcony in northern Spain (per my guidebook, which tends to provide such random facts) and a bar/restaurant where we got a stamp and some used the facilities.  There was much discussion of the words “servicios” and “WC” and how to pronounced them in Spanish.  If people keep asking for the baño someone will get a bath. We kept walking up along the national highway on a side path that once was painted yellow for the pilgrims.  It’s now quite faded, perhaps in recognition that the new super highway above us has taken most of the traffic away from this local two-lane highway.  

There was a coffee stop and checkpoint in Trabadelo, and then continued on.  There was a nice little stone church with Romanesque influence there, so we again got stamps.  As we walk along,  there are cows with their bells and some horses along the way, but farms seem small and there are almost no grape vines at all.  It is surprising how the vino culture dried up as soon as we left Villafranca del Bierzo.  There are lots of signs about fishing in the river, including many areas that are “catch and release” but also some river banks that are “prohibido de pescar” entirely.  The swift little river Valcarce is our constant companion, usually shaded, often surging along, and a little lower down on our left side.

I spoke today more with other pilgrims who are not part of our group.  Coming out of Trabadelo I struck up a conversation with a young Spanish girl who had just finished her university degree and who wanted to start a “casa rural” type of guest house with her “novio.”  We talked about the American movie about the Camino, “The Way,” which she had not seen.  Surprisingly, it has not been released yet in Spain, she said. (Later Alex told me it has been released, but for unexplained reasons made little impact among Spaniards here.)

I also talked with some Germans, a father and son team who had biked part of the way and were now walking more of the Camino. There were others with whom I had shorter conversations or listened to as we walked together.  Then there were the Austrians we talked about skiing with. Most of the Europeans can speak English, but Spanish is also often a lengua franca.

Saracen castle on the hilltop

I began to hope for a lunch stop as soon as I saw the sign saying “Vega de Valcarce 1 km.”  First that was an overlong one kilometer, and then we walked through the entire town without finding our bus, Celso, or lunch.  I did spot the ruins of the Saracen castle on the bluff overlooking the town, but that was little satisfaction because it was far too high to climb up and look at.  Eventually we did come to Alex in the road, who assured us that it is “just ten minutes” ahead to the lunch stop.  It was in fact almost to the next village, but it was fine when we got there and found Cate’s luncheon preparations. Ah, a chance to sit down!

After lunch, we began the much anticipated climb.  It started simply enough as we turned off the national highway and onto a small asphalt road that wound through Las Herrerias. That soon turned into a winding path that ascended through a forest of trees.  The camino did however become steeper and more rocky as we went up.  There were few other hikers seen, but we did pass a couple of people, including one couple where the girl was struggling – so much that Carl gave her a pull up the hill. (Don’t know how her boyfriend felt about that, but he was laboring under a large pack and was in no position to object.)

The hill just keeps going up, and at a considerable incline.  I used my walking poles to good effect, and I was glad I had shed my back pack and carried only my camera and a bottle of water. You fall into a rhythm of sticks and feet, a steady pace, up and up.  There really were not many pictures to take at this stage because all our effort went into the climb.

It got real steep and rocky.  I was walking up with Carl, using both sticks and leaning forward.  Just keep that rhythm going, putting one step after another. We stopped once in a while in the shade to catch our breath.  Fortunately, we were shaded by trees over the path most of the way.  Finally, at Laguna, where one should begin to see “horreos” but we don’t, about two or three miles before the finish, the tree cover opened up and we had great views out across the valley and toward the mountains in the distance. I found myself with Pat and Leslie and Maria.  Maria of course wanted to run up the path!

Finally, still climbing, we see the bus parked in a lot to one side.  But we could see that the top of the hill was to the right, so we perversely insisted on going up there.  Having climbed this far, nothing but the top will do.  We took pictures, made bets about the altitude and the temperature, and savored the hard-earned views in the afternoon sun.

Our accomplishment, as we stand on the hill above O Cebreiro, is a measured total of 18.6 miles walked in six hours and 16 minutes of moving time, and we reached an altitude of  4272 feet.   We started the day at about 1900 feet.  We never could figure out the air temperature, but it must have been about 65.

Below us, near the chapel and the rectory are the round, thatch-roofed “pallozas” that were the combination home and barn for early Galician people in this area. Our hotel is in fact the former monastery, and we're in the monks cells -- well, probably two monk cells per modern room.  And, each room has a bathroom with shower -- something the monks probably did not enjoy.

Dinner at the monastery, after evening mass, was quite good, if a bit rustic.