Day 29 - La Portela de Valcarce to Fonfria (27km)

We left again at 6.30am and for the first mile or two continued the journey of yesterday afternoon: walking the Camino along the valley floor by a main road near a river and shared with a motorway that would make regular appearances crossing the valley suspended high, high above on its long concrete supports. It then became a very rural walk; the main road became a narrow lane, the small river flowed and gurgled alongside and, after one last appearance high above, the motorway disappeared. We passed through three small villages stretched thinly along the road - Vega, Ruitelan, Herrerías - stopping for breakfast in the last. But then the day began.

                        

We now faced a 2000 foot climb to leave Castilla and Leon and enter the Galician hills. For half an hour the road gently steepened, the river gradually dropped away as the path rose up the valley and the sky seemed to slowly open up to meet you. It was overcast and mild, perfect for a steep hill climb. The route then left the road, entered the quiet closeness of the surrounding woodland and continued a winding steep ascent. After a hard climb it broke out into the openness of the summit ridge with a final gentle push towards the village of O'Cebreiro at the top and views of the Galician hills, the cloud base sitting just above.

Galicia

I shared lunch with a Canadian, American and Swede who I had chatted to on my way up and waited for Gale. It turned out that he knew the American from his first two days of walking and we swapped stories of Camino coincidences before Gale and I pressed on along a fairly flat track through the hills for another five miles. There has been a clear change of landscape and scenery since crossing into Galicia: green rolling hills extending to the horizon, small villages dotted around the base of the hills a thousand feet below us, and the continual clanging of cow bells from the surrounding countryside.

We are now in the small village of Fonfria and from the smells as we entered it seems pretty clear livestock farming is the area in which most people are employed. I am enjoying a glass of wine in front of the log burner of the small hostel we are in before dinner and looking at what tomorrow may bring in terms of weather, the route and our aim of catching up with Robin and the others in the next couple of days.