Songs of birds in Galicia from Kin-Mun Kan on Vimeo.
We intentionally chose to walk our second Camino in a different season from the first.
Two years ago in autumn, the grain fields were either bare or golden yellow. The grapes were on the vines ready for harvesting or picking by passing pilgrims and wild berries were plentiful by the roadside.
This time, in spring, the fields were green with new plantings, and the vines were freshly pruned for new growth. So were the trees that lined the espolons of Burgos and Leon.
In spring, the country seemed full of life; the birds were chatty and the highly perched storks were at their nests which were deserted previously. Roses wild and cultivated, like the wild flowers, were in full bloom. In Galicia their scent even overpowered that of the fresh cow dung, which are always plentiful.
For walkers May was more comfortable but still warm in the blistering sun at midday but not as unbearable as in autumn.The Pyrenees was freezing cold and wet; we were actually fortunate as those who crossed over the day before and after were met with sleet and snow. Perhaps there isn't a good season there!
The most obvious change for pilgrims is the dramatic increase in their numbers. There are many now who have prebooked accommodations through travel companies that bulk reserve rooms, leaving limited choices for individuals like us unless we choose to stay in albergues where the "true pilgrims " stay; nothing wrong with that of course, as many would say.
An interesting part of the Camino is in meeting fellow walkers, exchanging stories and experiences - the Canadian banker who changed his job to retrain as a nurse; the Czech who worked for radio Free Europe thinking about his future; the mother and two young children walking for the Dad who just died; the father and son striving for a new bonding; the determined French woman on her 9th Camino, the young Japanese girl on her own with limited English (and Spanish ) and many, many more.
There were those driven by religion or spiritual causes; some strove with raw energy determined to finish without distractions.
Unfortunately we also saw many who ended up with injuries through lack of care or over enthusiasm. An education for everyone.
We walked into Sarria in glorious weather, which Galicia is never known for. For once we were lucky; two years ago it rained every single of the days we walked in this province and only stopped when we arrived.
Sarria is our final destination for our second Camino, which is rather strange because this is where many start on the walking pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, just more than 100km away. One needs only to walk from here to qualify for the "compostela" or certficate at the end.
We leave by train tomorrow for Madrid.
We complain often about the one particular challenge of the pilgrimage - that which relates to food. The breakfast served is often too light, the cuisine offered in the villages limited (sandwiches, potato tortillas, Spanish ham) and restaurants don't open till very late (usually not earlier than 8pm sometimes 9pm). It is often worse in Galicia where the sun is up till late this time of the year.
Still, we continue to learn, cope and discover. This may only be our second Camino but it's already our 4th trip to Spain, so we should know or have learnt! Soups are often available any time of the day when we asked and they are quite good. The unappealing blood and rice sausage turned out to be quite tasty , and when requested they would usually heat up the potato tortillas to make it more palatable.
At Triacastela, octopus was on the eonomical menu del diaz; perhaps the Spanish people have stopped being self concious about their exotic dishes and are now offering them to the pilgrims. Best of all many casa rurales (B&B) and small hotels have offered dinners at earlier times. Last night we had dinner at previously unheard time of 7 pm, a time that is very respectful of walkers who need to rest early for an early rise the next day.
Today we will walk our last 9 km to Sarria and end our Casino there.
We chose to take a route to Sarria that is different from our previous Camino, one that goes via Samos famous for its largest monastery in the western world.
The path to Sam's was typically Galician, winding path through forests and farms with trees covered with moss and creepers, evidence of high rainfall in the province. Unlike our previous though the sky was blue and the ground dry and even dusty.
The sight that greeted us as we scaled the last of the small hills was worth all the trouble - the grand St Julian monastery from above.
We were even more thrilled to find a conducted tour of the monastery in English for the bennefit of just two of us.
We discovered that the place we booked was actually another 4km on and run by someone who less English than Kay speaks Spanish. Thankfully the lady bar owner helped by phoning for us and soon a car was sent to bring us to the location.
Scaling Cebreiro, the 1300m peak is not too difficult for most people but it was certainly strenuous. It took us more than 3 hours not counting the two stops, one for a drink the other a bowl of Galician vegetable soup.
Just before reaching Cebreiro we crossed into Galicia province .
One pleasure of the Camino is the meeting of different people of different origins. There are occasional surprises when we meet people closer to home. A real surprise greeted us at Laguna village when we found the American lady in the next table had spent time at Macquarie Uni just down the road from us.
Another surprise greeted us at our accommodation near Triacastela (Cebreiro being fully booked ) when we found another couple there were practically our neighbours back in Sydney !
We travelled more than 150km to end up at Las Herrerias at the foot of O Cebreiro, a journey that would have taken us 10 days to walk at our leisurely pace. We had gone from a busy urban centre to a tranquil rural environment. We cut across the Montes de Leon (the mountains of Leon ), through mountains and deep valleys and bypassing the string of villages and towns like Astorga, Foncebadon and Rabanal that we walked through 2 years ago. The views were perhaps better from the bus given the higher elevation though of course they were only fleeting.
Beautiful Leon cathedral, wish l have my wide angle lens with me.
We arrived by bus from Sahagun after the driver pitied us and let us get on even though we did not prebook and prepay for our ticket; no one told us we needed to and we not know to ask. We did the honest thing by paying at the bus terminal on arrival.
The objective is to Herrerias tomorrow, a small village at the foot of a mountain range from where we would walk up to the top O Cebreiro requiring a climb of 800 m over 8 km.
Spain is on the western the time zone so even though it is still spring the sunset is late and twilight lingers on till around 10 pm which suits the local late dinner habits not so much for those who want to get to bed early for an early walking start
We have a few more kilometres to walk on the meseta, the length limited by the number of days we have left of our trip and the other items we still have on our to do list. (photo shows rest area on the meseta )
Buses don't stop anywhere near Calzadilla so we will walk till we hit a village along the main road possibly Terrillinos some 8km away. From there we will get a taxi to Sahagun, the regional centre with good train and bus services to Leon from where we will go on to Galicia.
Dramatic news in Leon few days ago - a prominent woman politician was shot dead.
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