Day 2 Quiroga to Monforte ???kms. one source says 31, one 33 and one 39.
It was really hot in my room at night and very difficult to get to sleep. I put my alarm on for 07.00, I think I should have put it on for earlier but at least I got to a cafe at the same time as the bread lady. I had a café con leche and a 'crusan' (croissant to the uninitiated), the barman asked me if I wanted a café grande, I said yes, I could see some big mugs so I was really hopeful, but I only got a slightly larger cup than normal.
I started walking at about 07.45, there were street lights, so no problem. It was lovely and cool. By road, starting from the Albergue it was marked as 33, starting from the edge of town 31, from this same spot it said 17 kms to San Xoan de Rio, it was at this point that I started to doubt my sanity.
Till 26 kms from Monforte it was a walk along the road and then it was a turn up and off the road, just a dirt track for the next 8 kms or so, through a pine forest, lots of ups but the inclines were not too steep. I knew it would be 16 kms to Barxa de Lor, where I hoped to get another coffee, I reckoned that that would be the halfway point.
It got hotter and hotter, the walk through the pine forest was long and there was absolutely no where to sit down and have a break, I was desparate for a break after about 10kms and I spent a long time just looking for a rock or raised place where I could stop, eventually I found a slightly raised place but I couldn't really take the weight off my feet.
Not sure about this sign, straight up to heaven I think!
Then onto Barxa, it wasn't really a village, just a few houses and a bridge and no café. There was a map which said that it was still 19.9kms to Monforte, according to my info I had alredy walked 11.
From there to Pueblo de Brollon it was 8.5 kms and this became a real struggle as it was getting hotter and hotter. I got there at 13.30, which was more or less what I had expected. I had a break at a bar, took my boots off and had 2 beers and 2 tapas. They told me it was 13kms from there to Monforte! I think it may have been about 10 to the outskirts, it was uphill and very hot, I reckoned that I should arrive at Regueiro, the village before at about 16.20, I was really tired and walking slower and slower, I started to get the idea that the village would just arrive at 16.20! Then I saw sense, and the top of the hill, and I started to walk more quickly. I could see Monforte, but what a struggle the last few kilometres were. Finally I made it, the last stretch was like walking through a stream, there were 3 separate water spouts draining onto the path.
There are hostals and pensions near the station but I wanted to be near the way out of town so I planned to go to The Hostal Puente Romano, but apparently the hostal was full, it was Fiesta in Monforte, so I ended up in the hotel next door, but I had a TV :) For the first time ever on a camino I took an Ibruprofen in the evening, I ached and hurt everywhere, I got some snacks and some cider and rested on the bed watching TV.
Day 3 Monforte to Chantada 29kms +++
A great nights sleep, with earplugs, because of the fiesta and the birds and ducks outside my window! I put my alarm on for 6.30 but woke up at 6.20 so got up then. The cafeteria next door was supposed to open at 07.00 but it didn't, so I started to walk slowly, hoping to find a bar open. I got right to the end of town, then found a service station, with a shop and coffee machine. I had a machine coffee and an awful waffle type thing, but at least it was breakfast, and they had a table and chairs outside, pure luxury! from there I started walking, in the dark, but it was straight up a very quiet road, I wore my reflective jacket and had a torch. I put a new battery in the torch when I packed it but I must have left it on, inadvertently, when I got to Quiroga the batteries had died, fortunately I had bought some more in Monforte. the walk started well but when I got to the village of A Vide my guide said, 'walk through the village', there was a shell pointing up into the village, so I went that way, then there were no more signs, I walked further up, still no signs, then an elderly man arrived in a car, he pointed me around a corner and down the road, it would have been much shorter to have gone back the way I came, I did a complete circular tour, eventually I got back onto the main road and found the turn off, it was a narrow, overgrown path, a bramble caught my hand and it itched for ages. I can`t understand why the camino went down such an awful path, we came to a decent path, I'm sure there must have been a better way to reach it. my guide said 'follow the wide earth path', we came to a 'mojon' (a granite structure that should have a shell tile), this lead to the left on another over grown path, and someone had removed the shell, I assumed that this was because it was a mistake, the mojon had been put in the wrong place, so the shell had been removed on purpose. So I followed the wide path, for about 1 to 1 and a half kms, then I realised it couldn't possibly be that path so I had to go back. The other path was completely overgrown with small oak plants and gorse, I'm sure if I had taken that path first I would still have turned around after a while, anyway I persisted and eventually came to a sign. I had really hit 'the wall' today, the whole day was an effort and adding an extra 3 or 4 kms was the last thing I needed. Fortunately the walk was flat and there were lots of little villages so it was possible to see progress but the distance markers are crap. The mojones had the distance to Santiago painted on them but I am sure that I saw the same distance painted on 2 consecutive ones. As I left Monforte the mojon said 121.? to Santiago, if it were really 29kms to Chantada then Chantada should be 92 kms, which it was when I left, but at Balasar the mojon said 96 and there were signs up saying 14 kms to Chantada, it was all so dissapointing, it became rubbish.
At lunch time I sat on a wall to eat, a rice pudding and a pear, I had already eaten 2 peaches I had acquired, the peaches are just falling off the trees and rotting, but it dawned on me that I was not eating properly and I resolved that I would find somewhere to eat properly in the evening. I don't normally have this problem as I stay in albergues with kitchens and it is not difficult to eat well at a reasonable hour, but there was no chance for self catering this time and I was far too tired, and my feet hurt to much for me to go far in the evening, but I resolved that I would have a meal in Chantada.
After my 'lunch' I carried on walking and got to Diamondi, where I wanted to see the church, but I never even noticed it. I saw the 100km mark!
From here there was a 2.6 km walk down to the Mino, this was steep and on a horribly rocky roman road, I've gone right off the Roman road makers! Of course, being Galicia, once you walk down to a bridge you have to walk back up again, fortunately the route up was not nearly as bad as the path down.
My info told me that when I got to the river I would be 23kms from Monforte, which should have meant that I had 6 kms left to walk, but it also told me that I had a 2.5km walk up then a 5km walk to Chantada (8kms)!! I struggled on and eventually got to Chantada, I saw a lovely bar by the river and was tempted to stop for a beer but I decided to get rid of my stuff first, and be sure that I had a bed for the nght. I had a map of Chantada and had marked where I thought there was a Hostal. but I couldn't find it. I hadn't realised that I was standing by a taxi rank, eventually a taxi driver came and asked me if I was looking for the Camino de Santiago!? Any way he pointed me in the direction of the Hostal, it is a very old-fashioned Pension, but I got a room, with a shower down the corridor. I washed some clothes and hung them on a clothes hangar in the window, then I went out. First: a beer; then the Tourist Office for a stamp, the alternative option was to go to the 8pm Mass and I wasn't sure about making that, then I went down to the Restaurant by the river and found that they did food. They were happy to cook me a meal, at 18.45 in Spain! I was very impressed. I had a lovely meal and then went to the church, for the Mass and for the stamp in my 'credencial', (for the stamp the priest took me through to another church and we sat and had a chat, he impressed me very much). Then blesssed, both corporeally and spiritually, I went to bed.
The Tourist Office, Chantada.
Day 4 Chantada to Oseira, 23kms.
This is a detour, I was changing from the Camino de Invierno to the Via de la Plata. I had planned my route on Google, I had also miscounted, I thought it was only 20kms. Any way I got up at 07.00 and went for breakfast, I had a lovely big cup of coffee but the 'panadera' was late, so no croissant. then I started, I found the exit I wanted and walked up the road I thought I was to take, but something went wrong. I was supposed to walk 4.4kms up this road but after about 3 the road stopped, more surprisingly I found a sign for the camino, it would have been shorter to have followed the camino out of town!. I decided to follow the camino a little as it seemed to be going in the right direction, it was a dirt track, running close to the main road, after a while it crossed a minor road. I decided to walk down the minor road, very quickly I came to a kilometer sign which said that this was the LU 1002, I looked at my directions and found that I was supposed to turn onto the LU1002 later on, so I continued. I had no idea where I was, I passed lots of turn-offs but none of them were marked, so I just walked. I was walking well my block was gone. I stopped for a drink and break when I reckoned that I had done about 9kms, then a couple of kilometers later I came to the junction that would have brought me onto this road, from now on I could follow my instructions, but I barely needed them as shortly afterwards I came to signs for Oseira and after this the road was signed all the way. It was a bit up and down hill, but not too bad.
My first view of Oseira in the distance.
I intended to stop for a drink in Furco, when I got there I decided that it didn't look as if there was a bar but as I walked up the road I saw a sign so I went back. I had a lovely beer and then the landlady pointed me to a short cut back onto the road. 7.5kms more to walk.
Getting closer!
The Albergue
I arrived about 1.30, I thought I would have to wait but the Albergue was open, so I found a bed and showered, then went for lunch.
The Albergue has a microwave so I can make myself a cup of tea! Well an infusion!
I went for a tour of the monastery in the afternoon, there are some impressive parts. Then in the evening I went to Vespers, in the choir, with the monks. It would have been lovely to have been able to listen to the voices of the monks, there are only 14 but they sing well, but the woman next to me kept joining in, she is obviously very musical and enjoyed it but her pleasure detracted from mine.
We didn't have to be out until 09.00 in the morning. The Monk's Sung Mass is at 11.30, so I planned to have a late start and to get up as late as possible. I was aiming on a very long breakfast!
There were 2 French women, one of whom was doing the singing, they spent the entire afternoon asleep and then spent the evening looking for something to make a drink with in the morning, I reckoned that if they were planning to leave early, and to start pinging the microwave at 6 they would be most unpopular. There had been a German girl but she left in the evening, her original plan was to walk 40 kms the next day but when she heard it was likely to rain she decided to continue and do the 10 kms to the next albergue. we were 6 that night, 2 French, 1 German, 1 Spaniard, 1 Portuguese and me. It was the first time I had seen other pilgrims since I started.
There was a wedding in the church in the afternoon. The bride arrived in a London taxi, I can't imagine any bride in London wanting to do that, it is strange how points of view change. There were lots of tourists and visitors and they all thought this taxi was really special!
Sunday, Day 5 Oseira to Dozon +/- 13 kms
I lay in bed for as long as I could, by about 07.30 it was getting difficult to stay put. Someone told me it was raining, when I got up and looked out it was raining 'stair rods'. I went out at 8.30, to try and find breakfast, by this time it had stopped raining, fortunately. Nothing was open, then I was told they would open at 9, at 9 still nothing was open, then someone else said; 'Between 9 and 9.30.' In order to kill time waiting for something to open we were all walking around, a rather pointless exercise for people who were walking so many kilometres per day. Eventually a bar opened, then more pilgrims arrived, they had walked from Cea, for Mass, they had got thoroughly drenched in the rain. The rain had stopped and we had a communal hour in the bar but there is only so long you can spend over a cup of coffee. Once again we all started to walk around, eventually it was time for Mass. What impressed me most about the Mass was the slow movement of everything. Life is lived at a quick pace these days, we rush from one task to the next. I don't go to Mass very often but I went to a funeral in the village, it seemed like the priest was rushing to catch a bus. This Mass was devotional, it was not just something to be got through but part of the lives of the monks.
After mass I rushed off for the walk to Dozon, once again there were discrepancies about the distance.
Leaving the Monastery.
The walk started with a steep climb, then it started raining, only a little at first, then it got heavier and heavier. It was actually more enjoyable walking in the rain than it had been walking in the intense heat of the earlier days, except that heat does dry clothing! There was also a very strong wind, the rain was coming almost horizontally at times. At one moment the rain stopped and I thought the wind would dry me but it was a short respite and it continued even more strongly. I hadn't put on my waterproof trousers because it wasn't raining when I left, I just got wetter and wetter, there is something liberating in being as wet as one can possibly get and I had planned to change my clothes anyway!
All went well. I thought I was making good progress, I went through a village which was having a market, or something, and I bought 2 large plums, I already had pasta and a chorizo so I had almost all I needed for my evening meal. At the next village I discovered there were no arrows, there was no way I was going to walk back to look for one and I could see the main road so I went to the road and turned right, I was fairly certain that that was the correct way. It took a while but I got to Dozon, I must have walked a bit out of my way as I arrived at the same time as others who had started after me and who professed to walk more slowly.
Some of the signs on the route from Oseira.
The only thing lacking for my meal was a drink so I went to the bar in the town and bought a bottle of wine, now I was set, no further need to go out.
We were 9, 5 from the previous night (the Portuguese lad planned to walk to Laxe) and 4 new faces. The 2 French women were a bit strange, 1 could speak Spanish, the other not but they don't mix and they moan a lot. Of the others 4 were Spanish, 1 German, 1 Irish and me, the common language was Spanish and the atmosphere was good. The place looked like a Chinese laundry, essentially I just put my clothes in a plastic bag and left them for the next day but some things; jacket, boots etc. had to be dried. I cooked myself a meal, shared my wine with the Irish lad, who was cycling but had got lost and rather frightened himself, I had everything I needed and was happy, especially when the hospitalero turned up and got the heating going. The others were all worried about food and not at all excited at the prospect of walking to the bar but the hospitalero told them of a restaurant that might be willing to pick them up, and it was, so they were happy too. only the French were not so happy, they didn't have proper sleeping bags and there were no blankets here, and they had walked to the bar in the rain!
Day 6 Dozon to Silleda 29 kms
The last long day!
It took me a long time to go to sleep, my legs wouldn't relax. Usually, on the camino, I go to bed early, just to rest my legs, but this time I was going to bed later. My mind wanted to relax but my legs wouldn't. Eventually I got to sleep, I had put in earplugs as the wall heater was noisy. I had a really strange sensation that my bed kept moving but finally I slept. I was woken by someone's torch, it was pitch black outside but I decided to check the time, it was 07.25!! No-one had got up early. I got up and made myself a warm chocolate drink, by the time I had finished everyone was moving and the light was on. It was cloudy but not raining but I decided that I would be prepared, I was wearing leggings and put my waterproof trousers on top. All started well. I was using Mundicamino distances again. I walked 8 or 9 kilometres and found a bar for my morning coffee. When I left the barman told me of a short cut to get back to the camino, that was a bad move, I waked the wrong way for about 5 minutes, then I had to walk back. When I got back I met up with the Spanish group, it is strange to see other pilgrims on this camino, this was my 6th day of walking and the first time I met others.
For a while I walked quickly, then stopped for my next break, I was quickly joined by the others. The last, however many kilometres were slow progress. My info said 10 kms, a sign on the road said 6.6!
The ancient bridge between Lalin and Silleda. My camera had steamed up. I was damp but not soaking, it rained but not as heavily as the previous day. my walking got slower and slower, I was very grateful to arrive in Silleda, I got a room to myself. my clothes all got washed and dried, there was internet access close by and a supermarket. It is a private Albergue, the owner had been out to Dozon the previous evening to push it, he is a real entrepreneur and has a casa Rural as well, and the bar next door. The Albergue covers 3 floors of an apartment block, it is run by a young girl, I thought she was Portuguese but she was Romanian. She works all day, cleaning, washing the bedding, clothes etc. She was really sweet and cheerful. Day7 Silleda to Vedra 23kms Another wety day!
I was a bit cold the night before. I knew there were blankets but I was too lazy to go and get one:) I put my alarm on for 6.40 as the bar opened for breakfast at 7. I wanted to start early so I could arrive at a reasonable time and dry out. The walk was very pleasant but there were moments when it really poured down. I stopped for coffee and took off my wet jacket, it was miserable putting it back on as it had cooled down. The Albergue in Vedra is out in the country so I stopped at Dia in Ponte Ulla to stock up on food for the rest of the day. I became very aware of how wet my boots had become, this was the first time I found myself really squelching. The next 3 kms were all uphill but every step made it less for the next, and final, day and the walk to Santiago. The Albergue has a sitting room and TV and the hospitalera will prepare meals for those who want. The majority sat and relaxed and watched the TV and the rain. Some people chose to continue to Santiago, on the principle that, as they were soaking wet any way it was better than getting wet yet one more day. The Albergue filled up as one dormitory was being fumigated! There were discussions about what time to get up as everyone wanted to be in Santiago by 12, it is funny how long it seems to take some people to get ready!
Day 8 Vedra to Santiago 17kms
People started getting up at 6, I didn't really want to get up till 7 as I didn't want to walk in the dark but in the end I got up earlier. We were all up by 7 but we couldn't put the light on, this was very weird. My boots were still very wet, this was worrying as I new I would have to wear them all day, until I got home in the evening. I started walking at 7.15, once again with my tiny torch. I managed, eventually I went wrong somewhere but it was daylight by then. I ended up on the road, this was not a major problem but I did not want to end up having to walk into Santiago on the road. I needn't have worried there were plenty of opportunities for getting back. Mine came when I saw 2 pilgrims walking down a track towards the road, then turning off, so I went that way too. It was a pleasant walk, it rained a bit but not too much. I think it was one of the pleasantest walks into Santiago that I have done.
First view of the Cathedral
A bit closer!
When I got to Santiago I went into the Cathedral and saw the Botafumeiro was up, so I went quickly to the Pilgrim's Office, then for a cup of coffee, then back to Mass, of course, by this time, the Cathedral was packed. There was a choir there singing, I'm not sure where they were from. After Mass I saw some of the other people, had a drink and headed to the bus station for the journey home.
Reflections
This was a very interesting camino. I always reckon that doing the camino is like having a baby, it hurts like hell but you quickly forget the pain. I do think this one hurt more than others, I reckon this was because of: the longer stages at the beginning; the heat, which was far too much for me; the lack of coffee stops, it was worse than the Via de la Plata; and the difficulty in finding places to eat (at a time that I wanted to eat).
I have met some people who have impressed me greatly, it also left me very emotional, I cried when I went into the Cathedral, I have never done that before, but that could have been from sheer exhaustion.
2 weeks time I start out from Toulouse!!!
