We all met in a restaurant close by my hotel and had breakfast together and decided to take the route via Samos some 6.5km longer than the traditional route (25km in all). This was a lovely route passing Renche on the way and crossing rivers on six separate occasions throughout the route which meant we were rising and falling for most of the route and the journey whilst very picturesque proved to be quite tiring too.
The route was quite boring to start with as we walked on the path that ran along the main road, that said we were following the rio Oribio valley so it was quite picturesque at times. We soon came to San Cristobo where we left the road and passed down the narrow streets of this village. As we approached the bridge I took the opportunity to take a photograph of the rest of the group walking over the bridge. And to our surprise I disturbed a pair of otters that promptly jumped on to the dam and dived seamlessly into the water pool one after the other. None of us had ever seen an otter in the wild before so this was an experience to treasure.
Samos is town that has a huge monastery. We stopped there to view the outside of the monastery buildings, and had a light lunch together. Time was of essence and so we decided to press on towards Sarria, rather that stay an extra hour to sample the inside of the monastery. But that way we made sure we all could get into the same accommodation. The route took us through many forests all very nice and cool to walk in. Today we experienced the only rain we had on the whole walk - more like a very light shower than rain - which started soon after we passed Cruce. The poncho's were unpacked by some, Angela and I decided to hold just walk in the cooling shower that lasted for no longer than 10 minutes - was quite pleasant really.
My rate of walking had slowed substantially and I realized that I was becoming tired, and the reason was because I was walking slower (seems very odd but true). But as a group we were all tiring and were pleased to stop for a quick drink at a small cafe at Taberna do Camino where the two Camino paths joined. On leaving the Cafe we came across two very fit Brazilian runners who had ran from Leon in three days (c180km !) and who were keen to meet up with their wives - who as they said had their credit cards - in Sarria before they depleted the card funds too much :-).
Sarria is a lovely little town built on a steep hill, so we found it quite a challenge to walk up the hill to the O'dorminento Albergue where we had diner together, and slept during the night. It was here we met Pam a very interesting American - artisan, who no longer had a home but traveled the world. Again we all attended mass together that evening too where Angela kindly established I might be able to purchase rosary beads from the ancient convent Mosterio da Madalena in the early morning 8:30am. Martin and I took a walk there after church and the whole place was illuminated ; see the slideshow for day 3 below:
I discovered that I really missed my personal friends and family, but I missed my own bed and the comfort, security, and cleanliness that offers, but also some I began to realize that I was missing some of my independence as the being part of a group restricted imposed ways of doing things on the group, such as times to set off in the morning. This would be come more apparent later as the rest of the group wanted to start much earlier - in the dark and I realized that I didn't like (or want to walk in the dark). Walking in the dark meant you miss beautiful sights - and to some extent you may as well have been walking in the dark in England.
Day 2 - Ruitelan to Tricastela - 17th September
Breakfast in the refugio another delightful experience, was followed by a relaxing stroll to Herrerias in the semi dark (c 7:15am)... The CAFOD questions today were: "Can you think of a time when you have been touched by the story of someone you have never met?" Followed by the question how can you make time in your life for others, those you meet and those you may never meet?
About 5km up the pathway the pathway split and I noticed a lady waiting. I decided on the right hand route only to hear Susan - the American lady who´d given me directions the previous day - say "that´s the cycling path you´re taking". Seems like she was acting as my guardian angel, Susan and I walked together up the left track that ran through the woods for a while. I learnt that she was not just a guardian angel but a writer of spiritually-uplifting books too and an expert on the Daniel diet - which I shall find more about in months to come.
As we came to the hills Susan slowed and as I needed to press on, I left her and made my way past a number of other pilgrim groups traversing the path to O´cebreiro. The sun was rising and then I saw the summit as I came out of the trees and what an amazing sight it was too. The clouds were clearly surrounding the village of O´cebreiro, but moving towards me, then as they reached the hill's edge the clouds just flowed down the hillside like a dam overflowing in slow motion - a most amazing sight to behold
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Looking the other way... | |
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Continuing up the hill I caught sight of a figure on horse back coming out of the mist with what looked like a spear in his hand - could this be Don Quixote ? Not so but a local farmer tending his fields in the early morning with a hoe over his shoulder - see photos. But the thought of this and the CAFOD question linked to the stories of Don Quixote with chivalry and quest for justice with the mishaps of the previous day made me smile. Further up the path I caught with Paul from the USA and shared the rest of the way to O´cebreiro with him - passing across the Leon/Galicia border was a land mark on the way. Again my paths would cross Paul's numerous times on the Camino do Santiago:
The rest of the team had started some 3 hours earlier at O'cebreiro in mist and pitch darkness so I was extremely privileged to arrive there just as the mist lifted and the sun came shining through. I met a chap called Colin from Ilkley (Yorks) in the bar there who recommended that I look inside the church, I took his advice and spent an hour praying there. What a place of incredible tranquility and peace.
Again I will cross Colin's path a number of times on the journey too, but never told him how thankful I was for his little bit of advice that day. I eventually left the beautiful village of O'cebrereio and made my way toward Tricastella meeting two ladies from Australia (Melbourne) called Joan and Shirley. I walked with them off and on for about 10 miles passing some wonderful scenery on the way. I learnt that Joan had travelled lots of different parts of paths of the Camino, and had about ten Camino pasports in her posession with various stamps for each route... And more recently she had been doing part of the Camino Norte that runs by the north Spain coast line. She said that this was a very beautiful route, but it has a huge problem - the problem turned out to be that the beaches that the walk passes are so inviting that Joan could not resist going for a swim and so that delayed her pilgrimage enormously. That made me smile and even more determined to try to walk that route next year. I later heard from Shirley that Joan fell ill on the penultimate day so didn't complete the Camino this time - perhaps I might cross her path some other time? But I had to push ahead as I need to catch up with the rest of the CAFOD Group in Tricastela. I put a spurt on as the path was down hill for most of the way, almost running at times. And when I arrived I was disappointed to hear the rest of the team had not been able to book me a pilgrim place in the Albergue they were stopping at and there were no places left now. I tried all of the other Albergs/refugio's in the town but all were full and so I ended up in a 1 Star hotel - with absolutely no redeeming features. But as I was exhausted and I had a really good night sleep so that didn't matter. A big lesson to be learnt - get booked in
before 3:00pm.
We all attend the evening mass at the church of Santiago (take note Santiago's statue above the tabernacle) in the photo see slide pack of photo's taken on day 2 that follow:
Day 1 Toulouse to O´cebreiro - 16th September
My first day (travelling to the Camino from France) could it be a disaster?
The question posed in the CAFOD pilgrimage reflection booklet was strangely pertinent - "What are your hopes and expectations as you set out on your pilgrimage?"
Well having booked my bus ticket on the Internet I never in my wildest dreams imagined there would be 5 buses from Toulouse bus station all going to Spain and leaving at 23:59hrs! But worse still none of these were destined for Bilboa - the place on my ticket...
I can’t speak French or Spanish so it wasn’t boding well. So my answer to the question was forming - "please God just help me get me to the agreed meeting place in O'cebreiro safely!" I was also experiencing perhaps a little of how the illiterate poor of the world may feel not knowing how to communicate and be sure to get what I need.
It turned out that none of the buses were destined for Bilboa, but the driver of the last bus to leave decided to bring us under his wing. One thing after another complication transpired to make the journey ever more complex heading in and out of Bilboa without allowing me to get off and then dropping me off some 100km north of Madrid at 9:00am and told to get another bus in an hours time!
Needless to say I was somewhat apprehensive at times on the journey, but I slowly began to feel the apprehension go and a feeling best expressed by the Spanish when they say "mañana, mañana" in-other-words whatever was to happen would turn out OK tomorrow - I should not worry, but trust that God would make it good.
I ended my bus trip at Ponferrada safe and sound but some 3hrs later than planned. Only to find out that Christine, Angela, Martin and Nick's flights were delayed too and they wanted me to let the hotel know when I arrived of their delay. When I phoned the hotel the hotel denied any knowledge of a booking... It seemed whatever could go wrong was going wrong and this did not bode well for the pilgrimage ahead. It was just as well that my motivation for doing this pilgrimage was strong - to raise funds to help the poorest of the world help themselves out of poverty. The realisation that the minor insecurities that I was facing on this journey were insignificant compared to poverty stricken people in war struck nations that I was aiming to support - perhaps a feeling of solidarity was emerging. That said I knew I had my wallet with me and I could easily hire a car or find a way out of this situation if need be.
After many phone calls to hotels and different Refugio we managed to get booked up in different locations; me in a Refugio in Routelan (Leon district) the others (through the help of the taxi driver) in Triacastle (Galatia district). This meant that I would be setting off some 10km further away from our starting point and roughly half a days walk more to do on the first day of walking.
For-all that heartache the refugio I booked in to was very special; with only 20 beds. It was set off the road and as I walked down the road towards the accommodation I was met by some very friendly American ladies Susan and Erin, who were enjoying a beer outside the local bar relaxing after their days walk. They offered a kindly welcome and directions to the place I would be staying that evening. Little did I know at that time that I would form a close friendship with both of these ladies later in the journey and find that I'd be travelling back to England with Susan at the end of my pilgrimage.
The owner and chef of the refugio, were fantastic, they arranged a filling 4 course evening meal with all pilgrims sitting together, and the atmosphere there was very special full of fellowship and love. Breakfast the next day too for a mere €15. And what an experience to wake-up to the sound of Ave Maria at 6:00am putting us all in the mood for walking.
Looking from my bed on the first evening I had a real taste of the rural life I would experience during my walk to Santiago.
Later I was told by Nick, Angela and Christine that they arrived at a 3 star hotel in Triacastela - as the taxi driver refused to cross the border with Leon. They all had luxurious room for €26, with en suite. They arrived at about 7:00pm which meant they didn't get an evening meal nor breakfast. For all the luxury of the hotel I think I may have had the better experience that night.
