Day 23, September 23, Portomarin to Portos– late post

     On the road to Portos was where I met Wolfgang and his wife, Anna. We saw them first  while Anj and I were having our mid-morning café con leche in Gonzar then later again just before taking a mid-day break. By that time, Anj was already way ahead of me since we already agreed where to meet for lunch. 


     There was no lack of company since there were a lot of pilgrims walking. In fact, it was difficult to attain more than a few minutes of peace and quiet since we left Sarria a couple of days before. (A fact which I was quite sad about. I missed the quiet of walking on my own with no company for several kilometers at a time.) But for some reason, he decided to walk alongside me. I think he got curious since he found out during our coffee break in Gonzar that we were sisters and from the Philippines. He kept pace with me and asked about my irregular walk so I had to explain about the slight pain in my knees and shins. Soon after, he was demonstrating how to tread correctly, moving my hips to minimize impact on my knees and ankles and maximizing the use of the walking sticks. He also advised me on how important it is to massage my feet halfway through each day’s walk or at least at the end of each day. Oh Wolfgang, where were you when I was just starting my camino? 😖 

     We ended up having lunch at the same place, where my sister and his wife were already waiting. After lunch, as Anj and I were preparing to leave, he called me to their table, invited me to sit down and asked me which foot hurt more. He then asked me to remove my shoes and promptly gave me a foot massage! It turns out that the man is a physiotherapist. He said that on his first camino, he massaged the feet of at least 50 pilgrims, which his wife laughingly confirmed. 

 





   

  
     At Ventas de Naron, we also met a man named Marley, who runs a camino tour. When he learned we were from the Philippines and sisters at that, he asked to take a picture of us with our gear for a camino project he was working on. Then he led us to the door of this tiny stone structure that looked no bigger than a car garage, quickly unlocked the door and with flourish ushered us in to show us the inside. In fact, it was an old chapel that has been around since the 12^th century. This place was also supposedly the site of a major battle between Christians and Muslims way, way, way back in the year 820.  The man was quite chatty. Afterwards, he introduced us to another Filipina who was in his tour group. Surprisingly thus far, all the Filipinos we’ve met on this camino were Filipinas. :D 

Day 22, September 22, Sarria to Portomarin– late post

The walk to Portomarin introduced us to a lot of new people. This is probably because this is where many pilgrims choose to start their Camino. We met Helen and her best friend at the start of the day’s walk. We chatted for a bit by the side of the trail. They quite enjoyed the fact that we were twins and seemed fascinated that we were doing this walk together. 

Almost since the start of today's walk, Anj and I have been trying to reserve beds for the night but couldn’t reach any of the albergues we dialed. So, after lunch,   she walked ahead of me so she can get to Portomarin earlier to reserve beds for us. Thankfully, as I was walking, I received a return call from a hospitalier who assured me that she has beds for us for the night. That relaxed me a bit but I didn’t know how to get this message to Anj. Since she didn’t have a Spanish SIM, I couldn't call her and the only way I could get to her was to run. 

Enter the 2 ladies I refer to as my trail angels on this leg of the camino. I was walking as fast as I could to catch up with Anj when these 2 pilgrims greeted me 'Buen Camino!' I don't really know what made me think I could ask this favor of them, but I just felt I could. In a combination of English and broken Spanish, I explained to them that I wanted to tell my sister we had beds for the night so she can relax and enjoy the walk but I couldn’t walk fast enough to reach her. These wonderful women, walked faster, reached her and waited for me by a wayside to tell me that they were able to deliver my message. That was a relief! At least a huge weight have been taken off my shoulders and I can go back to enjoying the walk again.  God bless their hearts!  

Before you get to the stairs of Portomarin, there is about a 300 meter long concrete bridge that you have to cross with quite view way down below. From the bridge, you can see remnants of the old town of Portomarin before it was relocated, partially submerged in water to make way for a reservoir. The view is actually fantastic but Helen has acrophobia and her feet simply wouldn’t move forward. That's where I found her, at the edge of the bridge, unable to take a step. So, I asked how I could help her. I walked with her as slowly as she needed to go with me on the railing side to shield her view, and tried to distract her with stories of the people I’ve met on the Camino. Luckily, when we crossed the bridge, their van was waiting for her to bring her the rest of the way into town. She was so grateful for something that didn’t cost me anything. She called me her angel. I was just glad for the opportunity to pay a kind act forward. So, I said she was welcome and that that’s what pilgrims do on the Camino, we support and help each other out. The we said our goodbyes as I headed up the stairs to look for the albergue where my sister was waiting for me.

After cleaning up, we set off for the supermarket to get tomorrow's supplies before heading to the church. As we were walking up the street to the church, the wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread caught our attention. Unfortunately, the aroma and one huge piece of sourdough loaf was all they had left. Despite knowing that we would never be able to finish that bread for dinner, we bought it and continued on our way to the church. Just couldn't resist the temptation. So of course, after dinner we had more than half a loaf left and not much space to put it in. We just sliced it and left it on the dining table-cum-common area to share with other pilgrims.


We were downstairs clearing up our dinner and offering bread to whoever passed by when a trio of pilgrims came out of the dorms and stayed to chat.  I remember it was a husband and wife and their close friend. They were heading out to dinner but rain was in the forecast for the evening so they were taking their time. The wife asked their friend, who was standing near the door if the stars were out as this is a good indicator that the rain was over. Their friend opened the door to look out briefly, came back and with flourish said, "Why do you  need stars? There's one standing right here!" I swear that made my night. And it still makes me smile every time I think about it.

Day 21, September 21, La Faba to O’Cebreiro to Sarria– late post

     


This morning, everyone was up earlier than the crack of dawn, itching to get a head start and tackle this difficult climb. After a quick breakfast for sustenance, we were off. The climb was not as bad as I imagined it. Don't get me wrong, there were tough parts for sure, but I had a more difficult time going down Cizur Menor and Riego de Ambros, where I ended up nursing a tender ankle by the time I got to the bottom.  I can only hope that it's because my body has adjusted in some way and has become stronger. But mostly, I think it's because we already broke down the climb in two stages, tackling the first half or first third yesterday and the rest today. That definitely eased up the trail a lot.

   
   The rising sun kept us company all throughout the climb and every so often, we would stop to take photos. As we were walking up in one of the more challenging sections, Anj and I remembered a conversation we had the previous day when on the way to the store, I pointed to a high range of mountains across the way and said, "That's probably where we'll be walking tomorrow," which my sister adamantly denied. Haha! Guess who was right? That made us laugh for a bit. One thing we realized early on in this camino, when stumped between two paths: an easy one and a hard one, the difficult one is more likely the path that leads forward. Oh, the things we learned on this camino! 😆 Along this path is also the marker that tells us we have crossed over to Galicia and are already on the last stages of our walk.

  O’Cebreiro is the oldest church along the Camino Frances and according to legend, is the home of the miraculous Holy Grail. It is also said that back in the 1300s, while a Benedictine priest, who was an unbeliever, was celebrating the Eucharist, the Host changed into Flesh and the wine turned into blood just after he uttered the words of consecration. The Host and the chalice are on display to this day.

 From Cebreiro, we took a taxi to Sarria, the last 7-day mark to the end. We have already taken an inordinate amount of transport, certainly more than we initially planned for. It was really because, when we first made our itinerary, we didn’t factor several things such as: 1. elevation; 2. terrain; 3. our bodies response to both; and most importantly; 4. Muxia and Finisterre. But, since we started the walk, we’ve had to make more realistic adjustments. Muxia and Finisterre were added after conversations with several pilgrims at different points during the start of our walk. It wasn't that we initially didn't see the significance of these places, it was simply because we felt we did not have the time to extend our walk anymore. Thank goodness we changed our minds early enough that we were still able to make the necessary adjustments.



     The reason we were taking the taxi to Sarria now instead of later in the day is because the towns following were too small to have the service available and we definitely did not have the time for any delays. And so, like Leon, and Burgos before that, we were meeting Sarria ahead of schedule. We wrongly assumed that this would be the last transport we'd take until we get to Santiago. 

  
  










 In Sarria, we stayed in a private albergue so we could check in early and do our laundry. The albergue had a charming courtyard and the owner planted grapes that were obviously thriving. We also had a lot of time to rest, which we really appreciated. We did our laundry and walked around town for a bit. Sarria is not a very big town but there was something to explore nonetheless so we walked around until the air started to get chilly. They were preparing a bonfire for the pilgrims when we got back but we weren't feeling too social so we decided to call it an early night. 

Day 20, September 20, Pereje to La Faba– late post

The wooden floorboards in the albergue creaks. And since we didn't know how many pilgrims were still asleep in the lower level, we had to tread carefully as we started to get ready for the day. The albergue reminded me of those old houses in Baguio and Vigan, not really in the way it looked but more in the atmosphere and the feel of it. It had a musty smell with muted yellow lights and if you were on the fanciful side, you'd swear it was haunted. But it was pretty and neat and I quite liked staying there.

From Pereje, we set off for La Faba. La Faba is the last town before you start on the climb to O’Cebreiro. It's said that O'Cebrerio is the toughest climb in the Camino Frances. Along the route to La Faba, we saw many signages offering horse rental services for the climb. I have to say, this worried me a bit. The last time I had a very tough climb, I had to get on a donkey part way and I was imagining the same level of difficulty. We had no intention of renting a horse but we took photos of some of those ads anyway, just in case we needed them at some point during the walk. 

We took a lunch break at the last town at the foot of the mountain before the ascent to La Faba. Here we saw actual pilgrims on horseback and this worried me even more, so I started conditioning my mind for the challenge. And it was challenging for me, but instead of worrying about the whole route, I took the climb one bend at a time. It helped that there were other pilgrims also struggling with the route so I didn't feel so alone. I was able to get to the albergue early enough that they haven't started letting the pilgrims into the rooms yet. I had time to catch my breath and look around before we had to queue for a bed.

We chose to take a rest in La Faba because it was already a few hundred meters up the mountain. That means it cuts the climb we had to take the following day to about half. And as it's about halfway up already, it gave me a  much needed shot of confidence. Having experienced part of the terrain already, I was reasonably certain I can get up to O'Cebreiro on my own steam, without the help of a horse.So yeah, getting there made me feel good, body aches and pain notwithstanding. 

 
I have to say that the albergue in La Faba is one of the most organized one I have seen along the walk. Definitely, one of my favourites. The kitchen was well-equipped and well-stocked with spices and condiments. Not so big but clean and well-maintained. We decided to cook our usual camino meal of pasta with sardines in oil. As it turns out, everyone also wanted to cook dinner. The kitchen was a fun madhouse with people of different nationalities cooking things as simple as pasta and those making the effort to make their own pizza from scratch.

As we learned later that afternoon, staying turned out to be a good idea since sometime in the evening, some pilgrims arrived. Apparently, they had to turn back after already moving to the next town due to the lack of accommodations.

Day 19, September 19, Camponaraya to Pereje– late post

We set off for Pereje early in the morning and walked through hills and hills and hills and hills of vineyards. It really was quite scenic, but after a while you just wonder where it will end. But the walk was quite pleasant, all rolling hills, and now and then you see families, including their children, tending to their grapes. 

 



















Then we got to Villafranca where we stopped to look for an ATM and have lunch. In Villafranca there were groups of tourist looking around. This was also one place where we saw the yellow arrow pointing to two opposite directions, which quite confused us, so we waited to see which way pilgrims went and followed. This led us to the town plaza where there were street side cafes, bakeries and more importantly, an ATM machine. 



After we got the money we needed and got supplies from a small bakery, we looked around for an interesting place to eat. Everyone offered a menu del dia anyway, so the average price was about the same. As there were a number of tourists, it was not easy to find a place but we looked at the different menus and chose one that had satisfied-looking diners. It was also such a beautiful day out so we  asked to be seated outside.

This was where we saw Nancy and Peter again. They got a table beside ours and we started chatting throughout the meal. They asked us where we planned to end the day and we mentioned Pereje to avoid big groups of pilgrims. Maybe they didn't have a plan at that point since they agreed that that was a good idea. 

It may have been that we enjoyed lunch too much because before we knew it, Anj and I finished the entire bottle of wine and it was already more than the hour we planned to pause for lunch. We also regretted that bottle of wine as soon as we started with the walk again, since it was a warm sunny day and we felt the heat of the sun even more intensely. 

We chose Pereje because it was a midway town. And being one, we thought that it was not a usual pilgrim stop with only 1 albergue and one restaurant/store in town. Much like Estelle, you wouldn’t know there was a town unless you are specifically looking for it. In fact, the entire town is one street block only and you had to go to the only restaurant to get a WiFi signal. But it was peaceful and we were able to do our laundry.  I quite liked that there were no bunk beds in this albergue, just a couple of rows of sturdy wooden beds lined against opposite walls. It was a welcome change and quite reminded me of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.' We ended up in that one albergue and had dinner together before calling it an early night.