Ponferrada

Carrie is walking thru a village on the way to Ponferrada. Again the geraniums are in the pots, making lots of color

The view is over the city and is taken from the castle of the Knights Templar, an organisation that was set up to protect pilgrims from robbers. The Templars eventually became rich and powerful, but were overthrown by the Pope about 1307

A house for Mum

We thought she would like this house with its heavy beams in stone walls, leading into a courtyard of potted geraniums

Going downhill from the mountain

Panoramic view, as you may guess, not captured on the camera.

The walking poles were useful on the hilly sections

At the highest point!

This is the highest point of the Camino - at 1500 metres (5000 feet)

There is an iron cross to mark this achievement. Pilgrims add rocks to the pile. Some of the rocks were painted and had messages

on the road to Foncebadón

This day we had a big climb, and went thru lovely mountain vegetation and thru the formerly abandoned village of Foncebadón.

Foncebadón has a big mention in Paulo Coehlo and Shirley MacLaine's books because they both had big encounters with dogs there.

We came across 6 sleepy labrador type dogs, so our experience was different!

shopping

Here Hugh is outside a shop in Ramanda. The sign says La Tienda - the shop.

Very unobtrusive signs here

We struggle to find the local shop or small supermarket. Some villages only have a travelling shop

If we can't find supplies we are stick with bar food such as potato omlette or salad

Sleeping

We sleep a lot with all our walking. Usually we have an afternoon sleep, either in the shade under a tree, or in hostel

Carrie, Niahm, blisters and Conner at Órbios

Some friends we met at a hostel again. We sort of meet up here and there along the way. Conner is displaying some fine blisters

Roses and storks

Spain is full of roses and storks. The roses are exuberant everywhere (better than Australia, I'm sorry to say)

This is a typical display outside a church where we having a lunch time break. We were just dozing off... when DONG, DONG the 2 o'clock bell rang!



There are storks on all the old church tops too. They are very pretty and look quite homely as they feed their young

more Leon

These men are playing and watching a game where they throw a dome towards the skittles, and apparently try to knock them over. Applause was muted so we did not know when they scored. Just appreciative glances








We wandered around Leon and marvelled in the big city after all the cultural deprivation of the countryside. Brand name shops, outside cafes, young people on show. And the tourists like us

The cathedral was outstanding - so high and full of stained glass windows. Not able to be captured on camera by us though. Full of centuries of saints and kings, and prayers from the faithful

Hugh has a go on the balance bridge in the playground

at Leon

We walked into Leon despite the guidebook suggesting to catch the bus due to the big city roads etc

It sure is a change from the empty countryside, and smells a lot worse

However we walked past an outlet shop and Carrie got some new clothes. We can´t carry much in apack, and some things were getting so tired from back pack and hand washes

Leon promises some interesting sights, so we do a bit on the computer then go and have a look

on the road to somewhere

Most of our walking is in the open, crunching along the gravel. Walking, walking and walking...

Sometimes we play games, or look at the flowers. More often we just let all the mind stuff evaporate, and just walk...


Sometimes we talk about feet and sore shoulders from carrying packs, but that conversation has lost its novelty

Carrie is wearing a new top - the orginal one fell apart

This bit of countryside gets the prize for most flat and featureless

Half way at Sahagun

Carrie here has fallen in love with a handsome fellow pilgrim. Most of them are so dirty! And their socks! He stands outside the hostel in Sahgun, which is about half way of our trip

We have met other pilgrims who have come from lePuy and Paris in France, Geneva in Switzerland, and even Rome in Italy

They must have a lot of time, or a lot of sins to expiate

Underground sites at Moratinos

Here Carrie, Hugh and Suzy are looking at a number of underground rooms of uncertain use. Carrie thinks they may be for hobbits! One was labelled as a bar, so maybe the men retire there and watch the football. You can see a TV aerial and chimmneys. Or maybe they just store the wine in them

Carrie getting ready for bed in a hostel

Here is the bed time girl getting organised ina hostel dormitory. Lot of variations but bunks are common

A long walk with Suzy

We had overcast mild weather and a flat dirt road today, so we took the opportunity to put in a big 37km. We walked with a new Brazilian/USA friend Suzy, who was great company along the way

The yellow arrow is a way arrow - we look for them all along the way so we don´t get lost

The church is a very old one of the Knights Templar at Villasigar

A friend of the pilgrims of the Camino at Boadilla

This is Alejandro, who spends all day welcoming pilgrims to Boadilla. He has a hat full of pins and patches on his coat from various places. We gave him and Australia wristband.

He was very charming and friendly

Eating on the road

On the left Carrie is preparing mid morning food near a water fountain. It is beans on crisp bread, bananas, and othre stuff.

On the right is wht we bought from the corner shop - limited by small stock, vegetarian, no cooking, and poor language

Carrie liked the idea of drinking ´Frankie´- it turned out to be grape juice. We also got some honey, butter and chocolate. Not so nutritious this time

on the road to Castrojeriz

Here we are leaving Catrojeriz after a rest day. The road has some poplar trees, and a big hill is just down the road. Fortunately it was flat after that. Our achilles tendon injuries are OK if we go slowly up the hills

Rest day in Castrojeriz

We had a ´short´10 km walk today to Castrojeriz, a town of 1 000 people and 3 hostels. This arch is part of the monastry on the way

Carrie was limited by a sore achilles today, so hopefully some rest will be useful for that

So we are having a long day in a sleepy Spanish town - a big change from our usual walking here, or bustling around with television and other distractions back in Australia