Day 22 Ponferrada – Villafranca Del Bierzo

Saturday 18 April 2009
Via FUENTES NUEVAS - CAMPONARAYA - CACABELOS - PIERROS
Approx 22km

Fed up and frustrated. That sums up today.

I slept terribly and got woken up too early. My clothes that had been hanging up all night to dry were still wet. My knee was killing me all day thanks to the downhill path yesterday, and my legs felt like led. I found the walk very hard too – constant up one hill and down another, only to see another one directly in front of me. I just couldn’t appreciate the beauty of the walk, and I had countless moment s of thinking I could have sat on the side of the dirt road and sobbed. But, at least I wasn’t walking on the highway today – thank heaven for small mercies.




When I finally reached Villafranca, I felt like I had been walking all day, when it was only 2.30pm. But at least I arrived before the heavens opened - again, small mercies. At any rate, today was the day to say a big welcome to the Galician region of Spain. I’m expecting the remainder of the journey to be soggy, if every guide book is to be believed!


I had an email from Stefi from Austria today, and she was only a day ahead of me. I would have loved to have caught up with her, as I really needed a friend today…..My problems with Johan reached a head this afternoon and I just didn’t know what to do about it. He was making me feel incredibly uncomfortable and I tried so hard on numerous occasions to tell him in a nice way to leave me alone, but he just kept appearing everywhere. I had thought that today I would have been rid of him, as he was planning on staying on at Ponferrada for an extra day. However. When I arrived in Villafranca and was trying to find the Albergue, I receive a text message from him, telling me that he was sitting in a café and I had just walked past him. I think this may have been the lowest point of my journey. I literally rounded a corner into a secluded cobblestoned street and sank to the ground in tears. It was horrible.

I decided that I would find the most out of the way Albergue and stay there, regardless of the cost, and I didn’t think he would have found this particular one as there were many others closer to town.

I arrived and checked in, choosing a bunk bed situated in the corner, because I just really wanted to hide myself from everyone. There was only one other backpack in the room, and I didn’t give it a second thought. I went into the kitchen and had a cup of coffee and wrote in my diary. All of a sudden, there was a huge clap of thunder and the electricity went out for a few seconds. When the lights came back on, I looked into the doorway, and there he was, dripping wet. It was honestly like a scene from a horror movie. I can’t even explain the shock of it. I hightailed it out of there and went to the first bar I could find, where I was the only girl in a room filled with men. It was starting to become clear that Spanish women do not frequent bars, especially on their own. I was getting all kinds of looks from everyone, especially the man behind the bar, who made it clear that he did not approve of me being there, and did not think I should be drinking the amount that I ended up drinking. Whatever.

So anyway, I didn’t know what to do, short of taking a day off and putting some distance between me and him, which is not something I wanted to do. I’d been having such a good run on the Camino, and I really didn’t want to let this man ruin it for me. I decided that in the morning I would just have to stand my ground and tell him as nicely as possible that the next week is mine, and it is very important to me that I do it alone. We were all doing the journey for different reason, and my reason were definitely not to meet middle aged Austrian men who have children older than me, and a wife at home. I needed to look after myself and if that meant being mean to him – so be it. But I still couldn’t believe that this was happening.

In other news, I hate my complexion! If I’m not sunburnt, I’m windburnt and my poor little face was constantly bright red with a white sunglasses tan. EVERYBODY comments on it – like I’m not aware!

Day 21 Foncebadon - Ponferrada

Friday 17 April 2009

Via CRUZ DE FERRO – MANJARIN- EL ACEBO – RIEGO DE AMBROS – MOLINASECA
27.5km

I had company again today, much to my annoyance.
I was trying to keep positive about the situation, but in all honesty it was starting to drive me mental. I tried to walk slowly, but he slowed down. When I sped up, he matched my speed. I had so many coffee stops in hopes he would continue on his way without me, but no luck. I was starting to get really annoyed, but then I thought that maybe this was a test of the Camino, to help me become a more patient person. And maybe he was ‘sent’ as a guide to assist me through a day that proved to be difficult and potentially dangerous. .. At any rate, it helped me to think like that – if everything happens for a reason, maybe the reason Johan was with me was to help me through these hurdles…

Anyway, aside from that issue, it was a great day. I started the day with an amazing breakfast of muesli and yoghurt, lovely, crusty toast with homemade jam, and strong black coffee, and then I set off in the beautiful white winter wonderland that that awaited me outside. The snow had covered everything in a stunning blanket and I had to pinch myself that I was actually seeing this with my own eyes, rather than in a postcard.

The first stop of the day was Cruz De Ferro, which is a huge tall cross, originally erected to help Pilgrims find their way across the mountains.

It is a tradition to bring a stone with you from home. You put all of your worries and bad things from your life into this stone, which you add to a huge cairn below the cross. I didn’t know about this tradition when I started my journey, so I didn’t have a stone from home. When Otmar discovered this a week or so previously, he spent days looking for the perfect stone for me, and found the perfect one – incredibly smooth and round except for a chip out of one side, which seemed fitting. And I liked the idea that it had come from the road of this journey – in the words of Ani Di Franco, “The world is my oyster, The road is my home”… So, I took great joy in placing “worry stone” (or “shit stone” as Otmar was calling it) on top of pile of thousands (millions?) of other stones. I think this moment was one of my most special on the Camino, and it is one of my favourite memories from the journey.

After leaving Cruz de Ferro, it was quite a slog through the snow capped mountains, and at one point it even started snowing. I felt so lucky to be walking through such a beautiful scene - it was almost like a dream – and it was made even better with the memory of the horrible Mesita still fresh on my mind. I wonder if that serves as a type of lesson – you always have to go through the bad to get to the good...

There was a very strenuous downhill section – 400m down in 4.5km, which was very hard on the knees and caused me a bit of pain (courtesy of an old netball injury) later on in the evening. Another Ani lyric sprung to my mind repeatedly on this day: “It’s all downhill from here baby, so naturally I can’t stay”. I think I can find lyrics suitable for every step of the journey, courtesy of her.

Johan and I stopped for lunch in Molinaseca, where we proceeded to drink our way through a bottle of wine, and as a result the last 8km to Ponferrada seemed very easy and incredibly hard, all at once. Everything seemed very funny for some reason… We finally arrived at 5.30 – quite late, due to being caught in a flash storm and having to seek shelter. At the Albergue I was pleased to see that they had separate sections for men and women, so I was able to escape Johan for the night. I was sharing a room with other girls, including Rebecca from New York, who would feature heavily in the rest of my journey. We went to the supermercado together and stoked up on supplies before sharing dinner together in the kitchen of the Albergue and having an early night to rest our weary bones.


I went to sleep hoping to continue on my solo journey in the morning, as Johan was thinking of spending an extra day in Ponferrada to do some sightseeing… To be continued!

Day 20: Astorga - Foncebadon

Via MURIAS DE RACHIVALOO – SANTA CATALINA DE SOMOZA – EL GANSO – RABANAL DEL CAMINO

27.5km

Today was spent walking with an Austrian man named Johan.

Johan is in his mid fifties, and the over the next few days he featured heavily in my journey, and in a strange, and scary way, helped me to learn some powerful lessons.

When I first saw Johan, I thought he was walking the wrong way, so I called out to him, trying to be helpful. It turned out that there were two paths leading out of Astorga, but he was so grateful to me for trying to assist him, he decided that he was going to be my new best friend. At first I tried my absolute hardest to shake him, because I had really been enjoying my time alone so much – however every time I stopped, so did he and eventually I gave up and decided that it was ‘meant to be’ that I had some company for the day! In the end I was actually glad for his company – he spoke about many interesting things like family trees and lineage, Scotland and GASP! Religion! It was a nice walk and we had a coffee stop in Santa Catalina, and then we had lunch in El Ganso in an eccentric bar called The Cowboy Bar, which was very cool – hats and old kettles hanging off the roof of what looked like an old shed.

We ordered a beer with our bocadillas, and I needed two hands to lift up my glass it was so big! I inadvertently paid for the both of us (damn no Spanish!), so as a result, Johan insisted on buying me dinner, which meant I was stuck with him…

I was going to walk 21.5km to Rabanal today, but when I got there I decided that I had enough energy to keep going the 6km to Foncebadon (which was really a way to try and lose Johan), he decide to keep walking with me (so he could buy me dinner).

We walked 626m high over the stretch of 27.5km (Astorga being 869m above sea level, and Foncebadon being 1495m about sea level). We saw all kinds of weather – warm sun in the morning, rain at midday, and heavy hail as we walked into Foncebadon.

After being there for about an hour it started to snow – a real snow storm, with everything turning to white in a matter of minutes. It was absolutely amazing.

As nice as it looks though, I was hoping it wouldn’t keep up tomorrow – I wasn’t prepared for snow and it might be an uncomfortable day! The Albergue I stayed at in Foncebadon was like a hippy commune, complete with Tibetan prayer flags, incense, handmade grain food, people walking around in hemp clothing and even a grubby baby crawling around. Johan bought me my dinner at the Albergue, which was a huge feed of meat, bread, pasta, eggs, salad and cake… I swear that every km I walk, the more I eat – no chance of going home a shadow of myself!

This is a funny shout out to Rosie Roberts who sent me a message while I was on my walk asking me how often I had to stop in the woods to wee…. After my humongous beer at lunch time I had to make an in-woods wee stop – only my second on the trip so far! Oh, but wait kids, this story gets even classier. I got my shoe. Yes, that’s right – I weed inside my shoe and sock. Such a classy lady… And I tell you, it was mighty unpleasant to be squelching around in that baby for the rest of the afternoon. And on that classy note, this is the end of day 20!

Day 19: Hospital De Orbigo - Astorga

Approx 17km

Via VILLARES DE ORBIGO, SANTIBANEZ DE VALDEIGLESIA and SAN JUSTO DE LA VEGA.

I decided that today was going to be my first 'day off', because my energy levels have really dipped over the past couple of days, and the next few days are going to have some very steep inclines. So, to treat myself, I only walked 17km! I was lucky enough to get a late start from Hospital De Orbigo - they were more relaxed on leaving times than most other Albergues, so I had a 'sleep in' until 7.45am and treated myself to breakfast in a cafe before hitting the road at 9am.

There were two routes to choose from again today, and after yesterday's terrible choice, I chose the route as far away from the main road as possible!! It was a great decision, and I spent 3 hours walking through little villages and forests - so much calmer and nicer!

I was walking through one little town during morning Mass, and would you believe it - the sermon was piped through loudspeakers throughout the village! I stopped for a little while to listen before realising that I had absolutely no idea what was being said and decided to move on! As I left the village, I entered a forest and about a km or so in, there was a scarecrow dressed as a Pilgrim, standing along with a cross and other tributes.

I arrived in Astorga at about midday and the first thing I did was find a bar for a much desired cafe con leche, and it was soooo good! After my coffee, I was wandering around the town square looking for somewhere to stay and not looking wheere I was going, when I almost walked into a man on a bike. He was a very cheerful, eccentric man on a bike! Who was absolutely delighted to see me! "Ahhhhhh, Peregrino!". He gleefully pointed out Farmicia and Albergue for me with a HUGE grin on his face.

I checked into the Albergue and had a hot shower, which was so good, as it was very cold. Then I tucked myself into bed for a little Nana nap. I woke up a while later and was happy to see my 3 French singing friends once again! I got up and headed out to explore Astorga. Of course, the minute I stepped outside it began to rain and hail. I bought a brolly and continued on looking for somwhere to hide from the weather. I ended up in a museam/exhibition about the interior of the Cathedral, which is very special as it was created by a pupil of Michealangelo. The man running the exhibition spoke english and gave me some advice about what was worth checking out in Astorga.

Astorga is a part of the Maragateria region, and has some regional specialities that I indulged in - mantecadas, which are a lardy kind of cake and chocolate covered oranges (Astorga used to be the chocolate centre of Spain in the 18/19th Century). A bit of interesting history here: the people of Astorga and the 45 villages to the west and south are known as Maragatos. Their ethnic origins are unknown, but are perhaps Phoenician or Berbers ffrom the 9th C. They are a completely different race from the rest of Spain, and for centuries they were the muleteers of Spain, doing the job that is now done by 38tonne trucks. Amazing. The Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) has figures in the traditional Maragato dress, which chime the bell on the clock tower.

I took myself out for tea tonight, and I just cannot believe the value for money over here! I was alone, and I was given a whole bottle of red, all for me, haha! I couldn't understand the menu, so I just picked randomly, and for starters I had a salad - huge plate full of lettuce, tomato, tuna, ham and cheese with a tasty dressing. That would have done me......but then out came HALF a chicken, no joke! On top of that there was desert, plus half a loaf of bread. All for 7 Euro.

And no, I didn't finish my meal. But I did give the wine a good crack! Who could want more? A nice red, a huge feed, and a great dinner companion - Karouac!

As I was going to sleep I realised that apart from small talk to people in shops, I hadn't spoken to anyone all day, which is just how I wanted it. A very satisfying and relaxing day...which was needed before the horrors of the next few days.....stay tuned!

How do you like my hand tan?!

Day 18: Virgin Del Camino - Hospital De Orbigo

Approx 23.5km

Via VALVERDE DE LA VIRGIN, SAN MIGUAL DEL CAMINO, URBANIZACION SANTIAGO DE COMPESTELA, VILLADANGOS DEL PA'RAMO, SAN MARTIN DEL CAMINO.

Horrible, horrible morning! I had to be out of the Albergue by 7.30am, so it was still pitch black when I set out. There was a choice between 2 routes out of Virgin Del Camino, and I was knackered, so I chose the shorter route - 24km instead of 31km. Big mistake! The path was along the highway - 4.5 hours of walking (trudging?) along a fuel infused path. The route markers were almost non existant, and if there were arrows, they were pointing in all different directions. So many times I panicked that I was off the path, or going the wrong way. I had one particulary horrible moment of panic that I was walking back towards Leon. Talk about annoying, and as I was completely alone, a bit scary!

About 2 hours in I was bursting for the loo, starving and desperate for a coffee or three! Of course, nothing was open, and being beside a road I couldn't even hide behind a bush! I finally came across a road house in Urbanizacion, which isn't even a town, more like a truck stop. The bar was full of truck drivers and road workers who all started at me like I was a monster! But, it had a loo, coffee and a toastie, so it suited me just fine.

On the road again, it was 7km to San Martin. I got my passport stamped at a panaderia in Villadangos and then continued to San Martin along the dusty, polluted path. I had been walking like a little old lady, with blisters killing me and very achy legs. As I walked into a bar, I didn't see a step and landed very heavily on my bad ankle, so I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to continue on. Ahhhh, the life of a peregrino - stinky, sore and tired!

I had read that Hospital De Orbigo's main claim to fame is the Bridge of Paso Honroso - 20 arches, 204m long and one of the oldest bridges in Spain. I love bridges. Bridges make me happy, so I hoped that I wouldn't be let down by this one!

To my glee, it was everything that it was cracked up to be! It was massive and paved with cobblestones - loved it!! There was an area next to it which looked like a jousting area, like from 'A Knight's Tale'.

I loved Hospital De Orbigo. The Albergue reminded me of camping cabins, and there was a beautiful front courtyard which was cobbled and had a huge mural on one of the walls, spectacular. I was happy to see my French friends again - the 3 older men who sing. Oly and Ava were also there (an older French couple). Oly loves to call out my name - 'Yessica!'

Over the past few days, I had seen strange little houses built into hills along the side of the road. They have small little doors and the dome of the hill is the roof, with little chimneys poking out of the top of the hill. They reminded me of The Wind in the Willows, and Ratty and Mr Mole. I had to walk right past a few today, and they were all derelict and filled in with rocks. I spent a lot of time wondering who used to live in them and why they were built like that.

A little later in the evening I asked someone, who told me that they were houses before Christ. In more recent years they have been used as Bodegas, where people would meet to drink and maybe have a pre-dinner snack. Now, they are largely abandoned or used as wine cellars by wineries. So that ends that mystery!

I had a funny text message from Rosie Roberts today, asking me what song I was singing today. embarrassingly enough, I had been singing 'Waving my Dick in the Wind' by Ween when she sent it! I think that was because it was windy and I was waving my 'stick' in the wind!

In the evening I was in the grocery store buying some supplies, and the owner spoke some english, thank God! She was asking me if I was traveling alone, and when I told her I was she looked shocked and said 'Brave Girl'. I said maybe brave, or maybe stupid! It meant a lot for her to say that though. I guess I don't realsie how big this journey is sometimes, but it really is a big deal. I am walking over 700km across Spain, a country whose language I don't speak, and where I don't know anyone. I am doing it alone. I will spend 5 weeks without any creature comforts, not even a hair brush. I am filthy, sore and tired, and even though I have some bad days, I am really enjoying my time. But it really is an amazing journey and I will be very proud of myself to finish the whole Camino De Santiago!

The man running the Albergue tonight is young, and a bit strange. I spent a lot of time in the courtyard writing in my diary in the evening, and he kept standing next to me and staring at me as if he didn't like me, but then he wouldn't leave me alone! Maybe he has a thing for smelly, dirty girls with sunburn? He was trying to tell me that Australia was named after a dynesty of Spanish kings..hmmmm!

Day 17: Mansilla De Las Mulas - Virgin Del Camino

Approx 25km

Via PUENTE DE VILLARENTE - ARCHAHUEJA - VALDELADUENTE - LEON

Weeeelll. An interesting day today. I headed off on my own again, but found it very hard to get going with the ol' energy levels at an all time low. It wasn't unitl I had walked the 10km to Archahueja that I had a chance to refuel with some coffee and finally felt human enough to get into the 'groove' of my walk. It was still a bit of a struggle though, and I must have stopped every 5 steps to eat something. I think I was eating for Australia for most of this walk!


I made it into Leon (one of the major cities on the walk) by about midday, after another uninteresting morning of walking along a motorway. Once I got into Leon, I couldn't get out fast enough! I had spent so much time in tiny little villages over the past few weeks that I had forgotten what big, busy cities are like! In the smaller villages, everyone you pass stops to talk to you and are so pleased that you are undertaking the pilgrimage. In big cities people don't look at you and push you out of their way, regardless of the fact that you are wearing a huge backpack and have no centre of gravity, not to mention the fact that you can't move very quickly! It was horrible!

I made the HUGE mistake of going to a supermarket while I was in Leon. Stupid girl, never again! Again, I had the pack was on, again, people didn't care! I almost fell over at one point when a person shoved their trolley past me - get me out of here!!!!

I had intended on having a nice, relaxed lunch, but the hecticness that is Leon just got too much for me, so I had a very quick bocadilla and headed out of town. On my way, I stopped at the Chapel of Santiago, and seeing as the sun was out, I spent about half an hour there before heading on my way.

It was bloody typical that I had arrived at Leon at 12pm, just when the Cathedral and other museums close. I didn't want to wait around until 4pm, when they all reopened, so I missed out.


The 7km from Leon to Virgin Del Camino were pretty horrible! I'd go so far to say the worse so far - 7 long km of housing estates and industrial estates. For the first time on the Camino, I was honestly concerned for my safety while I walking through this area. But, I lived to tell the tale!

The entrance to Virgin was right on a motorway and looked horrible. Thankfully a few km in it became a nice, busy little town. I was horrified when I arrived at the Albergue though - it was incredibly ugly from the outside, like a huge school demoundable. Inside was a different story though - the best I've been in so far, with a complete kitchen, lounge with new couches, TV, the whole works! Don't judge a book by it's cover Jessica!

When I unpacked, I was incredibly annoyed to discover that my adaptor for my phone and MP3 had been left behind at the last town. A guy who was staying in my room had unplugged my phone to plug his own phone in, and left my adaptor there. I managed to buy a new one after a particulary halarious game of charades with the shop keeper. The only problem was that the edges were too high for my plug to fit, so I spent the better part of the evening on a basketball court trying to file it down. Finally I had success......after about 4 hours hard work! Ahhh, the things we do!

A while later I was sitting in the lounge area when a man came over to me. I was hoping that he wouldn't because it was very important to me that I spend time alone, but in the end, I was glad he came over. His name was Alf, and he was German. Today had been his first day and he was incredibly nervous about the journey he had embarked on. I guess he needed someone to talk to and some reassurance. I told him some of my stories and have him advice, which I think he appreciated.

Alf also taught me a very important lesson.
He had been telling me that he was worried about how far to walk each day, and did I think 10km was a lot? I was very dismissive of him in my head, thinking to myself,
'This is a fit, young bloke. 10km? I've been averaging 25km!'
Then he was speaking to me about the weight of my backpack, as his was about 6kg, which he was having trouble with. Again, I was confused,
'6kg? That's nothing. He's bigger than me, if I can carry 10kg, he certainly could'.

Then Alf says to me that he had spent the past year in a rehab clinic after a horrible accident. And it was a miracle that he could walk. Let alone walk 10km per day. Carrying a 6km backpack. And how proud of himself he was. To say I felt like a bitch is an understatement. This man is remarkable.

My lesson. Do not judge others, you don't know their stories...

Day 16: Bercanos De Real Camino - Mansilla De Las Mulas

Approx 27km

Via EL BERGO RANERO and RELIGOS

The walk today from Bercanos De Las Camino to Religos was VERY long and boring - the track was right next to a main road, so there wasn't much to see. I was absolutely stoked to walk into Religos and headed right to the bar, where I proceeded to sit over a 'cafe con leche' for a veeery long time. I was so happy to be sitting down. I had woken up with my shoulder aching so much that I was actually feeling sick, so the day was a bit of a struggle, especially with the 10kg backpack weighing me down!

The bar that I had stumbled into was amazing. The walls were covered in sayings written in many different languages, and there was an fantastic camino mural.

A few of the sayings really caught my eye:

"I bet God has a great sense of humor" (Very relevant to a pilgrim!)

"Beauty: what was always there, but not truly realised".... Jake Ballinger

I had a really surreal moment while I was sitting there. The bar was in a tiny village, somewhere in Spain, and I was listening to the same album that I had spent hours listening to in a coffee shop in Katovice, Poland. (Back to Black by Amy Winehouse, if you're interested). Two massive extremes, yet the music just slipped in and was so right!

I had been suffering from a bit of a cough, and as all of the bars in Spain are filled with smoke (no smoking regulations in Spain), it got worse while I was sitting there. It didn't help matters that the owner was trying to light the fire place and flooded the bar with smoke and ashes! Anyway, I was having a bit of a coughing fit, and the owner came over and plonked a mug in front of me, gesturing to his throat, as in: 'drink this for your cough'. I will admit, I was a bit scared to drink it, but I didn't want to be rude, so drink it I did. The most interesting thing I've ever consumed! Sweet, then hot, it made my lips numb for the rest of the day - probably thanks to the chunks of chilli I discovered floating in it!

After a few hours, I finally dragged myself to my feet and slowly wandered the remaining 6km to Mansilla. I had a glorious, spontanious, who-gives-a-f*@k moment in a spot of sunshine, dancing to 'Going, going gone' by Jack Johnson.

The Albergue in Mansilla was really nice, and full of people (including quite a few nice looking boys wandering around in the lycra bike shorts. Nice!). My biggest concern this evening was trying to decide if I should save money and have packet soup, stale bread and questionable meat, or go out to eat.... It wasn't a concern for too long. I was wandering through a shop when I ran into Xavier, a Catalan who I had been passing by and waving at all day. We decided to cook dinner together (Jess's famous Camino soup), and then popped out to a bar where I had my first introduction to Liquor de Herbas, which would quickly turn into an addiction on the Camino...more on that in a later post!