Sarria to Leboreiro

Sarria to Portomarin (24kms)



Food stores

 The lady at our hotel reception recommends a short cut to the Camino from the hotel…we have no need to go via the church and the monastery, thus saving us yet another climb!  We cross the medieval bridge (another constant coming into or out of town!) and follow the railway line on a corriedoira until, through the trees, we see the red lights flashing on the railway crossing…train coming!  We cross safely on the pedestrian crossing and pick up a forest path through predominantly oaks and chestnuts.  Climbing steeply on unsealed lanes and pathways, we pass the ruins of a chestnut drying ‘shed.’  Some men are repairing a stone fence, the mist is rising from the dewy grass and there are cobwebs draped thickly on tall grass and low shrubs across the fields.

We continue along green and shaded lanes and pass through small hamlets at regular intervals…there are 23 along today’s route.  One new addition to the scenery is the outdoor food storage unit.  Looking a little like a monument, and made of either vertical wooden slats or bricks with holes in them, they are elevated on concrete supports, are vermin proof and are used to hang meat, store cheese, dry corn, etc.  We are admiring one of these structures when an old lady comes by with her morning’s armload of twigs for the fire. 

Our lunch break today is at Ventas de Naron, on a bench seat, obviously placed by local folk, under a big tree and between two farms.  A couple of peacocks entertain us with a game of hide and seek across the laneway – one on a roof on each side of the laneway, and bringing the power line into play as required!

Uphill after lunch, we pass the “100kms to Santiago” stone.  A “boardwalk” made from blocks of granite set over loose stones takes us onto a shaded pathway as we drop down into Previsa, where we photograph three of the mainstays of village life…the Bar, the Church and the Cemetery!  At the top of the village we meet a young couple and their dog, complete with saddle bags to carry his own provisions. 

We recognise many new walkers today…Sarria is the jumping off point for those walkers who just want to do the basic 100kms to Santiago to qualify for the Compostela.  Most are not carrying much, some just water and a coat.  Like us, they are probably having their bags transported.  And there are supported walkers…again new on the track today and being dropped off by bus at a starting point, meeting the bus at various points along the way, usually in the vicinity of a Bar, where they can pick up a snack and a drink, drop off any unwanted clothing etc. and then meeting the bus at the end of the day for transport to accommodation. 

We reach Portomarin via a very steep descent for the last km or so, wondering why we can’t see the lake that appears on the maps.  Approaching the road bridge, we realise that this is the Tallangatta of Northern Spain…a drowned town in the interests of a hydro plan.  The old bridge is still being used when exposed, and the ruins of many buildings, fence lines, etc. can be seen.  The Monastery, which is now on the top of the hill, was moved, stone by stone, before the valley was flooded.

Our accommodation is a bit over 1km from the end of the road bridge.  We reach it by climbing towards the shopping centre, then walking down a fairly steep road around the fringe of the town before passing through farmland and thence to Santa Marino, a recreational area including camping and cabin accommodation.  We find the Casa Rural and are welcomed by our host who shows us to our room in the old stone house.  We have coffee sitting outside in the sun on the edge of the vineyard near the veggie garden.

Our dinner menu is ‘specialties locale’…Galician soup, braised lamb ribs, frittes and green salad, cheese and quince/tarte with chocolate sauce, red wine/water and coffee.  All is either home made or made in the area, is delicious and is more than we can eat.

Also staying is Sylvie and her son David, about 12yo.  They are French, currently living in Madrid, and cycling part of the Camino during David’s school holidays.

Portomarin to Palas de Rei (25kms)

We leave Santa Marino at 8.45am and walk the 1.1kms back to the main bridge where we rejoin the Camino, walking around where the edge of the lake would be if it was full, across a road bridge and begin a steady climb on a corriedoira past Monte de San Antonio and on to Castromaior where we meet Sylvie and David coming along the road. 

We have lunch at a picnic area (left in a sorry state by peregrinos!) at Hospital Alta da Cruz, where we meet an Irishman from Dublin – he left St Jean on October 4^th and hopes to be in Santiago in a couple of days, if his feet stay well. 

The climb is gentle after lunch up to Sierra de Ligonde and we continue towards Palas de Rei descending along a mixture of quiet sealed road, senda, and village pathways, picking up a Credentiale stamp at Albergue de Ligonde where a group of Camino America people are also, along with a girl we presume to be their Spanish guide. We continue as before towards Airexe, meeting a young couple from Brazil who are with the Camino America  group…they fly in from the Americas (North and/or South), walk from 9am to 5pm for 6 days, from Sarria to Santiago, then get back on the plane and go home. 

At Airexe, we see the ‘Healesville’ group having lunch, so we stop and join them for coffee, also picking up another stamp.  6kms on, and we walk along a granite paving and crushed rock path to enter the small town of Palas de Rei where our accommodation is 50m off the Camino at the 65km marker. 

We find a nice bar, with nice people, good food and a reasonable price for dinner.   The wind is whining through the ventilation pipes, and something is happening to the weather!

Palas de Rei to Leboreiro (8 kms)

We wake to find that it has rained during the night, albeit lightly.



Just walkin' in the rain

 We farewell the ‘Healesville’ group of six as they head out into the rain. We will probably not see them again until we get home.

We have a very light day, so leave a bit later with pack covers and one in a raincoat.  The other is donned under a shop veranda a little way along the track.  There is a cold, strong southerly wind and very light rain to start as we take to sheltered pathways, but the rain intensifies and the trees that are providing our shelter become so wet that they are no longer keeping the water off. 

We stop at the church in San Julian for a stamp and find the priest doing the stamping.  He is keen to dispense blessings for money…we just accept the stamp and head back into the rain. The track gets wetter and puddles and runnels form down the slopes, and it becomes difficult to find reasonable dry footing.  We are getting quite damp by the time we reach Leboreiro, a little short of the 9.5kms we are expecting.

We present ourselves on the doorstep of the Casa Rural de Los Samoza somewhat dripping and receive a warm welcome, a fine lunch (tortilla bocadillo and coffee…€12), have the heaters turned on for us, get paper to stuff our boots and have them taken to a ‘warm place,’ then get our diary up to date as well as check emails.  The rain continues. We go for a short walk but are glad to return to the warm, dry pension.

Dinner is at 7.00pm and we share the dining room with a Spanish couple who are both civil engineers and are working on the new rail network, including the very fast train project.

As we have come to expect in Casa Rural, the food is based on ‘specialities locale.’  Tonight we enjoy vegetable soup / melon with ham, chicken from the grill / veal from the grill, icecream / homemade yoghurt with local honey.   Add crusty bread, a beer and a nice red, finish with a honey-based liquer (home made) and a coffee…€12.

Healesvilleites