Day 30

Via de la Plata

Thursday 26 April 2012

Day 30

 

Palacios de Sanabria to Requejo de Sanabria 25km.

 

Now there was plenty of food it was back to a normal breakfast of cereal, yoghurt, bread and jam washed down with coffee. There was no problem preparing it In the room, nobody complained anyway. We were off at 7:30am and it was raining, but it only lasted a few minutes and it turned out quite a nice day. There was hardly any wind and although it was overcast and later resulted in a few short showers it was generally good walking weather.

 

The route led us through nice wooded lanes to the villages of Remesal and Otero de Sanabria before climbing up to a moorland landscape with wild shrubs and an abundance of heather. In the distance we could see the mountains we have to cross tomorrow, all with a brushing of snow on top. I think it will be cold up there and it's fortunate that we bought the tights to keep our legs warm. At the small village of Triufe we found another sheltered church porch to stop for our morning coffee, some chocolate biscuits and an apple. From there we dropped down to the town of Puebla de Sanabria, the old historic part with its castle and 12th century church of Santa Maria del Azoque perched on the hill high above.

 

We crossed over the Rio Tera by a lovely old arched bridge, the waters were still and the reflections of the trees along the banks stunning. There was then a climb by a zig zag stairway all the way up to below the castle ramparts and into the old town. At the top we met Suzanna and Almont, they were searching for the route markers.i asked if they had been round the old town and they said yes. I was surprised as we hadn't seen them pass us, maybe they were using the bus again. The castle and the church were quite outstanding but there didn't seem to be any means of viewing the interiors; I just had to be satisfied with lots of photographs of the outsides.

 

After about a hour wandering about we found the route markers and got on our way to the overnight stop at Requejo. It took us along the road and the two women were just behind us they must have got lost and gone the long way round. From the road the Camino followed a path along the banks of the Rio Tera. It was a delightful walk and the reflections all along the river were outstanding. We stopped after a short way to make coffee on the cooker and also to allow the two women to overtake us. They didn't appear, then Moira spotted them making their way on the road, it was a much shorter route but missed out on a nice riverside trip. Unfortunately we had to come away from the river a few kilometres further on, a local warned us that the path was flooded and impassable. We were only on the road for a short while and we picked up the waymarks again when it crossed to the other side away from the river which was much higher and drier. Here it was another enjoyable journey this time through woodland to the village of Terroso. There we had a five minute break for my back which was sore to recover before the final 3km to the albergue, Casa Cervino, in Requejo.

 

This was another '5 Star' albergue, there was sheets and duvets on the bunks, they issued towels, free internet and WiFi, and most importantly a kitchen. Moira had bought chicken at a supermarket in Puebla and we were having a curry tonight. In the spacious dorm the only others there were Suzanna and Almont, we seemed to have found a slot where there aren't any people walking, or maybe they've given up due to the miserable weather.

 

We went for a stroll around Requejo later after having a lovely refreshing hot shower. There wasn't anything to see, there seemed to be only a few houses scattered on either side of the main road, a couple of bars and the ubiquitous church. We did strangely enough find a small alimentaciob or grocery store where there were strawberries, these went very well as a dessert to follow the curry we had for dinner.

 

Injuries

While the majority of people on the Camino have problems with their feet, and initially i did have a couple of blisters due to my new shoes, it is my hands that are bothering me. Over the first weeks when it was sunny I got the backs of my hands sunburned. They began to peel and then came the freezing conditions. At times I lost all feeling in them they were so cold and sores developed where they had been burned. Also the backs of all my fingers came out in red welts, like chillblanes we used to get on our feet as children in Scotland before central heating. It has helped wearing two pairs of socks on my hands with the insulating plastic bag between ut they can be quite painful and irritating at times.