Day 33

Via de la Plata

Sunday 29 April 2012

Day 33

 

A Gudina to Laza. 34km.

 

When we left this morning the town was shrouded in mist. Also Cicerone said that there was quite a lot of asphalt but on a small narrow road that has almost no traffic and climbs high up over the area known as the Sierra Seca. So leaving A Gudina we were climbing a tarred road and could see virtually nothing. It didn't hold any prospects of a great walk. It didn't help when the waymarks took us in detours from the road through such villages as Venda de Teresa and Venda de Capela which were poorly populated and many of the houses in ruins. These villages formerly housed employees of the railway,which the route follows, when building of the line took place in the 1950's, but now most of the population has emigrated in search of work. In Capela there was a row of abandoned buildings that housed former railway employees. The walls were constructed with some substantial large bricks and looked sturdy and one or two people were busy with refurbishing them.

 

As we approached the next little village, Venda do Bolano, the mist began to lift and down in the valley to our right was the reservoir, Embalse das Portas. The water levels were quite low but it did give us the first bit of interest along the route. After that everything just got better and better. From Bolano we left the road and on to wide track that our guide calls a 'camino de tierra' or gravel road. It climbed up and this was a walk of splendour as we levelled out to go along a ridge. The views were outstanding with deep valleys on either side with more rolling hills behind. At the end of the ridge there was along steep drop to the village of Campobecerros, that we could see for some time, nestled in a hollow far below. When we eventually reached this delightful little community we found a seat outside the church and graveyard to have our lunch. As we were packing up to get going again Suzanna and Almont came along, they had stayed at the albergue in A Gudina last night, they said to was alright. They stopped at the village bar for lunch and we were ahead of them again.

 

We had to start climbing once more, then dropped down the other side to another village, Portacambo. It was up again after that to a large wooden cross erected in memory of pilgrims who had died whilst heading for Santiago. From this point we began to descend gradually along the contours of the hillside. To our right all the way down there was this very deep v-shaped valley with a river flowing far below. It was the most exceptional of scenes, the hills towering above the shear sides and then rolling into the distance where could be seen the mountains of our previous walks topped with snow. The weather today had been extremes, first there was the early morning mist, this cleared to give us blue skies and sunshine, we even took off our tights it was so warm, now coming down the contour path we got hail stones followed by heavy rain. When we dropped from the hillside to the village of As Eiras the sun was shining again, and we sat on a bench outside the church where I made coffee on the cooker. While we were enjoying our break Suzanna and Almont came past again, they were walking quite briskly, we could let them go as we weren't making for the albergue tonight.

 

The 'last lap' for the day was a 6km stretch on the road to Laza. It was all a gradual downhill and very easy going after a long hard day. We were staying at a pension tonight, Blanco Conde, it was formerly a restaurant but that part was closed and they had a few rooms. It turned out to be very nice, it was a sort of a flat with three double bedrooms around a kitchen area. It cost E35 but that included breakfast and it did have cooking facilities so we didn't have to dine at the pub.

 

The three and a half day's walking from Puebla de Sanabria have been some of the best we have ever done. The area can be honestly described as one of 'outstanding natural beauty'. For a good walk you need hills, the physical challenge of climbing not only gives you the satisfaction of gaining fitness and achievement but also takes you to heights not normally accessible and rewards with views and panoramas available to the few willing to make the effort.