Author: Thom

Sometimes you need a reminder that the Camino is not some isolated path through Spain, but rather part of the warp and weft of the countryside through which it passes. In the rural areas you will occasionally have someone run a small herd of cows or a flock of sheep down the Camino. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s […]

As we continue to climb up and up towards Galicia, it’s time to turn around and see where we’ve been. The valley of El Bierzo stretches out below, its horizon already obscured by the foothills rising all around us. It has been a hard climb – and it’s not quite over yet. But already we are daydreaming of cool drink […]

Here we see Francine pushing her way uphill from La Faba towards the Galician border and the town of O Cebreiro. The rocky nature of the path certainly wasn’t making it any easier, but at least the trees provided a modicum of shade. To my mind, this was the most difficult climb since our first day in the Pyrenees, almost […]

I mentioned yesterday that a percentage of the pilgrims on the Camino choose to go by bicycle rather than foot. Here’s a sign of that: two different Camino paths, one for foot and another for bike. While rare, these definitely exist throughout the length of the Camino, as there is plenty of terrain you can cross safely on foot, but […]

As we walked through the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it village of Las Herrerías that may or may not be part of La Faba, we finally came upon the stables we saw advertised back in Ambasmetas. While the overwhelming majority of pilgrims walk, about 8% or so bicycle, and another 1% ride horseback. No word on the percentage of pilgrims who just take these […]

The intrepid pilgrims enter the village of La Faba. Here we would have a drink and some snackage in a funky albergue/bar called El Refugio CaminArte. By this time, we were halfway up the mountain. Date: 25 April 2016 Place: La Faba (Castilla y León, Spain) Today’s Map:

As we continue our climb up into the Cantabrian Mountains and, eventually, Galicia, the Camino follows a country road towards the village of La Faba. To our left, the land drops away into an idyllic valley, complete with meadowland, winding river, and scattered cattle. Despite the heat of the day and the climb, it was a little slice of heaven. […]

For today’s Feast of Saint James (July 25), we’re taking this photo a little out of order. May you have all the joy of the feast! This statue of Santiago – Saint James – may be found in the Iglesa de Santa Magdalena in the village of Vega de Valcarce, which we visited a few days ago in these pages. […]

This is the interior of the Parish Church of San Juan Bautista de Ruitelán. It’s tiny, but for the small population of the village of Ruitelán, it’s almost certainly sufficient. What fascinates me is that the central image on the reredos isn’t Saint John the Baptist, as one would suspect, but the pietà. I believe that’s Saint John on the […]

In addition to an afternoon of uphill walking, the sun was shining with a fierceness. You can almost feel the sweat just looking at the photo – and she’s in the shade! Fortunately, it would get a little cooler as we gained altitude. Here Francine walks past the tiny Parish Church of San Juan Bautista de Ruitelán. We’ll take a […]