Day 35

We left at 7am this morning there was no sun it was light with some cloud cover, the air was crisp. The first little bit is on road and then we started our descent. It was as hard as yesterday with many sharp rocks and narrow paths to navigate. As the sun comes up it catch’s the roof tops of Ponferrada which is the small city we are heading towards it gives a majestic view as we weave our way down the mountain.

On the way down we are passed by a few pilgrims. I am with my friend from the US and it’s great to have company while walking this tricky bit of the Way.

There are baby goats, donkeys, cattle, wildflowers and small villages to distract us. We stop for breakfast and this cat really wants to be friends with me.

After breakfast there are still more tricky bits but eventually we are in the outer suburbs and on footpaths.

Two elderly Spanish ladies stop us, they want to know where we are from, how long we have been walking, where did we start, they wanted to see our backpacks. They had no English but we understood enough to be able to answer in pretend Spanish it was an adorable moment.

We arrived in town and I headed to the Municipal Alburgue to secure a bed. It’s a big place it can sleep 175 pilgrims. My dorm only has 4 beds in it, all female and we have a bathroom nearby. I have a bottom bunk so it’s pretty comfortable.

After showering and laundry we meet up and check out the Templar Castle. We can’t go in today but it looks great from the outside. I meetup with more Camino friends for drinks and then after a bit more of a wander around the town (you can never have enough walking) An Italian dinner, fresh lasagna yum!

I just managed to get back to the Alburgue before lights out and doors locked. Few!

Distance walked 15.2

Elevation down to 500m

Thoughts of buying baby goats when back in Australia: Many!

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