Day 24 : La Faba to Fonfria

Steve : We liked La Faba but it was time to move on. We awoke from our Hobbit slumbers and were underway around 6am.

Hamish reboots

As suspected Jen’s toe and foot were giving her grief.  It was beginning to look like an actual infection as opposed to merely a blister gone pop. She struggled up the hills anyway…

A poor wayfaring stranger

… and after around 3km of hobbling we make it to Galicia.

Each region through which we have passed has dealt with the Camino slightly differently. The yellow arrows are common to all, but each has a unique way of indicating distance.  Galicia has concrete markers and we soon come across the first one:

160km/100 miles to go…

We soon discover that the brass plates giving the distance to go are highly prized by peregrinos and are more often than not missing.  But it is nice to be reminded of our rapid progress.

The morning is very misty…

…as we round the hilltop and arrive in O Cebreiro, a splendid old town at the top of the pass.

An ancient church in O Cebreiro

We are unsure of how fast we can go today so we slow right down and have a second breakfast in the town. J and H go shopping in the many tourist shops (the first real tourist traps we’ve seen) and buy some Galician jewellery.  The designs are very similar to Scots, as you’d expect giving the Celtic influence in Galicia.  The background music in the shop is of bagpipes. We’re are back in the land of the Celts.

We visit the church and take things very slowly.

The mist is lifting…

…as we walk up the hill behind O Cebreiro. The panoramas are superb.

On top of the hill is another pilgrim landmark…

A large wooden cross sits right at the top of the hill.  It’s a short detour and we climb up in the damp air.

Jen inserts a small stone into the wood of the cross, alongside many other stones, coins, and other pilgrim ephemera.

The mist is coming in again from the north.

We walk on, down into the valley. The trail is very up-and-down and Jen’s feet issues are becoming a problem. Around noon we get into Linares and buy junk food in the supermercado and make a plan.

Twenty euros later and Jen is in a cab to Fonfria, another veggie friendly albergue. We need to take the infected toe more seriously.  We get antibiotic cream and various bits and pieces. DIY surgery, here we come…

Hamish and I continue on, headphones in our ears, and we walk the remaining 10km to Fonfria through a green and pleasant land.

Suzanne Vega provides the soundtrack as we crest a high point on the trail and come upon another pilgrim monument.

Another 6km along winding trails and through disused farms…

…with occasional huge vistas…

…we are arrive at Fonfria. We are out in the middle of nowhere here and, of necessity (as there are no other options close-by), Fonfria is one of the larger albergues in which we have stayed.

Jen makes friends with the albergue cat, one of many:

We make our way down to the restaurant for the communal dinner, observing another rural traffic jam as we go…

Fonfria restaurant

Our dinner companions are a Frenchman who has been walking for 60+ days, from his home in Brittany, and a Russian from St Petersburg, the first Russian we have met.

The Frenchman is very mellow and has a first rate moustache. The Russian is young and competitive and seems dismissive of those of us not covering at least 30km per day. Jen gets slightly exasperated.

Later we sit in the albergue looking at the approaching rain…

…and discuss the notion of a ‘slow Camino’, 15km a day maximum, whilst we patch up Jen’s foot with the assistance of several other peregrinos and their medical kits. The camaraderie of the road…