Jimandi

Day 39 – Gonzar to Palas de Rei

Walked today: 9.3 mi. Camino’26: 263 mi.

We rejoined the camino on the dirt path running in front of the albergue .

For the past several caminos we didn’t follow the camino, but walked in the edge of the road. It wasn’t as safe but we felt it was maybe shorter and easier walking. But today we decided to give the camino another chance.

The camino path from Gonzar to Castromaior.

We stayed here on our first camino in 2015.

Taking a alternative route from the Camino back to the road.

Back on the road after the camino and road routes merged,

Leaving the main road and walking toward Ventas de Narón

Farm land and nice farmhouses on the road to Ventas de Narón.

Impressive farmhouse/estate on the entrance to Ventas (pop.120)

Ventas de Narón was the site of an 820AD battle between Christian and Muslim armies that was the turning point of driving the Muslims out of northern Spain.

We made our breakfast stop at O Cruceiro restaurant and shared our table with a sweet German shepherd and some overly-friendly birds.

Thé owner’s dog came over and laid down beside Jim and relaxed at his feet while we had breakfast.

This bird kept begging for some of our tostadas and Jim persistently shooed him away. He must have believed in the concept of strength in numbers as he (or she) brought on reinforcements as the following unbelievable sequence documents.

Top left to bottom right was from snapping photos a few seconds after each other, until bird #4 left and the other three followed.

After breakfast we continued on this lightly traveled road and side walkway.

The walking pretty much looked like this until we reached Ligonde.

Ligonde is a charming Galician village with old and some newer homes, including this one.

Every time we have walked through Ligonde (pop.64), this house has had a display of seasonal vegetables arranged in a line on the second floor railing. The lady of the house could also be seen working through the kitchen window. Jim would wave and she waved back. Today, the vegetables weren’t there neither was the lady.

Jim inquired of a gentleman working in the yard, “where is the vegetable display and where is the lady in the window and is she ok?”. He smiled and called out, “Rosa!” and added some explanation to her which we didn’t understand.

The lady, Rosa, came to the gate, greeted us and went back into the house. She returned with an offering of some of her homemade fresh cheese, one of Linda’s favorite Spanish foods and we tasted it. It was delicious, so we offered to buy some and she nodded giving us the cheese to take with us. Jim asked how much to pay, she said 3€, so he gave her 5€, which she happily accepted. Jim secured it in his backpack and we moved on.

The lady just ahead is from Texas, walking her first camino from Sarria. We have been hopscotching with her since our first encounter in Portomarin two days ago.

After leaving Ligonde we passed through Eirexe (pop.23), Portos (pop.2) and Brea (pop.200).

The path was a choice between a dirt or concrete walkway or the lightly traveled road,

Linda preferred the road most of the way.

Having our tasty lunch and a rest after a long walk at Meson de Brea restaurant.

After lunch, we decided to complete our walk for the day, texted the host of our rented apartment in Palas de Rei requesting an early check in, got it, called a taxi and completed the remaining 2 miles in the comfort of an air conditioned vehicle.

Our room or more like our apartment in Palas de Rei.

There was a DIA market just a few steps from our apartment. Once we checked in and saw what we had to work with, we made a visit to the DIA and purchased items to create afternoon and evening meals/snacks.

Once we got settled and completed some of our chores, we paused to create a late afternoon feed. We unwrapped the fresh cheese that Rosa gave us and paired it with a slice of tomato (DIA) and salt. We also paired it with a generous drizzle of honey, (DIA). Both were delicious and made a terrific snack. Both also went well with the Godello wine (DIA).

It was a long walk today, but we recovered quickly. We’ve also enjoyed our lovely, spacious apartment in Palas de Rei. Tomorrow’s high is forecasted to be 104F, so we’ll get an early start to do our walking in the 60’s.

Day 38 – Morgade to Gonzar

Walked today: 6.9 mi. Camino’26: 254 mi.

Stopping at a small hermitage just a few steps from Casa Morgade this morning at 6:55, temperature 59F.

Our plan for today was to walk to Mercadoiro and have breakfast, then call a taxi to take us to Gonzar where we are staying tonight. We stayed at Albergue Mercadoiro in 2015 and stopped for meals several times since. The restaurant has interesting and healthy items… to broaden our Camino culinary experience.

This picturesque pathway is designed to provide better footing when it rains.

Stopping to enjoy the scenery and sunrise.

This is a climb back up from a very steep dip as we walked out of Ferreiros.

A half mile later, just after passing the sign for Pena, we arrived at the 100 km marker. This marks the beginning of the last 100 km to Santiago Compostela which is the minimum requirement to earn a Compostela certificate.

At this point we had not seen a single pilgrim. So we wanted to take the traditional photo posing at this milestone. So we tried a selfie which didn’t work and finally got creative with another approach.

No pilgrims around to take our group photo, selfie not so hot, so we improvised.

Leaving the 100km marker and Pena and on to Mercadoiro

We returned to the walled way for a bit, then walked on a portion of country paved road.

An impressive, welcoming entrance to Mercadario

Curses! No breakfast for us at Mercadoito restaurant.

Moving on to the next village looking for a place to eat and call a taxi.

Another different walkway to mitigate erosion from rushing water.

Looking for another breakfast stop at A Parrocha.

All closed up with a charming sign on the door “Sorry, we’re closed”, in English, nonethelesstheless.

At this point we were willing to wait 30 minutes until this place opened at 10:00. But a nice young man saw us approach the gate and kindly opened it and welcomed us inside!

We finally had our traditional camino breakfast of cafe-con-leche and dos tostadas. Kudos to the folks at O Remanso for a charming cafe and exemplary hospitality.

We felt so good after breakfast, we decided to walk on to Portomarin before taking a taxi to Gonzar.

Even ET hangs out at O Remanso. Before we walked on, Jim loaned him his iphone to ….

A different version of walls followed us out of Vilacha.

The path made a few turns among the fields, with Portomarin getting closer.

We began with a steep, but manageable downhill section.

Then a more gradual slope down to the main road. We followed it to the bridge.

We followed this main road for a few hundred yards to the bridge.

The “new” Miño River Bridge into Portomarin.

For this pilgrim, such a high bridge over such a long, nartow span was a bit unnerving, if not plain scary.

The reservoir created by the flood control dam built in the 1950’s required the new bridge.

The original Portomarin is now at the bottom of the reservoir. Critical structures were moved stone by stone to its present location..

To enter Portomarin you either walk all around left or right then up the hill or climb the steps. Linda chose the steps.

Having some OJ at a favorite, routine stop whenever we passed through or stayed at Portomarin.

The owner of the Albergue/Restaurant Gonzar.

We took a taxi to Gonzar, checked in at 2:00, and spent the rest of the day doing the usual.

The Hostería Gonzar. Usually packed with pilgrims inside and outside from late morning to mid afternoon, today had unusually low traffic based on our previous 6 stays.

Jim contemplating a dip in the Hostería Gonzar pool, but decided against it after plunging his big toe into the still very chilly water.

So, things don’t always go as planned on the Camino. We ended up walking an extra several miles to find a place open for breakfast. We had an unexpected positive experience in Vilacha. We ended up walking from Mercadoiro to Portomarin again, which we hadn’t done since the pandemic. We expected to walk among the hoards of pilgrims again, but remarkably saw less than a dozen other pilgrims during our walk and at the Gonzar Albergue.

On balance it turned out to be a nice, satisfying and enjoyable day for Camino 2026.

Day 37 – Barbadelo to Morgade

Walked today: 6.0 mi. Camino’26: 247 mi.

Looking back on the only street thru Pintín as the taxi arrived at 8:00 to take us back to Barbadelo, where we finished walking yesterday.

Leaving Barbadelo in the cool 59F with a slight breeze perfect walking conditions. As we joined the Camino we also joined a lot of pilgrims of all ages, mostly just beginning their camino based on their clean, new outfits, surprised reactions to a “buen camino” greeting and their focus on their group or themselves and not the camino around them.

Just before Rente (our favorite place to stay but closed after the pandemic) we began chatting with a young lady from Colorado, who started in SJPDP in late May on her first camino. Kenna (we’re not sure of spelling) was about the age of our children with an active spouse and kids no longer at home. She has two daughters who are former professional soccer players and her husband is an Olympic skating coach. We exchanged contact info when she stopped for a break shortly after Rente.

Today is a favorite walk because of scenes like this, shade and surroundings just as interesting after our 8th time passing through.

The dirt path running into a residential area with paved road.

This is a different group of pilgrims than the previous photo only a few minutes after the previous group had moved ahead… pilgrims galore.

We stopped here for breakfast, but moved on as they apparently converted to vending machines since 2025. Note the pilgrim lines to get a stamp for their credential to qualify for a Compostela in Santiago.

A lull in the pilgrims traffic allowed for a brief period of peace and quiet and watching grazing sheep.

This section of path is typical of years of erosion.

Another favorite photo op, but the weeds have grown up along the walkway disrupting the distant view of the curvy walkway.

A rocky path just before Brea, our next option for breakfast.

For some reason, yet unknown, Mirador da Brea, a favorite rest stop was experiencing a gap in pilgrim traffic when we arrived. It’s usually a zoo with lines and confusion and searching for a table, etc. But at 11:30, Jim walked up to the bar and ordered our traditional cafe con leche and tostados without waiting and the bathroom line for the ladies was unbelievably short. So, we had a nice, leisurely breakfast before walking less than a half-mile to Casa Morgade, our destination for today,

A pilgrim and his partner performing a short song before continuing their walk.

Leaving a relatively deserted popular stop on the Camino.

The view of Casa Morgade in the hamlet of Morgade (pop.4)

We walked into the souvenir/reception area of Casa Morgade to check in. Before we could say anything the manager smiled and welcomed us back… this is our third visit.

We asked where we could wash our clothes and were directed to this area. Jim asked if they had machines, too, and was gladly relieved of his bag of dirty clothes for washing and drying plus 9€ for delivery in 2 hours.

Our neighbors seen outside our room window.

At 2:30 we walked to the dining area and instead of ordering from the “menu of the day” we selected different “rationes” or servings of food items to share.

For our main meal we chose a “Roble” wine made from 100% Tempranilla grapes. It was full bodied, high acidity and tanins, notes of dark red fruits with chocolate or toasted hints of oak. It paired well with the cheese, the beef and iberian sausages and the dark chocolate cake.

Roble wine is a young red wine with a light touch of oak aging, making it smoother and slightly more complex than typical young wines. It offers a balance between the freshness of young wines and the depth of Crianza wines, providing excellent quality at a more accessible price compared to other Spanish wines like Crianza or Reserva. **Roble wines have revolutionized Spanish winemaking, especially in the Ribera del Duero** region.

After our main meal we ordered a “green” juice drink promoted by the Casa Morgade bar. We watched the barmaid prepare the drink. She fed a juicer with a pealed lemon, 2 small unpealed green apples, an unpealed cucumber and carrot greens. It was really tasty and we each drank about a third of the 12 oz drink.

Stirring in the dried parsley flakes with the green juice concoction.

Jim has been adding dried parsley to many of the items we’ve had on the camino, so far. He found a small bottle of the ultra-high flavanoid in a tiny market in Villafranca Montes de Oca. He carries it in his fanny pack every day. So, he added about a 1/2 teaspoon to the remaining fruit juice and gulped it down to make the already healthy drink a real powerhouse.

Jim feeling the surge of anti-oxidants and other good stuff super charging his system after today’s walk and preparing for tomorrow’s .

Day 36 – Pintín to Barbadelo

Walked today: 7.0 mi. Camino’26: 241 mi.

Most of our walks from Pintín have been in the dark, so this morning was a treat, getting to observe more of our surroundings.

A short walk along the road out of Pintín led us into a small forest and back out again.

The path out of the forest merged with the main secondary road into Sarria.

Along the way, we were taken through the village of Aquiada, where the only thing moving this morning were the jaws of a few cows resting outside a barn, chewing their cud.

The dirt path undulated frequently all the way into Sarria.

Walking got rather rough exacerbating the undulations.

The path’s last ditch effort to do us in before we stopped for breakfast.

A well groomed gravel path entering Sarria.

Following the Camino through Sarria continued

Following the Camino up, up, up the steps, passed the Igrexa de Santa Maríña at the top and then down the steep pavement, turning right to go out of Sarria and over the medieval bridge.

Leaving the Camino continuing straight, not left to go up the steps thus avoiding the steps up and steep pavement back down to the medieval A Ponte Da Aspera bridge… “our way”.

“Our Way” to the A Ponte Da Aspera medieval bridge.

Walking over the medieval A Ponte Da Aspera bridge out of Sarria.

After crossing the A Ponte Da Aspera the dirt path passed through shade trees, along a small stream and small corn fields.

The path went along the railroad tracks for a while. Today was the first time we heard the train whistle and actually saw a passenger train whiz by.

A short walk later we crossed the tracks.

Before following the path back into the woods, a truck could be heard on the overhead. auto via,

Only a few seconds later another warning whistle was heard and a second train raced by…

… this one was carrying logs going to a lumber mill somewhere.

After the excitement of seeing two trains pass by, the path re-entered the woods and we crossed a small stream.

The path immediately headed uphill, so we were inclined to go with it, even though we had memories of the hard climb ahead.

This forest is populated with many large, old trees, some mangled from enduring probably hundreds of years.

The climb required a continuation of effort from bottom to top.

Linda’s expression reveals the effort required.

Moving along, on level ground once more.

Right after the climb we emerged from the forest and passed through this field which terminated at the edge of the village of Barbadelo and the albergue of the same name.

We’ve had unpleasant experiences with Barbadelo both with overnight stays and the restaurant treatment of guests. Consequently, we no longer patronize the village, if we can help it. Walking beyond Barbadelo to another more suitable location requires us to exceed our target maximum for a single day’s walk, so we use the two night stay at Casa Cines and taxi combination to mitigate the “problem”.

We completed today’s 7 mile walk at Barbadelo at 10:20 a.m. We had a drink on the albergue restaurant terrace and watched the passing pilgrims, while waiting for a cab to take us back to Casa Cines to spend the rest of the day and night.

Our good friend, Ñuria, who has been an exceptional host and provided timely support for all 8 of our Caminos beginning in 2015.

We had a late lunch/main meal at 2:30 and settled our bill and said our goodbyes to Ñuria and retired to our room to complete our routines and review plans for tomorrow before calling it a day.

Day 35- Fonfría to Pintín

Walked today: 6.0 mi. Camino’26: 234 mi.

Walking out of Fonfría (elev. 4253ft) this morning at 7:15, 59F and passing by Casa Lucas, where we stayed on our first 5 Caminos.

The path leaving Fonfria, cattle in the field to our left. The same ones we saw being brought back to the barns last evening.

This conscientious, wolf-like canine placed himself between “his” cows and us until we were safely on down the path.

A mile down the path we approached Biduedo (pop.31), a usual breakfast stop.

We decided to keep moving but did capture Linda and the smallest church on the Camino as we passed by.

We were actually in a hurry to see one of the most scenic sections of the Camino this morning. The sky was clear, so our expectations were high.

Just out of Biduedo we searched for the “view”, but this is what we got instead.

We walked a little further, again hoping for a better result as some of the nearby scenery became visible.

But all we got was thick, beautiful white clouds covering the entire valley below… 2000 feet below to be accurate.

We kept walking, thinking maybe some of the clouds were beginning to lift revealing a view, any view, p l e a s e!

Nearing the end of the walk along the edge of the 4000 ft mountain overlooking a picturesque valley over 2000 feet below… it was as if it never existed.

So, we had no choice but to begin the long trek down into the valley, but today, into the clouds.

Carefully avoiding a Camino-ending injury.

Until we reached Fillobal, 600 feet below.

A favorite breakfast stop, halfway to Triacastela, unfortunately under new ownership and not the same as before. Rosa, the former owner was known for her delicious pastries and tortillas and provided a welcoming and warm environment for all her guests. Sadly, those characteristics were missing this morning and we disappointedly resumed out walk down the mountain.

Leaving Fillobal, Linda said hello/goodbye to this neanderthal pilgrim.

The path continued down, but had sections lined with trees.

One thing worse than a steep downhill walk is one laden with loose, sharp rocks. Linda adapting by going very carefully and slow.

In Galícia especially, many of the paths are also washes the get deeper from erosion after decades and centuries of water runoff from melting snow and rains. This process exposes tree roots in a fascinating way.

Exposed roots of this ancient chestnut tree

We walked through As Pasantes, a very old village with mostly old and a few relatively newer structures and modern automobiles and farm equipment. This canine inhabitant made it clear that this photographer was not to get closer to his family’s vehicles!

The contrast of old and new in As Pasantes.

Walking on to the next village with mountain view along the. way

Linda by the 800 year old chestnut tree in the village of Ramil.

Entering Triacastela with the welcome sign and the relatively new municiple albergue in the background

We stopped on the edge of town at this bar/albergue to call a taxi to take us to Pintín.

We ordered OJ (Linda) and ColaCao (Jim) and took a well earned rest for having walked downhill almost totally for 3.5 hours and dropping 2000 ft in elevation from Fonfria to Triacastela!

Our taxi (a tesla) arrived 15 minutes later and took us to Pintín and Hostal Casa Cines. It is our 8th visit.

We were greated with nice hugs from by Ñuria, the manager and owner’s daughter and immediately and given the key to our room, deferring check in, etc.

We had a light lunch in the hostal dining area and returned to our room for the afternoon for chores, etc.

At 6:00 we shared a pizza in the dining room. We had some nice conversation with Ñuria who’s English along with our limited Spanish and translation apps as needed, allowed us to communicate pretty well, we think!

We also had a brief after dinner chat with Tony from Scotland. He passed us on the way into Triacastela and we apparently beat him to Casa Cines with the help of Elon Musk and our driver’s vehicle.

Today finished nicely. Tomorrow will be the first day we don’t transport our backpacks. Our packs will be here in our room, when our tesla taxi returns us back to Casa Cines after our walk to Barbadelo tomorrow… if all goes as planned.

Day 34- Trabadelo to Fonfría

Walked today: 7.7 mi. Camino’26: 228 mi.

Our plan today is similar to our past 5 Caminos in that we skip the challenging climb from the Valcarce valley at roughly 1700 ft. to the village of O Cebreiro at 4393 ft. The trail includes the official entrance into the autonomous region of Galicia from Castilla. It saves us 11.2 miles of walking, which for us translates to 2 days and nights.

A taxi picked us up at Nova Ruta at 6:50 a.m. and took us to the parking lot next to the medieval Iglesia de Santa María of O Cebreiro.

Linda over-looking the area we walked from in 2015 and 2017.

Iglesia de Santa María. Two pilgrims spent the night in the protection of the doorway with their canine standing guard.

The village has its origin in Roman times and maintains the historical character of a typical Galician mountain community. It is one of the oldest continuously occupied settlements on the Camino.

O Cebreiro is also the birthplace of Father Elías Valiña Sampedro, a local priest instrumental in the 20th century revival of the Camino de Santiago. He initiated the yellow arrow symbol and is also responsible for the cement markers in Galicia.

We decided to take the complementary route to Liñares, having taken our usual path following the road.