13 October 2017
Walking Day 30:
30.5 kilometers

Another day of the Camino in which I started before the sun rose, and walked up hill. This up hill stretch was much like yesterday, with a steep section more than 1.5 kilometers to Monte San Antonio, then 12 kilometers up to the high point for the day at Sierra Ligonde. With about 6 kilometers to go to Palas de Rei, I made a diversion of 5 kilometers (2.5 kilometers each way) to Vivar de Donas, a historic monument and former seat of the Knights of Santiago.

I started walking out of Portomarín just before 8:00 AM. It was cold, much like yesterday, about 4 C (38 F). But with no wind blowing, it was not too bad. And, I knew that the first few hours would be all uphill, and because I have been here once before, I know that the first 15 kilometers are fairly steep.

There were many other pilgrims out in the early morning darkness, so there was no feeling of whether or not I was on the right path. Shortly after that long 1.5 kilometer climb in the forest (and it was just too dark for pictures), I caught up to Jo from Iceland. She and I have walked together a few times, and we have talked about our feet and the challenges they have presented. After a bit of walking together, we had to cross a minor highway, I looked back and saw the sun rising, bright orange because of the smoke in the air due to a nearby forest fire. [We heard and saw helicopters taking water to the burn area all day yesterday.] My picture does not capture the brilliant orange-red, but I did get a shot of the sunrise.

And we continued walking uphill for quite some time. Soon we came to an area that had been burned in a forest fire last spring. It was a sobering reminder of the problems in California now. That is Jo on the left of the picture.

I had some other pictures, but this one really captured the blackened rocks in the rock-wall. We continued past the burned area, and in and out of forest and fields, some cultivated, some not.

Sometimes we were in very majestic, old-growth trees.

We were grateful that the coolness of the morning lingered even after the sun was up and bright. You can see the difference in the trees in the picture above compared to that below – different trees, different terrain, different light, different mood.

Even on or beside a paved road, the trees set a nice mood.

I chose to take a detour of 2.5 kilometers each way to visit Vilar de Donas, a church that is a national monument and former seat of the Knights of Santiago. Here is the cutoff to Vilar de Donas:

I’m pretty sire “Igrexa” is Galician (Galego) for church, just is “Iglesia” is Spanish for church. Galicia is an Autonomous Region of Spain (similar to our states), and Santiago de Compostela is the capital of Galicia. In Galicia, the language Galego (aka Galician) is spoken, but they also speak Spanish. Galego is older than Spanish, and some say more like Portuguese than Spanish.

I continued on the detour and came upon three ladies from Great Britain who told me that the church was just over the next hill and absolutely worth seeing. Soon I arrived at the small, historic church, The Chuch of El Salvador.

The Romanesque structure we see was built in the 14th century, but there was a convent here back to the 10 century. Inside, some of the frescos were discovered during cleaning in fairly recent years, and efforts are underway to preserve them.

The entrance to the church and the altar area inside.

Some detail of the fresco behind the altar.
And some detail of one of the frescos on the side:

Very beautiful.

After taking it all in and taking more photographs, I headed back to join the Camino path. It has been a glorious day with good weather and good company along the way.

I got to Palas de Rei, checked in to my hotel, got a shower, put my clothes in the laundry, and went in to the town to explore a little and have my routine after-walk Coca-Cola.

The main church in Palas de Rei is the Romanesque Church of Santiago de Alba XII, the two photos show the best angle I could get for the outside and a photo of the altar area inside:

Back to my hotel, and rest before dinner, then sleep (after posting this entry).

Next: Walking 30 kilometers NOT uphill from Palas de Rei to Arzúa. Only three more days of walking before reaching Santiago de Compostela.