Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Villar de Farfón to Mombuey
15.5 kilometers

Today’s walk was characterized by natural paths all day, the first half in a semi-forest, and the second half across a lengthy, very wet, and sometimes muddy grassland. The skies were clear, and we could see snow on the mountains in the distance from recent unseasonable snowstorms much farther north.

Last evening we were transferred from the end of the stage in Villar de Farfón to our accommodation in Calzadilla de Tera. This morning, we were transported back to Villar de Farfón to continue where we left off yesterday. After two nights in that spacious, private, three-bedroom apartment, we shall miss it. Today’s stage was about 15.5 kilometers traveling west-north-west. Today’s walk is longer than yesterday’s but shorter than many previous days. All day the walk was off the roads away from traffic and noise, although gradually uphill much of the day. Here are the map and the combined map & elevation graph from my Samsung Health app:

We started walking at the Albergue Rehoboth in Villar de Farfón where we had ended the day yesterday at about 9:00 AM. It was only 7 degrees C (44 degrees F), so I wore my jacket. Almost immediately, we were in a natural woods or a sparse forest, walking on natural dirt and sometimes dirt/rocky roads. Being away from any roads or highways, it was quiet and contemplative. I got a photo of Ron ahead of me early in the clear morning as we gradually entered the woods.

The route undulated but followed this dirt road through the woods for much of the morning. Occasionally, the Camino supporters in the area placed a monument waymarker just to remind us that we were still on the Camino route. There were no other roads, but the reminder was good.

Ron took a photo of me ahead walking along in the natural, peaceful sparse woods. It was still a little cool, but warming quickly.

And the walk through the woods continued. I took a photo of Dan and Ron at the first of these old wooden Camino signs alongside a more modern granite monument waymarker. I think this is where I stopped and took off my jacket. Dan and Ron did not even wear their jackets at the start.

And the forest walk continued. Here I was still catching up to Dan and Ron after removing my jacket. The sun is a little brighter here, and I realized that I had let the setting dial on my camera slip off A for Automatic. The photo is a little washed out because I did not make the proper adjustments. After this photo, I changed the camera back to automatic – it is just easier.

After walking through the woods or forest for 6 kilometers, we entered the small town of Rionegro Del Puente. To get there, we had to cross the Rio Nego, not a small river, and the walking bridge had no guardrails.

A bar was open so we stopped for café con leche. I also had a slice of Spanish Tortilla (Tortilla Española), an egg and potato dish, or a thick omelet that looks almost like a large quiche without the bottom and side crust. This one was fresh out of the oven, warm, and very good. You can just barely see mine on the table in the lower left of this photo of the three of us taking a break in Rionegro Del Puente.

While we were about to leave Rionegro, Dan had Ron and me pose for a photo by an almost abstract sculpture of a pilgrim.

After Rionegro we quickly entered a vast fairly wet grassland. Away from the highway, and quiet, but we had to be mindful of not stepping into what sometimes looked like ankle-deep mud. I did miss a step once and almost splashed Dan and Ron while my foot got pretty wet.

In the distance, we could see mountains with snow still on them from a recent, late-season snowstorm. These are north of Léon and much farther away than the hills over which we will be walking as we get closer to Ourense. Occasionally, we would see a waymarker or a yellow arrow on a rock, reminding us that we were really still on the correct path.

We came to a newer granite monument waymarker with the distance to Santiago de Compostela. We have 286 kilometers to go … finally less than 300.

The walk over the often muddy grassland continued. Sometimes there were no flowers in sight, and sometimes bushes with many tiny white flowers – very pretty.

And sometimes the ruts of the road were very muddy. Sometimes we had to go around the mud through the grass on the sides of the road, making sure the grassy area was solid.

A two-wire fence can be seen to the right of the previous photo. Given that there were insulators by which the wires were attached to the fence poles, we suspect that this is an electric fence.

We stopped, a little surprised that the fence went across the road right in front of us. We checked the Wise Pilgrim app to see where exactly the route was to go, and it was to go through the fence. We also noticed that there was an insulated sort-of handle by which we could “open” the gate and close it after we passed. As we were pondering this, two cyclists passed us quickly, Ron shouted at them to stop before they ran into the electric fence. They skidded to a stop just before the electric fence. We all got through the “gate,” closed it, and continued on our way.

And validating that we were on the correct Camino path, we saw another yellow arrow on a rock by the electric fence.

And there was still more mud ahead of us. And now bright yellow flowers were appearing to our left as we walked along.

Sometimes the yellow flowers were dense enough to warrant their own photo:

And soon our 15-kilometer walk was about over and we arrived in Mombuey.

Our walk today was to end in Mombuey, but our accommodation is in Puebla De Sanabria. We are to call the pre-arranged taxi to pick us up in Mombuey and transfer us to Puebla De Sanabria. But first, I wanted to go to a bank and exchange my 100 Euro notes for smaller bills, 5s, 10s, and 20s. We stopped at two what appeared to be commercial banks, and they had their doors locked. At one, they acknowledged me, but a customer was taking a very long time, so we went in search of another bank. We finally found Santander Bank, a familiar name to me. I went in and this also seemed like it was not set up for general use, more like a commercial bank. I showed the lady on Google Translate what I wanted. After a lot of typing on her computer, she finally told me that they do not give change to non-customers. I left a little frustrated. In past years in Spain, I have gotten smaller bills from the Santander Bank in Burgos, Léon, and Seville; but those were typical banks with several tellers, etc.

It was time for a break for lunch and then to call the taxi for our transfer to our accommodation in Puebla De Sanabria, 31 kilometers north of Mombuey. The taxi arrived after our lunch and took us to our hotel in Puebla De Sanabria. Tomorrow we will be dropped off in Mombuey where we stopped and then will walk back to Puebla De Sanabria. That walk will make for a 31-kilometer day. Since the day will be warm and the walk very long, we are going to ask the driver to drop us at Asturianos, allowing us to skip the 15 kilometers from Mombuey to Asturianos, and walk 16 kilometers from Asturianos to Puebla de Sanabria.

Next: Asturianos to Pueble De Sanabria, 16 kilometers