Sunday, 19 May 2024
Silleda to Ponte Ulla
22 kilometers

Today was the first day in what seems like a long time with no rain of significance. And tomorrow is expected to be even better as we will be on our final day on this pilgrimage walk to Santiago de Compostela. Walking today was about half and half paved secondary roads and natural paths. There were beautiful vistas all along the way including this as we were leaving Silleda.

The route on this part of the Camino Sanabres continues generally northwest towards Santiago de Compostela. The elevation profile shows that we were going downhill most of the day with some flat sections and a few uphills, then a long, steep downhill to get to Ponte Ulla.

We were in a very nice apartment-type accommodation last night. We were able to get a good night’s sleep and get going early enough to have breakfast and be out on the walk by about 8:15 AM. We had hopes that today would have little or no rain. And that proved true. There was a little rain a couple of times, but most of the walk today was relatively easy compared to past days.

Leaving Silleda we came upon this Camino waymarker indicating 40 kilometers to go. That is only about 25 miles – we are getting close to Santiago de Compostela.

We were able to walk on good (meaning not muddy) natural paths about half the time today, and the other half on paved secondary roads. Sometimes there was a little bit of mud, but far less than in recent days.

Dan got a photo of Ron and me at another Camino waymarker as we were going into a valley.

It was still a little cool out, so I still had my jacket on. But no gloves, and better yet my feet were dry. In that valley, there were beautiful purple flowers all around us.

After enjoying the walk in the flat valley, we entered the forest again, the first of many times today. The potential for mud was high, but the soil in most places drained well, and we encountered much less mud than we expected.

For the most part, the natural paths were good and not muddy. This surprised us some because there has been a lot of rain recently, and with the unseasonably cool temperatures, the mud does not dry quickly. The view all around was green, lush, and beautiful.

I got a photo of Ron and Dan along the path by flowers coming out of a forest area into a clearing.

After another forested area, we came into a clearing with these dramatic bushes of white flowers on both sides.

Then we were in another open field with stunning views.

Shortly after, we came into another clearing with a similar view of green grasses, green trees, and white & gray clouds.

We came into the small town of Bandiera. Being Sunday and knowing that most everything is closed on Sunday or closes early, we stopped for an early lunch, also opting to get bocadillos to take with us since by the time we get to our destination of Ponte Ulla, there may be no options for eating. Seeing that it was raining lightly as we were eating, we put on our backpack covers and jackets and continued on through Bandiera and into the forest again.

The clouds were threatening, and it remained dry for now, and warm enough that we took off our rain jackets. We passed some cows in a field, they pretty much ignored us and focused on eating the grass. Then we saw a larger herd of cattle that had just been milked being returned to pasture. A lady was leading the cows, and a man with a dog behind, keeping the cows moving – they preferred to stop and eat the grass at the side of the road.

Then we walked on a paved small road in the forest. No mud on this road. And there was the sun, and we could see shadows! This is the first time seeing sunlight and shadows in several days.

Further on, we walked on a natural path in the forest and there was yet another difficult stretch of mud. This one was longer with more large puddles. We found a path to the right of the road that pilgrims ahead of us had used and followed their lead. Much better than trying to balance on a rock wall or stepping into deep mud. The photo below shows only the start of the muddy section before the alternate path to the right.

And we continued our walk through the green, green forest with the tall trees.

Just before we started a long, steep downhill, we saw a sign for a Pilgrim’s Rest Area to the right. Not knowing how far away it was down the road, we thought we would see if we could see it down the road. It was only about 10 meters away, essentially right there.

We stopped in and saw several pilgrims we had met before. The host lady offered us coffee, food, lemonade, cheese, and more all for a donation. We accepted lemonade and cheese. This was a welcome break, and good to see familiar faces. Here are Dan and Ron resting at the pilgrim’s rest area with lemonade in the middle.

We left a good donation and continued on. As we started the steep and long downhill, we could see below us the high-speed train bridge through the trees. We are above it here, and after the long downhill, we will be far below the rail line.

Negotiating the downhill into Ponte Ulla was a challenge, hard on the legs, specifically the knees. Going slowly to avoid slipping was key. After that downhill, we had to climb a little to get over the final bridge of the day over the Rio Ulla (Ulla River).

From the center of the bridge looking upriver, the river is fairly large and flowing fast after the recent rains.

Walking into Ponte Ulla, I took a photo of this Camino waymarker indicating 21.2 kilometers to go to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. We will be there tomorrow.

It took us a little while to find our accommodation. We were going the wrong way and a lady in a van stopped knowing that we were pilgrims and knowing that we were not where we should be. She directed us back to a long flight of stairs just before going under a highway, and soon we found our place to stay for our final night on the Camino de Santiago.

The laundry here is a semi-portable laundromat in the parking lot next to our hotel. Works just fine.

Clothes cleaned, we went to the 24-hour gas station to eat the bocadillos we had gotten in Bandiera along with potato chips and a Coca-Cola (for me, my after-walk drink tradition).

A very good day on the Camino Sanabres route of the Camino de Santiago system of routes. Tomorrow is our last walking day as we complete the pilgrimage walk into Santiago de Compostela. Truly an adventure, as is every time I have walked a Camino de Santiago route in Spain.

Next: Ponte Ulla to Santiago de Compostela, 21 kilometers