Stage 41 - A Gudiña to Campobecerros (21km): 09/10/2014 07:50

The makeshift track down into Campobecerros - and it gets steeper

It was great to wake up and find that the previous day's torrential rain had stopped and that the streets were drying out. As we had been unable to replenish our store of energy bars, fruit and chocolate we had ordered a bocadillo from the bar at dinner the night before and that had to be collected before we could set out. By the way we have learned one bocadillo is generally more than enough for the two of us and that was the case today.

We had to deal with a three-kilometre climb at the start of the day but we managed it with little difficulty. Minor ups and downs followed but we were never far from the mountain ridge and enjoyed spectacular views throughout the morning. On our way we passed through four virtually uninhabited villages known as Vendas. They appear to have been the motorway service areas of the middle ages but there isn't much need of then today.

We had another significant climb towards the end of the walk before the Camino dropped 240 metres down into Campobecerros. We had to come down a very steep incline using a makeshift path, apparently created by the company constructing the new railway.

With only one other walking peregrino in the albergue last night we didn't expect to meet others on the way. We were wrong. First a German man caught up with us. He had good English and, like so many of the Peregrinos of different nationalities we have met along the way, he had visited Galway (and Donegal, Kerry and Dublin).

We stopped to eat our bocadillo at the third Venda and soon were joined by three men, James from Yorkshire, Patrick from France and Henry from Holland. The three of them, and the German, had stayed in a hotel in A Gudiña. It seems that everyone starting the day in A Gudiña has greater ambitions than us and planned to walk the 34.4km to Laza - our destination tomorrow. 

A lack of accommodation here in Campobecerros may have influenced some. The albergue has been closed for some time and the only alternative is a casa rural with four double rooms. We booked one of the rooms in advance to be on the safe side. It was Pauline’s birthday and ideally we should have been abandoning the usual albergue for a hotel but in the event a place to sleep was our biggest priority.

One of the first things we saw on entering the village was a very fresh looking

The soon to be opened albergue in Campobecerros

sign for an albergue. Soon we came to a brand new albergue. I went back later to investigate and got the impression from a man working on it that it is due to open within days. I also got the impression that if we were without a place to stay we would have been allowed to use it.

The menu and the decor in the casa rural were pretty basic. Some heating wouldn’t have gone amiss and Pauline would have appreciated a more secure shower door than the one that fell in on her. Dinner was passable but we had to settle for coffee and cake for breakfast.  Pauline missed out on her birthday greetings due to a lack of WiFi but there was no shortage of wine. Despite the shortcomings we really couldn’t complain as dinner, bed and breakfast came to a total of €43 for the two of us.

771km completed, 178km to go.

Views from the mountain ridge where we walked for most of the day:

Next: Stage 42 - Campobecerros to Laza