Gonzar to Lestedo

The main problem with Hosteria de Gonzar was the location. Its nearest neighbour was a cowshed and milking parlour, from which pungent odours wafted on the breeze in the evening. People sat outside for a while, cooling off after a hot day, but were soon driven inside.

Being the first stop after Portomarin, lots and lots of pilgrims breakfasted there, so the place was packed when I went to the bar at 8.00 am. So I had to join the queue. The owner must have been delighted after the long COVID shutdown - though he was working incredibly hard to deal with the crowds.

I soon passed another Horreo, a more modern construction but still retaining the traditional style, and built right next to quite a smart house.

The next thing of note was the Iron Age Hill Fort of Castromaior:

This is the entrance, which could easily be defended against aggressors.

Lots of little tightly packed houses inside the earthen ramp and ditch. There are plenty of these in England, but I don’t remember seeing one with so many buildings remaining inside.


The Hill Fort itself is quite high up in the landscape, with views all round, but today was quite a grey day. The low cloud never really lifted, but at least it didn’t rain.

Lunch was quite a convivial affair at Ventas de Naron, together with Cliff, a Chinese American, who was walking ahead of his family (his wife, his cousin and his sister in law). Eventually they were all reunited over lunch - but the ladies were complaining about the hill. They had only started in Sarria so were not match fit for the Camino.

There are plenty of cyclists doing the Camino. They come flying past at great speed, expecting the pedestrians to get out of the way. Here they are congregating at an ancient Cross.

I arrived at Rectoral de Lestedo at about 2.45 pm. I’ve stayed here twice before. It’s an upmarket place, but guests are looked after very well. This is the view from my upstairs window, which looks out onto the Camino. I can watch other tired pilgrims going past. They look longingly at the place, wishing they didn’t have another 5 kms to go into Palas de Rei.



It is a really good reconstruction of an old priests house, or rectory, with all the renovations being done in 2005. I’ve just been looking at an old photo album, which shows what a ruined state the place was in at the start of the work:

It’s beautiful now, and still on the Fresco Tours itinerary (my first introduction to the place).