Rabanal to Acebo

I was up early and went down for breakfast in the bar. As well as coffee and toast, I ordered some take-away whiskey in my little bottle. This was much to the amusement of all the people sitting there. I didn’t care, as I knew it would be a tough day with a freezing cold wind up on the Cruz de Ferro.

The bar had a collection of banknotes from all over the world, but I didn’t contribute since I only had a $50 note:

I left my tiny room with its creaky wooden floorboards and I was soon on my way. My room is the one behind the flag:

The Camino went beside lots of heathers of various colours as we walked higher and higher:






The cloud was very low and quite mysterious in the mist.

This little flower was quite rare. I’m not sure what it was, but it resembled a tiny tiny jonquil.

I was pretty pleased to come round the corner in the mist to see this sign:

This meant I could have a second breakfast and a rest after 5.5 kms uphill. Foncebadon used to have reputation for having fierce dogs which attacked pilgrims. Now they have all gone and the place has undergone a transformation. All the ruined buildings seem to have been modernised and turned into more albergues and hostels, with only a few still available to be snapped up for a song by those wishing to live in such a remote spot. The latest venture is a pizzeria opened by an Italian guy who fell in love with the Camino and didn’t want to leave. This pic is looking back down the main street:

While I was having coffee the cloud lifted and the sun broke through, though it was still pretty cold.

The next land mark on the Camino is the Cruz de Ferro:

Pilgrims queue up to have their photo taken as they deposit a stone, brought from home, on the ever growing pile. It symbolises the leaving behind of all their troubles. I have no patience with this tradition, as I have no wish to carry any extra weight in my backpack.

Soon after the Cruz, we come to Manjarin where a hermit lives and provides a few items of sustenance to pilgrims for a donation. I was longing for a drink, but in more urgent need of a toilet which he didn’t have! He keeps 5 cats. He advised me to take the road from there as the Camino consists of rocky and stony tracks
all the way down to Acebo:

I took his advice and walked on the road (7kms instead of 9 kms, he said). But the road has no real verge and even though it was lunchtime, there was still a fair bit of traffic on the winding road. Eventually I chickened out and went back to the Camino. This was really stony, slippery and steep. Why should motorists have such a well made road while pilgrims stumble along such a poor track?

Finally I arrived in Acebo, pretty exhausted, I can tell you. The last straw was discovering that my hotel was right at the other end of town!

It is fairly new and not really suited to Acebo: but built to attract bus tours with plenty of parking and stunning views westwards towards Ponferrada. The food was delicious and there was a comfortable lounge to relax in afterwards. Unfortunately, the large TV was showing highlights from football games throughout Spain, this being Sunday.