A long trek today which took us over eight hours (including some rest stops!). Today we had to walk mainly on roads, which was a little bit boring, save for the last six kilometres which was up and down steep mountain tracks. It was also an extremely tiring day as we were climbing the whole day up to the mountain pass of Padornelo, at 1345 metres one metre higher than Ben Nevis! At one point we had to cross a tunnel, but had to wait about 15 minutes for the tunnel to clear of fumes being emitted from a car churning black smoke from the exhaust. We were glad to see later on that the car had been pulled over by the Guardia Civil!
It was also the first time we saw a larger number of pilgrims, around ten, whereas previously we have been three or four. Near the mountain pass we met a young English lad Joe, from Devon coming the other way! We stopped for a chat with him and a Spanish man, Jose who we have met over the last couple of days. We wish Joe well on his own journey.
Today we were again plagued with flies, throughout the whole day, but particularly during the last few kilometres. Rain is predicted for tonight and tomorrow, which hopefully will get rid of the flies. Naturally we will get wet tomorrow, but that will be preferable to having to fight off flies every step of the way!
As you can appreciate from the map we have come a long way and we are slowly but surely getting nearer our final destination, Finisterre. We now hope to reach Ourense, on the 27th in time for my 70th Birthday on the 28th. We aim to reach Santiago de Compostela on the 3rd of July and Finisterre on the 7th. As with all things on the Camino this may change depending on what further adventures we have on the way!
Many thanks to all of you who are following our journey. I hope you enjoy our posts and the photos. I am delighted to say that we have people following us online from Gibraltar, UK, Spain, Holland, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, USA, Malaysia, Argentina and as from tomorrow, Mexico. We value your comments so please keep them coming. After a long day it is comforting to know there are people out there who are interested in what we are doing and who hopefully are enjoying the experience as much as we are!
Tomorrow we have roughly 25 Kms to cover. Unfortunately we have to climb to another mountain pass, this time to A Canda, which at only 1281m high should be an absolute doddle!
Glad to read that Ana's foot is doing alright!! Phil and I look forward to reading your blog, we check your progress daily....you two are an inspiration!!!
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