A 7:30am start today after a good breakfast of our usual "café con leche y tostadas con aceite". As I said in my last post, we were looking forward to today's trek over mountain peaks, passing through a number of small villages, most of them practically abandoned. It was indeed very much as I remembered from five years ago, even the heavy fog that made the first few kilometres somewhat dangerous on a minor road full of heavy construction traffic! What I had forgotten was how hard it was going up and down steep ascents and descents!
It was nonetheless very enjoyable. The scenery is absolutely stunning and one cannot help but feel that the Earth is something very special when you see such unspoilt natural beauty all around you. Absolute peace as well. Truly worth experiencing. Most of the trek is done at an altitude of around 1000 metres. As we went through one of the very small villages that dot the crest of these mountains, A Venda do Teresa, we came across a middle aged man walking along with his dogs. This turned out to be Jose Luis who was born and has lived there all his life! We asked him about a little old lady we had met there five years ago, who had told us a bit about life in those parts. He informed us that had been his mother who sadly had passed away since. Jose Luis was fifty six and had retired early due to a work related injury. Between his pension and the compensation he receives from his injury he gets 1500 Euros a month! He seems to be buying up most of the houses in the village as soon as anyone dies as an investment for his two children, both policemen who live in Madrid. There are now only four people living in the village. Jose Luis used to have 300 cattle, sold those and bought 100 sheep and 100 goats, sold those and now has a herd of 50 Golden Galician Cows. He also keeps chickens and pigs and his wife, who had kidney cancer a couple of years ago, but has now recovered, has a well-kept vegetable plot. Fresh water comes from a well. They are pretty well self-sufficient, and only go to the nearest big town occasionally to buy Oil, Flour, Salt and Sugar. Wow, what a life they lead!
Six hours later we came back to reality as we approached the village of Campobecerros, a small village nestled in a valley between hills. It's natural beauty now completely spoilt by a tunnel that is being built literally 100 metres from its houses, to take the AVE high speed train, which naturally will not stop there. The old railway line which carried a slower train that did stop there has now been abandoned. Such is the price we pay for progress. Today has given us much to think about what is really important in life.
I have to mention that the approach to Campobecerros is very well know on this Camino as something of a challenge! It is a very steep, very long, downhill path made of a very crumbly type of slate which is difficult to negotiate and must be hell when wet. Thankfully today was a sunny day with a very cool breeze blowing along the mountain tops all day. My foot, which was very painful yesterday, held up very well, until about 30 metres down the path, I twisted my ankle. It doesn't feel too bad and should last the course tomorrow which is a short 15 kilometres.
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