Remy’s 2023 Travel Notebook

I have decided that Spain is not a suitable place for me to live in my lifetime. With the abundance of cheap (and good) wine, plus lots of ridiculously low doorframes and ceilings in stairways, my cabeza would take too much damage. Needless to say I woke up with a bit of a headache today. Not sure if it’s last night’s wine, hitting the top of my head in the stairwell, or both!

Last night I made plans to walk with Helene and Heidi again, or at least start with them. We got up around 6:00 and ate some breakfast. I dropped a €20 in the donativo box for the monastery/shelter, and we went on our way.

Today started with some serious uphill. I didn’t make any strict plans of where I would go, but Ponferrada is an option at 36km and Cacabelos was another option at almost 49k. My legs were feeling good so I thought it would be a possibility to do this (I guess the title here spoils what I did in the end). I wanted a challenge today.

We walk up and up, about 1000 meters, to an amazing lookout over the valley behind in Astorga from yesterday. the sunrise was spectacular and I could tell it was going to be a special day.

We were heading towards the famous Camino landmark called “Cruz de Ferro”, or iron cross. Here, tens of thousands of pilgrims throw stones or other symbols from their lives into a huge pile under the iron cross. The items symbolize the problems plaguing the life of the pilgrim which can be left behind at the Cruz. I brought a stone and shell from California. We arrive to the site, I put down my poles and take out my two pieces. I stand looking at the hill for a few minutes, thinking about what this means to me.

I toss both of them into the pile while walking to the top and take some moments to take it all in and observe the others.

After this, a few hours of slow, peaceful walking followed. A lot of the time the landscape felt like Tahoe national forest or Desolation.

I walked solo for much of the rest of the time until 11:30 when we would take a break. I had a hot sandwich, tomato soup and a drink while waiting for Heidi and Helene. They show up in pain from the downhill walking we had been doing for the last hour. They say they will stay and I continue on the path towards Ponferrada.

I pass a couple more towns and get to about 28k for a break. I realize I feel quite good still and even did some running for a couple miles to save my knees some impact on the downhill sections. I text The Group and see where they are, and it turned out they would stay 21km from where I was. I made a reservation and set my sights on arriving there in 4 hours at 6pm. This would be fast compared to the morning’s slow hilly walking with lots of looking and pictures.

I walk towards Ponferrada and realize that I am going towards a big city where there may often be industrial sections or not-pretty sights leading up. I recall a story that the French honeymoon couple (part of The Group) told me about how they hitchhiked through France and crossed the country for free in 3 days. I thought that was so cool. Suddenly I felt like hitch hiking was a bucket list item of mine and I should do it sometime in my life.

I get to a boring long street with not much to see. After such a scenic morning I wanted to keep the rest of my day exciting too. I stick out my thumb to the passing cars in this street when I am 5km from Ponferrada, determined to check this bucket list item off the same day it made the list. I figure I might end up in a car with a total nutcase, or I might meet some nice people. Most likely the latter.

About 7 or 8 cars pass and I have no luck. I think about giving up and taking a shortcut that would take me away from the road. As I get to the point where I would have to turn off (3km from the city), I stick out my thumb one last time and a white car puts on its blinker. They pull over, roll down their window and ask me if I’m going to the city. “Si!” it’s three middle-aged Spanish women on their way to a Sunday fiesta in the city. I hop in the car with my bag at my feet, shocked these ladies would accept a sweaty pilgrim in their car.

I can’t wipe the grin off my face because the sense of adventure is so real! I talk to the passengers and make small talk, and realize the driver is playing “hotel California” and singing with it. “Soy de California” I say, much to their excitement. Such a cool moment.

They drop me off in the city and I walk towards the basilica and castle for 30 minutes of seeing the most popular sights. I eat an ice cream, have a drink and keep walking with 15k left to Cacabelos. Music really helped me grind through that last 3 hours!

I got to the albergue properly exhausted. Showering, laundry and a bit of sitting follow. The first couple people from The Group run into me for a happy reunion. I finish laundry and we join the rest to be a group of 7 again. We went out for dinner and had a championship game of Yams, a French dice game. Boys vs girls, and the girls won again. The game that really counts will come in Santiago.

A few random pictures from recent days