Day 30 - Villafranco del Bierzo to Las Herrerais

If yesterday after our long slog we were asking "Why am I doing this?" - today we got an answer.

However first, we must say that the hostal last night - where we stayed in the best room in the house - was possibly even more charming than the Albergueria del Camino that we stayed in Mansilla de las Mulas. The tile in particular was absolutely beautiful and made one want to totally redo the bathrooms. The room had lots of cosy/artsy knick knacks (very unusual), interesting magazines that were very relevant to peregrinos (eg. on wines and restaurants in Spain, religion in our day, and a Peregrino magazine- unfortunately for us they were all in Spanish), and lots of desks, chairs, a couch and coffee table, a sky light, cathedral ceiling, you get the picture. The restaurant had many embroidered wall hangings with a Camino theme, the wooden stairway had beautiful carvings on the posts of the shell - it was truly beautiful.

The hostal restaurant was closed on Monday so we went down to the Plaza Mayor for dinner. Just before dessert, you know the intoxicated Aussie we've told you about - well he's from New Zealand and his name is Kevin (bloody) Wilson - after the comedian - and he came and joined us. He then told us at least three times that he had come close to thumping an English pilgrim that was giving him a hard time about drinking beer and smoking. This in spite of the fact that the Englishman was drinking a lot of wine. He was obviously very offended and upset, and thought there should be more of a 'live and let live' sentiment on the Camino. He does have a point, who are any of us to judge another? Didn't Jesus say, 'let you who are without sin throw the first stone.'

We were expecting today to be relatively short and easy, so we waited for the 8am breakfast, which was very good and set off at 8:45am.

The day started off nice and cool.  We have been so fortunate with the weather so far.  You read books about the Camino and everyone talks about rain, mud and miserable conditions.  We have been fortunate to have had perfect weather, with no rain, while walking so far.

So off we went this morning, dutifully following the scallop shells and yellow arrows.  These two have been our constant companions and guides.  Off we go, up the hill, up the hill, up the, oh dear!  The Michelin guide showed a path along the highway but we were climbing.  It ends up we were on the "recommended" trail,  which climbed 400 metres in about 4 km, but the view was spectacular. In fact, this had to be the most spectacular walk either of us have ever walked in our lives.  This is certainly a part of the reason we are doing this!

Have we mentioned all the little geckos we have seen? And grasshoppers.

At one point we met up with Kevin and his  adopted walking partner, Erica (who is 71 and has purple hair - reminding us of Kristine), and he told us about the lamb chop dinner he had last night, again!  We decided at that point to dub them Sherry Lewis and Lamb Chops.

We carried on up the hill, all the while being entertained by the fantastic scenery, and the view of the pergrinos following the highway below, as we had planned to do.

A climb like that is always followed by a descent. Descending, we passed through groves of chestnut trees and pines.

Once we reached Pradela, another one horse town, we believe the farmer in the overalls alerted the wife to open the bar, so the perigrinos could spend money.  The town is basically a very poor farming town, the bar a great coffee stop, and the cows totally unconcerned.

Once out of Trabadelo, where we had lunch, the track was on or near a secondary paved road.  Not the most pastoral scene but with little traffic, quite nice.  We passed through several towns, some quite nice, and some showing signs of having seen better days.  Most had churches, locked at this of day.  Perhaps only open on Sunday, or not open at all.

Our endpoint for the day was to be Las Herrerias in 19km. Unfortunately,the mountain route we had taken out of Villafranca was longer, we had missed the Camino at one point and walked 2 km longer, and our end point was actually 2km farther than Michelin showed.  All this to say our easy 19km walk today was in fact a moderate to difficult, at least 24 km walk. Oh well, soldier on. Besides, Lynn had a wish that was about to be granted.

Hot and weary, and disheartened because the Way today was longer and much more difficult than we anticipated, we passed Vega de Valcarce, 4km from our destination, when Lynn saw James ahead, magic staff in his right hand, a half finished litre bottle of beer in his left (even in Spain on the Camino there must be laws about that), and he was alone! Lynn had been hoping for some private time with him to find out his reason for doing the Camino and God had provided.

He said he had lost his friends some time back, and was walking slowly, hoping they would catch up.  A very likeable young gent, we talked for several km about the Camino, and our experiences.

At a suitable opportunity, Lynn asked why he was doing the Camino. He said, 'you know the movie the Way?' Of course we did. He said his mother had seen that movie and wanted to do it and asked him if he would do it with her, and he told her he would. She died of cancer in March and he wanted to do it for her so bought a ticket to Madrid without researching it at all. Then he wondered where to start, and bought a bus ticket to St Jean Pied de Port. All the friends he is walking with, he has met along the Way. Then he asked us why we were doing the Camino, which we shared with him. He thinks Kristine should do the Camino.

Every pilgrim has some reason to be here. Many of their reasons would break your heart. He left us at a park near Ruitelan, hoping his friends would catch up. We wonder what his quest will reveal to him, as we wonder what this quest will reveal to us.

Finally, we reach Las Herrerias.  What was supposed to be an easy day turned out to be not so, but we have learned a lot today.

Our accomodations today are at our first Casa Tourism Rural establishment, which is very nice. After getting our room we went down for a cerveza and saw a young Italian peregrina we have met several times on the Way. We chatted with her and  she was very distressed because she had run into bed bugs at an Alberque along the way.  Their solution was to offer her a can of spray for her sleeping bag. A yes, her sleeping bag sprayed and plastic bagged, and now she just wanted to wash it.  She was in contact with her parents on the Camino via email, who were concerned she was safe, but she said she had not mentioned the bed bugs to them.

A span of years separate us, and the price of our daily accomodations vary vastly, and yet we all have the same problems on the Way. This is the lesson that it doesn't matter how smart, how rich, how powerful or privileged you are: everyone is susceptible to the same difficulties (aka shi*) in life.

We have decided to put the bed bugs to bed, so to speak. It is one of those things we have no control over, so we will just need to deal with them if and when we need to deal with them. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Another lesson driven home on the Camino.

Perhaps the real answer to "why"?

A reminder we all have a reason for walking, and many of the reasons are heartbreaking.

Tomorrow we climb O'Cebriero. The reputed hardest day, biggest climb, of the Camino. Looking forward to seeing our Canadian lady friends on their last night.

Summary - a longer, harder walk than we had anticipated.  An answer to 'why am I doing this'.  A time to think about others as you trudge along the highway.

Distance today - 24km
Distance total - 631km