Time Departed: 8.15 am
Time Arrived: 1.30 pm
Distance: 21 kms
Cumulative Distance: 546 kms
Percentage Complete: 68%
Weather: Cool then sunny and warm
Accommodation: La Posada de Gaspar
Feelings: Henk - Happy, Neil - Energetic, Di - Content
We are always very impressed with the older age of the walkers and there are still very few younger walkers. We had an enjoyable breakfast with Margaret, the 65 year old from Coffs Harbour who is walking alone. Apart from infected blisters which resulted in a hospital visit she is doing well having started at Pamplona on the fourth anniversary of her husband's death. Margaret is also with Raw Travel but as she booked so late there was limited accommodation choices for today and a taxi was arranged to take her further along the way. We hope to see her in Santiago de Compostela on 13 October as she is booked into the same hotel as us.
On the path we met two ex-nurses from Sydney who are both 73 years old. They are taking it slowly and their philosophy is "one step at a time".
The mountains known as Montes de Leon that we saw in the distance yesterday are getting closer. For the past few weeks we have been walking at a level of about 800 - 900 metres (Mt Coot-tha is 200 metres.) Today's walk was a gradual climb from 850 metres to 1150 metres. Some of the villages we walked through had "Somoza" in their name meaning "under the mountain". Tomorrow we reach "the roof of the way" at 1500 metres. It will be higher than our first day over the Pyrenees but we are starting at a much higher point.
We had morning tea at Santa Catalina de Somoza and had some of the Astorga chocolate we bought yesterday. We won't tell Belgium Kristin that we liked it a lot! Five kilometres further on at El Ganso we had to have a drink at the unusual bar called Meson Cowboy.
Sadly, El Ganso is close to being a ghost town with many old buildings being in a dilapidated state.
Before we reached Rabanal del Camino and near an oak wood we walked alongside a very long wire fence which had many wooden crosses placed on it by peregrinos.
We had lunch at the first cafe at Rabanal before going to our hotel which was on the far end of the village. It was one thirty and we were concerned that siesta time was looming.
Rabanal del Camino is an old and lovely, well-kept village.
It has an unusual church on the main narrow street and as we walked past it up the steep, long, cobbled street the bells struck two o'clock.
Our accommodation is the last building on the top edge of the town which is a good position to be in for tomorrow's clilmb.
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