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Camino Primitivo

Day 28 of our Adventure: WALK!!
CAMINO Day 19
Friday September 29, 2017

24km / 15 miles / 7 hours
Total Ascent: 1476 ft.
Total Descent: 1903 ft.
Difficulty Rating: Terrain 4; Waymarking 2
Scenery Rating: 4

A Fonsagrada to O Cadavo Baleira

When we checked into our “Pensión” yesterday, we forgot to ask about breakfast. We assumed that we’d have to either find someplace in town that is open at 7:00, or we’d have to wait until we arrived at our first stop on our walk (usually about 3-4 hours into it). We were surprised and delighted to find that not only was there food (and coffee!), but it was probably the best breakfast that we’ve had since arriving in Spain on September 3^rd. We had the lightest, fluffiest scrambled eggs, thinly sliced jamon, freshly-squeezed orange juice, café con leche, toast, and pound cake. My friend Grace, who did the Camino Francés in April & May, said that “the Camino will provide”. This was one of those times.

We had a variety of walking conditions today, including a few surprisingly steep sections, rain off-and-on, and some brutal descents. We saw some wonderful examples of rural Galician mountain villages. The Hospital de Montuoto, a former pilgrim hospital, was founded in 1360 by Pedro I ‘El Cruel’, and remained open until the early 20^th Century.

We continued to track the mystery of the waymarking signs. The signs on the left all face outward, with the “sunbeams” pointing toward Santiago. The signs on the right all face the opposite way. The km markers show the number of kilometers, followed by meters. So, the marker that says 149,558 indicates that we are 149 km + 558m from Santiago de Compostela. We are currently 129 km (just over 80 miles) away!

We arrived at Hotel Moneda and ran into a few of the pilgrims that we’ve been seeing on our journey. We will need a good night’s rest, as tomorrow we will have our longest walk (19 miles) of our entire Camino.