Day 2: Cicera - Potes, 20 kms
There is a restaurant in Cicera that opens at 7 p.m. and dinner is served from 8. The food was meh. 18 euros is too much for what I got. (The guy even forgot to serve me my water! No glass on my table. I thought that was funny. Didn't remind him.) But it was the only game in town (hence the prices, I'm sure) and I needed a full meal if I was going to pull off the stage between Cicera and Potes the next day.
There is also information about breakfast in the albergue: you phone a number the day before, between certain hours, and you can get breakfast the next day. But I didn't read the details. This morning I gnawed on my dry bread as usual, with old cream cheese, washed it down with tap water, and set out.
From Cicera the Camino follows a path through the deep green woods up the mountain side. The path was rocky, wet and muddy. And relentlessly steep. I slipped several times, but never fell.
The views from the top were spectacular. I was walking high above the clouds; the few villages that could be seen looked minuscule from the heights. It's hard to capture on camera, but here is an attempt:
Then down to Lebeña where a vending machine magically appeared as I walked by. I bought an Aquarius for later use because I knew I had one more hill to conquer. There is also a "café" in Libeña, during some seasons of the year, probably connected to the camping area that I passed in the village. It's only a hut but there would be coffee...if I had I arrived 15 minutes later. It opens at 10. I was craving coffee so hard, as mountain number 2 rapidly approached in front of me...
Ascent number 2 starts at the bridge on the country road in Lebeña. It goes through a hamlet, where there's a split: you can take the normal Camino to the right, or Near-Death-Experience-Camino to the left. At least that's how Gronze makes it sound. I usually value my life on the Camino so I chose normal Camino. It went on forever, zig-zagging up the mountain to the village of Cabañes where there are two albergues. I concentrated on deep breathing and moving in a slow but steady rhythm up the mountain. But it was hard. My t-shirt was soaked in sweat, as were my pants from the sweat dripping continuously from my nose, my chin... If this was the usual Camino, I wonder how the alternative was. The views were nice, but not as fantastic as earlier this morning.
There is advertisement for one of the albergues all the way up to Cabañes. Name and phone number, but also Bar, Café... could it be true? Everyone I'd spoken to said there would be no services until Tama, a couple of kms before Potes. When I used my last strength to veer off to the albergue and its terrace, the windows stood wide open and a woman was working inside, probably preparing for the next load of pilgrims in the afternoon. I sheepishly asked if the bar was open and expected the door to slam in my face. But the woman was like "No problem". I could sit down, for the first time that day, with a soda in my hand and ponder about the two heafty ascents I had completed. The sun didn't peek through the clouds until I left the albergue. I wondered what those two hills must feel like in the scorching sun...
In Pendes, a smart man had put up a quesería (selling cheese) on the Camino, also selling cold beverages. There is money to make on this stage as most pilgrims will be hungry and thirsty after walking in the mountains. A real café in Cabañes or Pendes (not just albergues and queserías) would do well I think. Maybe my next project!
I arrived in Potes at about 2 p.m. Potes is supposed to be one of the most beautiful towns in Spain. If you can see it through the tourists, advertisement, hotel signs and cheap souvenir shops on the streets. I feel as if I'm in downtown Barcelona. Maybe things will cool down in the evening, as was the case with Monestir de Montserrat that I visited a few weeks ago on another Camino.
Tomorrow: Espinama. Oh and I'll walk by that monastery outside Potes with that log thing that belonged to Jesus or whatever. If there is a guided tour I may make a visit!
To be continued