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These southern ones "speak" to me, perhaps because they are exotic for a person who comes from a tree-covered northern mountainous region.
By all means, continue. There are many things I missed! I wonder if there is a way we can consolidate the information. For example, your intro post could summarize the essence of what was posted on "my" thread (or even copy the text over), and then people can add to it. Feel free to ignore this suggestion (I have been told before to not fix things if they aren't broke), and I will just compare notes as we go. Or let me know if I can help.
especially to take particular note of the short stages @AJGuillaume would like to plan.
I have been looking, too, but I'm not very good at this reconstruction or detective work. Based on the timing of my photos and @Raggy 's photo (I'm attaching his photo again here) showing the culverts and the back of the arrow, I think the arrow must be on the path over the Arroyo de la Perdigón as shown on this screen-capture, just before the El Brocal monuments (another photo attached). However, we can't see the arrow on Google Earth. Probably @Raggy will know exactly. Or we could bring @Kathar1na into this thread to help!
Here's a condensed review of @C clearly 's plan from Zamora with notes on the stages above 24km. Hope it helps anyone who prefers to walk shorter distances.
| Day | Route (Dist.) | Notes |
| 1 | Zamora to Montamarta (19 km) | |
| 2 | Montamarta to Fontanillas de Castro (13 km) | |
| 3 | Fontanillas de Castro to Granja de Moreruela ( | |
| 4 | Granja de Moreruela to Faramontanos de Tábara (18 km) or Tábara (25 km) | Take the short option to Faramontanos de Tábara (18km) |
| 5 | Tábara to Santa Marta de Tera (22 km) | Start in Faramontanos (7km before Tabara). Split into two and go farther than Santa Marta on the second day: 5.1. Faramontanos to Villanueva de las Peras (21km) 5.2 Villanueva to Calzadilla de Tera (21km) |
| 6 | Santa Marta de Tera to Rionegro del Puente (27 km) | By going farther than Santa Marta on Day 5.1 you have a shorter day to Rionegro del Puente. |
| 7 | Rionegro del Puente to Entrepenas (23 km) | |
| 8 | Entrepenas to Puebla de Sanabria (19 km) | |
| 9 | Puebla de Sanabria to Requejo de Sanabria (12km) | |
| 10 | Requejo de Sanabria to Lubian (19 km) | |
| 11 | Lubián to A Gudiña (24 km) | |
| 12 | Day 12 - A Gudiña to Laza (34 km) | Split into two parts 12.1 A Gudiña to Campobecerros (20km) 12.2 Campobecerros to Laza (14km) |
| 14 | Day 14 - Laza to Xunqueira de Ambia (34 km) | @C clearly has no Day 13. I'll leave it as is. Split into two: 14.1 Laza to to Albergueria (12km) or Vilar de Bario (20km) 14.2 Albergueria to Ourense (22km) or Vilar de Bario to Ourense (14km) |
| 15 | Xunqueira de Ambia to Ourense (22 km) | |
| 16 | Ourense to Oseira (30 km) - via Canedo (shorter, steeper) via Tamallancos (1km farther) | There's an alternative route that bypasses Oseira, but if you want to stay at the monastery, then: 16.1 Ourense to Cea (21km or 22km) 16.2 Cea to Oseira (8.5km) |
| 17 | Oseira to Estación de Lalín (27 km) or A Laxe (33 km) | Oseira to Estación de Lalin (23km) - Distance is 23km according to Gronze. Best double check with Google maps or Wikiloc. If you wanted you could split the stage in Castro Dozón |
| 18 | A Laxe to Dornelas (23 km) | |
| 19 | Dornelas to Lestedo (14 km) | |
| 20 | Lestedo to Santiago (14 km) |
An alternative would be to start a new thread for convenience and speed now, while we are participating every day. Then, when AJ reaches Santiago, we can merge the threads and keep the full account together.
Yes. From the sequence of my photos it is shortly before the El Brocal de Promesas monument.
Great detective work, @Raggy !
Because you approached it from the back? I went right!
Then I have no idea. Looks like we will have to wait for someone on the way to tell us.
Your photo, @C clearly , shows a miliario on the left of the arrow (when looking in the same direction as the arrow is pointing). So I would have thought that you turned left after crossing this culvert, and going past the arrow, to go towards the miliario. Unless the miliario was off the Camino.
My memory is that the millario was across the ditch to my left, a few meters before the culvert. (I crossed the ditch to take the two photos below and then returned to the path). On reaching the T junction, I turned left to walk over the culvert in the direction of the arrow.
Arrows aside, I'm curious about this.
Yes. You've left the Tierra del Vino for the Tierra del Pan. And if you leave Zamora nice and early, there's an appropriate treat for you in the first town after Zamora - Roales del Pan:
And stunning callos, a dish that sounds worse when you translate it to tripe. Excellent food indeed in Rosamari
I don’t think I could ever utter a sentence with the word “stunning” describing “callos,” no matter what language it’s in.
You love them, you hate them. I passionately love them. Never get enough, particularly with some tasty chickpeasI don’t think I could ever utter a sentence with the word “stunning” describing “callos,” no matter what language it’s in.
Check first if going via San Marciel. I was walking with someone who wanted coffee and detoured only to meet up later and find out everything was closed.Great detective work, @Raggy !
The location shows that we would still see the arrow even if we detoured by San Marcial.
I have made a note to ensure I get the GPS coordinates of the arrow when I convert this virtual VdlP into a real life one
, we looked at the next stage(s), and we had to make a decision.@Sara_Dhooma mentioned in her video that there are no info signs around there, and that she was curious about the ruins. A question that @C clearly asked too:
@alansykes 's photo shows a fence around the ruins. So is it accessible?
Who can say what impact the pandemic will have on the little businesses up and down the camino that were just about getting by on the pilgrim economy, such as it was? Municipal albergues that have the backing of local government are financially secure but might not be able to open in some cases because they need to make changes to comply with hygiene rules. Folks who own their land, have family ties to the region, and aren't heavily in debt, are the most likely to weather the storm. People who recently moved to the area and took out a loan ...
I got curious and found this, which has reasonably good info in spite of the annoying 'romantic' label on the ruins:
jessicaknauss.blogspot.com
1688 was immediately after the 3rd of these plague waves; a small walled town would be just the kind of place that a pneumonic or bubonic plague epidemic could burn through with terrible effect, compounding the effects of whatever other difficulties that might have been happening at the time:
In 2017, you could not wander among the ruins - they were fenced. However, on a nice day, especially if no one else is there, it IS very cool to sit for a snack on the edge of the hill overlooking the river, and imagine you were in ancient times watching for friends or enemies approaching on the river.
Thanks VN for those links - I will go read them now. We will get you onto the VDLP yet!
The article that you linked to states "Castrotorafe's long history came to an end sometime after the wars of Castilian succession. In 1688, we find the first written notice that the town had been abandoned and was in need of repair."
The bar in Riego del Camino was still there last November, and the coffee was OK, but I didn't risk eating. A stern notice inside prohibited photography, presumably because a long stream of pilgrims had been fascinated by the squalor and wanted to immortalise it. Runner-up, or possibly third in my really very short list of "Spain's most horrible bars" - Almonacid de Toledo's dirty and racist Kuki [sic] bar on the Levante sharing top spot with the equally unwelcoming and insanitary Bar Mayve at Madrigalejo on the Guadalupe variant of the Mozárabe.
If Casa Camino has reopened by the time we walk in real life, we think we would spend the night in Riego del Camino. That gives us a shorter distance to Granja the next morning, and a possible unencumbered visit of the Monastery before lunch.
Either way, you'll have time to visit the Monasterio de Moreruela and it won't be an over-strenuous day. The walk is straight and dusty. The Via de la Plata doesn't end in Granja - It continues as far as Astorga. But at this point, it wasn't exciting me anymore. I felt a sense of closure. I was ready to make that left turn toward a different kind of landscape.
Can you share a high level overview of what we would see if we took the road less travelled?
There's a good bar around the corner from the albergue in Granja, i checked it out as the reviews of bar teleclub were lukewarm at best and i just didn't get a great "feel" from the place when i stopped in to register for the albergue.
The scenery wasn't spectacular and I don't have tales of wonder, but I did enjoy this stretch - maybe because I had no expectations and I was largely alone.
I didn't even know that frogs' legs were a thing in Spain. I haven't had them since I was a kid.
I had no idea, but I can believe it! This one was sighted before Benavente and I heard many many more.
It is a beautiful walk, which I described in @C clearly's virtual Camino. The prettiest scenery is toward the start. Once you reach the long descent toward Faramontanos de Tábara with vineyards and tiny attached cottages, the best is behind you. If you're going to call a cab, you could have it meet you at the bar in Faramontanos.
My sincere apologies!
Watching José Almeida in Sara's video, I could feel that he is someone special.
"Strenuous" is a word that we will be considering tonight, as we sit at José Almeida's table, enjoying his meal. And we might ask him about the next day. Should we stop at Villanueva de las Peras? We could stay at Albergue Alameda. He'll probably know when he sees how tired Rachel might be after this day's walk.
Ha! I found that being the protagonist in a virtual camino thread actually took quite a lot of effort, to do well. Towards the end I got lazy and didn't research so much. But by that point on a camino, one isn't so worried about working out all the details in advance.
By this point in your camino, you may find that you're more confident about longer distances. I guess you'll know what you want to do. The good news is that there's a wealth of options from Tábara. If you stop at Villanueva (14km), you will find what you need there - a nice restaurant with very friendly owners, and an albergue. From there, you have options to walk 10km (Santa Marta), 15km? (Camarzana - off camino), 21km (Calzadilla), or 23km (Olleros). Most pilgrims walk from Tábara to Santa Marta, I think.
www.laopiniondezamora.es
and he had mentioned that fact also when @C clearly walked this stage virtually.
Hopefully they won't be around.
Now we have to remember here that we are slow walkers, and even though one could think that we have become more confident with longer distances by now, it all depends on my darling's stamina on the day.
. We're looking forward to the church in Santa Marta de Tera.
Classic. Now I like Teo even more than I did.
Saw a great video about dealing with sheep-guarding dogs on one of the French Facebook groups recently (cheminer?). Basically the advice was to call out in a calm voice to avoid surprising the dogs. Take a path away from the sheep that they’re watching. Keep talking. Don’t make eye contact but keep them in your field of vision. Don’t run. Don’t turn your back on them. Stop and pause for a while if they seem agitated. Hold an object (e.g. your hat or your bag) in front of you to give the dog something else to focus on. Don’t raise your sticks. Don’t throw stones.
The owners at La Moña are lovely. I think they also own the albergue. They opened for us on their day off and gave us some French toast as a treat at the end of our meal. Recommended.
You have a 14km head start on many of the people who are aiming for Santa Marta so I think you can be confident. I have a feeling that I also saw a boutique hotel there too. Check on google maps if it isn’t in Gronze. [Edit - Scratch that. I was thinking of the restaurant Venta Medievo. The nearest hotel is in Camarzana which is 5km up the road from Santa Marta. It’s off Camino but not by too much - it puts you somewhat closer to Rionegro]. Might be an option if you feel like a bit more comfort. That said, the albergue is modern and well appointed.
I stayed with the South African missionaries in mid November, 2017. They were very hospitable. At that time, they said that they were about to close for the winter, because the albergue was not heated. I noticed heavy frost on the ground when I began my walk that morning. I don't know if they take reservations, but I would certainly try if I were walking out of season.
@Raggy, I saw that video too. Here it is:
Yes. That's the one.
I can't comment on whether there's a bed race here during high season... If you've read it then I guess its' true. But you will be fine, setting off from Villanueva. If you maintain a steady 2.5km per hour for the ten downhill kilometers, only the sportiest walkers from Tábara (>6km/h) will get there before you. Those people won't be stopping in Santa Marta.
I guess I was being cautious after reading the warning from Gerald Kelly's guide about an accommodation bottleneck in Santa Marta. I did read a blog (with loads of great photos), where the author wrote:
I trained as an engineer in my youth, and we always designed for worst case scenarios, so I guess that's in the grain
, but I will agree with you, @Raggy , that we will have our choice of bunks at Santa Marta.Yeah. Everyone says they're preparing for the worst case scenario, but who among us prepared a contingency plan for when a virus takes over the world? Dilbert, that's who:
which we are going to enjoy.
When is the season?
The walk by the river is pleasant. I don't think it's stunningly beautiful. In places, the river is just a concrete channel, but it's green and lush and it's also flat, which feels good after the ups and downs from Tábara. Unfortunately, there's a large quarry at one point on the way, and when I walked in 2017, I had to cover my mouth a few times when the dirty trucks went past me, kicking up clouds of dust. After that quarry, things become more tranquil again. There's even a nice picnic area with tables overlooking the river Tera. It all feels very close to civilization - no big adventure, just a bit of village to village hopping. I had a spring in my step all the way.
One of these days someone is going to tell us that we've overhyped Me Gusta Comer, but yes, it's the "famous restaurant," of the camino. I think you'll feel happy and stuffed after lunch and dinner there. Perhaps you should take a dip in the river to build up an appetite between meals ... or perhaps not if you're walking in the Spring. It may be too chilly. I've read that Tio can also do breakfast in the morning if there is sufficient demand. Not sure how many pilgrims need to sign up for that to happen.
I am hoping that as we walk past, one or two might call out "Peregrino", so that we can stop and have a chat. We had that wonderful experience in 2018, both in France and on the Norte, when we would walk through villages deserted by the younger generation. We would meet elderly people, who would love to share their life experience.
Ah, sorry, @Raggy , I can't give you an engineer's opinion in this case, I was trained in microelectronics
Nevertheless, I agree with you!
We're looking forward to this experience, and the 16km stage will give us an appetite to enjoy a meal (or two) at Me Gusta Comer.
May-June, or thereabouts (at least that's when I last encountered them on the Frances.
:Leaving Calzadilla, you'll continue on the riverside path. The next village, Olleros will appear in no time. The bar La Trucha probably won't be open until later in the day, so you may as well walk on by.
Like @C clearly , we'll be waddling today!
We had a break in Zamora, and we have planned another break in Ourense. Puebla de Sanabria looks like a nice middle point to take another two night break. So I am open to more comments about the option of spending an extra night here.
we are going to go slower. Hopefully we won't be labelled "lazy pilgrims"...
☺ and the extra stages will elicit comments.
This will preserve the record in its entirety — no clicking back and forth required. I really think this will be a great planning guide for others, as is @C clearly’s Sanabrés thread. (and of course that means I can repeat my blah blah blahing about the wolfcatcher in Lubián, etc.)
I, too, would like to keep this thread continuous. It will be very useful for me when I can walk the Levante and want to pick up more current information on the northern section of the VdlP. It is also a great reminder of my own walk there. As this virtual walk is approaching Lubian, I would like to give a shout out for the casa rural, Casa Irene, at Lubian. When I went through there on November 9, 2017, Jose and his wife Begona had recently taken over. I had passed the local albergue, which looked quite primitive and was locked at the time, so I went on and arrived at Casa Irene, also on the camino. They gave myself and another pilgrim a good discount for being late season pilgrims, and wonderful hospitality. If they are still there and open, I hope that others may continue to experience the same.Day 52: Entrepeñas to Puebla de Sanabria
Once more, we are following @C clearly 's footsteps, and we're looking forward to a stage @Raggy describes as
I have noted @peregrina2000 's suggestions for accommodation in Puebla, and as there seems to be a good choice, I was wondering about @Raggy 's comment:
We had a break in Zamora, and we have planned another break in Ourense. Puebla de Sanabria looks like a nice middle point to take another two night break. So I am open to more comments about the option of spending an extra night here.
As we have been following @C clearly 's stages to date, and will do so until we get to Lubián, I am not expecting much commentary here. After Lubián, despite the warning below:
we are going to go slower. Hopefully we won't be labelled "lazy pilgrims"...
(Your thoughts: should I just jump ahead to stages where our walking diverges from @C clearly 's virtual camino?)
Puebla de Sanabria is a treat. The longest I spent there was half a day (2017). At that time, I remember being charmed by the olde worlde atmosphere. There's something slightly MiddleEarth-ish about it. After crossing the bridge, you should climb the steps to get to the old town. Of course you can take a gentler slope if you continue on the road, but the exertion will make you appreciate the view from the top. You can imagine yourself in Rohan, a defensive position with a view out to the edge of hostile territory - which is exactly what Puebla de Sanabria once was.
That says it all!
It will be a shortish day, 12.1km.
We didn't cut short our visit to Puebla, but we need to check out the accommodation in Requejo. It looks like we will heed @Raggy 's advice, as his experience is more recent than @peregrina2000 's experience 10 years ago. Interestingly, Gerald Kelly's guide doesn't mention Tu Casa. @Sara_Dhooma stayed at the Albergue Casa Cerviño. And there is the Hotel Maite.
I took a look at the map and street view of Puebla to understand why such a small place feels inadequately waymarked to me. There ought to be nothing to it - Follow Camino del Ponton as far as the Guardia Civil, then head up to the Av. de Galicia and turn left until, eventually, you come across an arrow to the left that takes you to the footpath. But somehow, I have those irritating moments of doubt here.
It's a big hill and it's on the side of the fast (but mercifully not very busy) road. Plan on tackling it after first light.
My theory is that Requejo has been spoiled by all the business that came from the AVE construction workers. I think this is probably how the towns in California or the Yukon felt after gold was discovered there.
Keep count of your drinks. Scrutinize the bill. Check your change. Don't give them the benefit of the doubt if you discover a mistake - tell them that Raggy warned you that they were bandits.
I also recommend La Casa de Irene at Lubian. See my post #62 above.
You did indeed, @Albertagirl , thank you for the recommendation!
I have a feeling that the construction work won’t go on forever and perhaps when it’s over, the powers that be might make some improvements - like opening up paths to take walkers away from the roads (including the route that was closed). Who knows?
Yes. The infamous elevated highway section and subsequent tunnel are both before Padornelo. Aciberos, which I haven’t walked through appears after Padornelo. It would be nice if the Camino would route through there again but I don’t know if that’s possible after the construction in the area.
Sorry to hear this. I walked it in Nov 2017 and Sept 2019 without any issue. It’s actually one of my favourite walks and I feel sorry for the road cyclists who huff and puff their way into Galicia without seeing it.
I would AJ. I’ve yet to finish this section so I’m following this info.
