It was another day of crossing the hilly Galician countryside, ascending and descending throughout the day. Admittedly the first hill was the worst, steep and wooded and with a boulder strewn path which I climbed in the half light of morning. I do not remember the route through Galicia on the Camino Francés being so difficult; yes it was undulating but you seemed to stay high. Here it seems the route climbs in and out of valleys continuously, some are high but most are gentle descents to small streams followed by a climb out of the valley bottom, not too taxing with fresh legs but more challenging after six hours and eighteen miles behind you.
Admittedly the scenery provided a distraction. It was a day of shaded woodland and open pasture, of green rolling hills and small gurgling streams. There were the blues and purples and yellows of a whole host of flowers in the fields and the heavy dankness of ferns in the woods. It was a picture of Britain with a Spanish twist. And for most of the day it kept my mind off the distance I was having to cover.
I am now in the albergue at A Laze, an old village of few houses that unfortunately now finds itself next to a fast main road. From the outside the albergue is solid, square and old stone yet inside it is functional concrete, high roofed and spacious. I walked up the road to eat in the nearby restaurant, enjoyed a beer and wine and am now relaxing after the day. Tomorrow is a shorter fourteen miles which will put me within twenty miles of Santiago.
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