May 2, 2025, O Cebreiro

Today’s walk reminded me of my walk leaving St Jean Pied de Port just a little over 2 years ago. The difference being that today’s uphill climb was 5 miles, 2 years ago the uphill portion of the walk happened over 12 miles. The first 2 miles today were on an uphill grade, on asphalt, but nothing too strenuous. I went through 3 little towns thinking I would find a place for some breakfast, but just about everything was closed. I saw a sign for a bakery, at 8:30 in the morning, I expected they would be open. Nope, barely anything in the case and the door locked.

When I got to Herrerias I stopped for a breakfast, it was a buffet and I ate too much, this would be a problem later on. I have read that riding a horse is an acceptable mode of transportation for a pilgrim, but in had never witnessed it until today. Herrerias has a stable and a guide to take you up the hill, wish I had known that before.

The grade increased and remained that was for the next 5 miles. Soon the trail went from asphalt to dirt and rock. My full stomach made it more difficult to make the climb.

There were a number of bikes that passed me up, but they did not look like they had it any easier.

Last night I was in a goat region, today it was the cow that reigned supreme. I would walk pass small herds, mixes of males and females grazing on the grass, some with bells around their necks. The Camino had a lot of shit on it, at first I blamed the horses, but as I got to La Faba it was obvious that it was the cows that regularly walk on the Camino to get back to the barn.

I stopped in a small bar, there were two older Austrian women that had passed me on the trail. We talked a little, when I said the grade had been steep, they told me that they are used to it because they live in the Alps. They left and I finished up my Coke, I lingered a bit longer knowing more uphill was waiting for me, about 2.5 miles.

When I was just about to Laguna I turned around to see Ybr coming up behind me. After yesterday I thought that I would never see him again, he is a walking machine, but he had taken an extra day in Ponferrada. I was tired after walking 10 miles today, he walked 26 miles today, even he was exhausted. At Laguna we talked about taking a break at the bar, but it was small and full of people, he found a seat, I decided that I didn’t want to stop and cool off, so I continued.

As I was getting closer to the summit, the winds picked up and they were now cold. I wasn’t ready for my rain jacket, thinking I would sweat inside of it, so I put my buff on over my head with my hat on top of it. I had figured that I had crossed into Galicia back at La Faba, but it was here that I found the monument.

I sat on its base and took a couple of pictures with intermittent rain drops.

Through out the day I took many pictures of the view to the east, from here I could see the mountain top, after Foncebandon, that I crossed and eventually came to the Cruz Ferro. I remember doing the same thing 2 years ago, looking back and seeing the Pyrenees Mountains receding in the distance. All along the Camino it is common to see cairns that people make, for the first time I added a stone on the first Camino marker in Galicia.

I walked on and as I got close to O Cebreiro Ybr caught up to me. I told him that there were too many people at the bar and that I didn’t want to sit outside. I also joked and told him I wanted to beat him to Galicia.

O Cebreiro wasn’t as I had expected. Every town the last couple of days have been small with little activity, this one is small but it was full of tourists that take buses to come up here, see the views, eat lunch and see the pilgrims hoof it in up the hill and into town.

The structures here are all made of stone with 18” thick walls, thatched and slate roofs. When i arrived it was 2:00, I had walked 6 hours. I was 30 minutes early to check into my room so I went looking for my lunch which would be my main meal for the day. I looked at a few trinket shops and one had a restaurant in the back. Since I was in Galicia, I decided to order the traditional food of this region. Garlic soup for a starter and octopus as my main dish, both were different for me, but they grew on me.

While having lunch Ybr came in looking for a table, he came over and joined me at my table. We ate and talked for almost 2 hours. I remember the first time I met him with Malcolm almost 225km ago. When we walked out of the restaurant we bumped into to Frank, he and Irene had just checked into their hotel. Next Friday Ybr will walk into Santiago, I am fairly sure that I will not see him after tomorrow. I know that sounds strange with everyone connected online, but here it is totally possible to meet someone, share this experience and never see them again.

After checking into my room and getting showered I decided to walk around the town. The tour busses were now gone, men were adding new straw to a couple of roofs, it was lightly raining and almost all the businesses were closed for the afternoon break. The rain and sun are constantly alternating with each other. Now I can easily look way out to the west to see the terrain to come in my final week or so.

View west

View east