Camino 26


Camino de Santiago: Stage 26 (of 31); Villafranca del Bierzo to O Cebreiro. The first 20km or so are deceptively easy along small country roads winding through the valley. I reached Las Herrerias around lunchtime and really should have stayed in one of the beautiful hotels looking out over the valley to the mountains beyond. Foolhardily, I set off, however, to do the last 8km on the basis that it could not really take that long even though it was becoming uncomfortably hot. What the guide book forgot to mention was that this last section also included a climb of 800 metres up a rock strewn track! Compensations were the fabulous views from the top.