Day 27: O’Cebreiro to Triacastela

We woke exhausted from our two long strenuous days. A shorter day today, but somehow the short ones are a struggle. Perhaps because we prepare less or have a different attitude to them. An extra five minutes in bed or no breakfast seems ok at the time, but it seems we pay for it later. 

It was mostly downhill today, after the heights of O’Cebreiro. The landscape was predominantly farmland and forest. The villages were actually working farms, complete with dairies, and cows, and manure. Piles and piles of manure. The smell was overwhelming at times, but actually the farm life was fascinating. We had seen large vegetable gardens tended and wheat fields being tilled by old men and women, and donkey and plough in the past days. Now we got to experience cows being feed, and milked or being lead to pasture. We even got caught in a cow traffic jam on our way into Triacastela, and we slowly followed the herd down the hill before they were headed into a paddock. The female shepherd was smacking them on the rump and shouting “vamos!” every few steps, and the herding dog was yapping at the cow’s heels and managing to avoid the cows kicking at their heads. 

After we arrived, sorted accommodation and cash and washing, we headed downstairs to our bar for a vino tinto and a blog. As we sat there looking out over the valley, the summer thunderstorm rolled in, complete with lightening, thunder, heavy rain and hail. All whilst maintaining 26C. Luckily we had hung our washing inside, but the albergue washing line was quickly stripped as the rain continued. Apparently the rain comes every day in the mountains in the afternoon. 

After the rain began to clear the clouds rose out of the forest like steam, hanging mysteriously in the trees. By the time we’d finished our dinner the drizzle had cleared completely and the sun was again shining. No rain again until tomorrow afternoon. We hope to avoid it on another short day.