Day 23 - 24km - Cacabelos to La Portela de Valcarce

For a lot of pilgrims the guidebooks act as a mini Camino Bible. Referenced for places to visit, detours to take, walking profiles and much more. They also tend to all work to a defined number of days and break the Camino accordingly, mostly around the 33 day mark.

This week in the Camino guidebook would see us doing a 27km a 30km and a 29km day back to back.

Sod that.

So we are walking our own Camino! Following our own guides and plans, which allows us to aim around the 22km mark, though it's always a little higher with the wandering around.

For the guidebook pilgrims it's a 30km day finishing with a 5km serious uphill to O'Cebrieo! We however are walking to La Portella and leaving the hill for tomorrow.

The route also has three options today. One with a big hill, one with three big hills, and one along the he river in the valley.

We will let you guess which option we went for....

Unfortunately I am having some phone issues with condensation inside my camera so unable to take photos. I am however carrying a tub with a kilo of rice in it to help try and dry the condesation meaning you will have to imagine our journey inside your minds for a day or two!

If you guessed either of the hill options then you have obviously not been following this blog too well! We walked alongside the river as it wound it's way down through the valley. The path ran close to a quieter road, traffic taken away by the nearby motorway which we occasionally interested with. The valley was lush with green trees, plants and birdsong, and each time we bridged the river we gazed into the water and spotted on many occasions small brown trout. I think Nik may consider how he may get back here with a fly rod. This route is deemed the least attractive of the three, however we found beauty in the rivers and trees that was different to the highpoint views, especially knowing we have a big hill tomorrow.

We meandered along stopping frequently until we arrived in La Portela de Valcarce (the river is the Rio Valcarce), where we checked into a lovely twin room with a private bathroom for the princely sum of 35e. It was well worth it! We dropped the laundry off with the staff (love that this is an option!), Had a cheeky nap and then went to sit in the sun! We met Rowan from St Andrews for our third day in a row, our first meeting being in Foncebaddon sat near the open fire. She was traveling with a German girl called Sarah, but Sarah wanted to walk alone for thinking time so Rowan seemed to be feeling a little lost. She joined us for dinner - the pilgrims menu again, which was actually great for 12e.

It has been a great day, beautiful nature along the river, good company, a hot shower and a comfy bed. What more does a pilgrim need!

Rest your feet pilgrim. It's a big old bugger of a hill tomorrow!!