Here are my postings for yesterday and today:

Tuesday 4th May 2010 (Cacabelos to Vega de Valcarce – total distance walked 555.27km)

Joy and I woke up in the morning all psyched up for a difficult day. We have read in the camino books and have been told by so many pilgrims that the most beautiful route to O Cebreiro is the toughest route which has very steep ascents and equally steep descents. The alternative would be the road route. After careful deliberation, we felt that since we have already come so far, it would seem such a pity if we missed out on the beautiful scenery on the tough route. The first 9km to Villafranca de Bierzo was uneventful but the route did take us through lovely vineyards. We are always happy to be walking on paths and tracks – asphalt is really boring and hard on the feet, not forgetting that walking with traffic can be nerve wrecking. We stopped in Villafranca de Bierzo for breakfast (a nice cup of hot tea with toast but Joy was peckish for calamarie). The tough route started as soon as we left Villafranca de Bierzo but the waymarkings were so poor (or non-existent) that we were more than 1km on the road route when we realised that we missed the turn off to the tough route. So we back tracked and indeed there were no waymarkings at the turn off. My goodness, the steep incline started almost immediately when we took the turn off and it was just up up up on mainly stone paths. The scenery would have been much better if the motorway was not a prominent feature in the landscape. Even from 800m up, the network of roads was clearly visible. Once we got on this tough route, there were no more waymarkings. We relied on instructions from the camino books and from our operations centre in Singapore (manned by no other than Eddie Ong). Our instructions were to look out for a T-junction, huge chestnut trees then a very steep descent. Of course none of these were in sight. So, in the absence of any indicators, it is natural to keep straight on. We did and just kept walking. A fellow German pilgrim with his dog was always in close range (so that was a little reassuring, we were not alone). Soon it was rather obvious that we were lost. Together with the German and his dog, we decided to back track (which seemed to be the other of the day as we had already back tracked once to find the tough route). About 1km later, an angel came to our rescue (in the form of a bikie on a scrambler). Believe me, he was an angel. Every time we needed help on the camino, someone always appears to help us. So he pointed us in the right direction. We did find our way to Trabadelo eventually but it was rather horrible. As soon as we started the descent, it was straight steep descent all the way down the almost 900m. It was a wonder that we did not slip and slide. Anyway what was wonderful about being lost on the mountain was that we were surrounded by very beautiful flowers (the kind of flowers that we call dried flowers back home). We felt like we were in a page straight out of Lost Horizon. Something must be done to ensure that waymarkers are put at strategic points. It is no fun having to wonder where to go. Our accommodation at Vega de Valcarce was a beautiful home, obviously very new. We were the only occupants so we had the whole house to ourselves. We had a lovely evening – cooked a lovely meal and bought a bottle of Spanish red wine. Wine is so inexpensive here and quite often good too. Joy loves her wine at dinner because it helps her sleep well. But ... poor me ... when she has had a little too much, she talks too much (and laughs a lot too). But she’s good company. That’s all for today.

Wednesday 5th May 2010 (Vega de Valcarce to O Cebreiro – total distance 568.27km)

We are not prepared for the extreme cold and it is cold up in the mountains. Within half an hour of setting out this morning, our fingers were frozen. Thank God for my Buff that has helped to keep my head and ears warm. We were so cold that we had to stop for a cup of tea – that really helped. Today’s journey is the continuation of yesterday’s – the climb up to O Cebreiro. O Cebreiro is almost 1300m high – a little lower than Cruz de Ferro. Steep ascents awaited us, mostly on unspoilt rough rocky paths, with very little plateaus. We took our time and made the 13km to O Cebreiro in 4 hours from Vega de Valcarce – quite a good pace for trekking up a mountain. I guess the walk up is often made easier when we have such beautiful scenery to take our minds off the hard work. Yesterday, a lot of the times we were actually walking along the edge of the mountain – one wrong step and we will be sent rolling down. Today, the paths were more inland. Both have their own charms. We met Father Michael again today and he walked with us for a while. Father Michael comes from Tipperarry in Ireland. I told him that it reminds me of a song that my grandfather would sing when he has had one too many. On hearing that, Father Michael sang “It’s A Long Way To Tipperarry”. He has a good voice. Later he sang another song “4 and 9”, rather cute song. It is so nice to be entertained while walking. Well this is the last mountain before we reach Santiago de Compostela. All the hard work was worth it because O Cebreiro is indeed very beautiful. It is a small village of about 20 houses and is undoubtedly a tourist attraction. There is a church steeped with history and the Celtic influence makes me feel like I am in Scotland. It is freezing cold here today and I have no warm clothing suitable for this weather. It must be easily 0°C with strong winds. Still that has not deterred me from taking a walk around the village because the scenery that surrounds it is so beautiful. Mountains and valleys, with grounds so green, and we had clear blue skies today, not a cloud in sight. Oh, yesterday we spoke about seeing a dog walking the Camino with its Master. Today we saw pilgrims on horseback. One can do the Camino either on foot, on bicycles or on horseback. We did not think that we will see any pilgrims on horseback, so it was indeed a bonus. We were told that it would snow tonight. That would really be a bonus for Joy. She has never seen snow before. Li Leng, Steven and Terry arrived safely in Santiago last night. We were in touch today and we will all meet up in Sarria tomorrow afternoon. Joy and I are really looking forward to seeing them and walking with them from Friday.