After a bit of a flat day one, I was looking forward to day 2 with the start of the ascent into the mountains. The "official stage" just takes one to the start of the mountains in a little village called Buiza, a distance of some 15km, but I fancied getting over at least the first climb, enjoying the glorious weather.
You soon forget La Robla as you head north. The road is mostly dirt and asphalt until La Pola and then one turns onto a local road to Buiza and one has to stick to the asphalt. The road cuts through a pass and there is a terrific and quite convincing outline of a wolf that looks over the road. A handy reminder that there are still about 2,500 wolves in Spain, mostly in these northern mountains.
One then gets to Buiza and it was time for lunch. Nothing open so I found a bench and then munched my way through a bocadillo that I had bought in La Robla. I had seen the big hill in front of me and had wondered where the pass was to cut through it, or maybe the trail went around it.
Nope, this is hard core pilgrim stuff. Straight over the top with the added hazard of bullocks which chose, out of the entire mountainside, to hang around on the path like a bunch of malignant teenage muggers.
At the top there was a very freshly constructed stone arrow.
And then the descent in the other side. The path was refreshingly free of any safety measures as I carefully made my way along a 12inch wide path, hopping over those points where the path had disintegrated and made its way down the hillside.
And then it was down into a small valley on the other side and a delightful walk to Poladura. The final hazard, an overly aggressive and outsized sheepdog, was seen off and then it was time just to relax and stroll, listening to music and watching the light change the landscape. Funnily enough John Rutter's "for the beauty of the earth' came up on my headphones as I walked - completely appropriate for the occasion.
Dinner and accommodation was at the one inn in Poladura, run by a smashing pair of brothers. The only guests were pilgrims so it was a very jovial affair and I discovered that an Irishman and an American woman had constructed that stone arrow about an hour before I came across it.
Comments