What a day. This was a walk along a high ridge with zilch facilities but views to die for. The villages at these altitudes are bleak - Venda da Teresa below was pretty well abandoned. There was one house that seemed occupied with a solitary man tilling the soil by hand. It must be a tough place to exist.
But then one comes to the big dam and the view across the water was superb. The photo doesn't do the purple of the heather on the south facing mountain opposite justice. It was sensational.
The full stage is all the way to Laza but Campobercerros was enough for one day. The albergue was possibly ok - the only guest house in town had a number of negative comments about it. I decided after a beer that a taxi to a better place to sleep was in order and got a cab over Pepin. It looked like 10 minutes on the map which was a schoolboy error as on the winding mountain roads it was 30 minutes. Second schoolboy error was forgetting that it was a Monday. No food. Lots of smiles and a few apologies but no food. The Casa Rural was beautiful - all exposed wood and stone - but one can't eat one's surroundings.
Fortunately there was a little sports club in the village which was open. No food of course as the person behind the counter - who looked about 10 - assured me. As this was off the pilgrim track I think the whole idea of serving meals was quite a strange one. However this is Spain and, while there were no meals, there was of course bits of food in the fridge. So a conversation followed, really testing my ability to understand the strong accent and food appeared - ham, crackers etc - snack food which, if eaten to excess, makes a meal.
The joy of the camino. You make do with what comes through and the experience makes you stronger. Or fatter. Or both.
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