How to Walk the Camino de Santiago: Week 4

Week 4 Summary:

Day 22 - Astorga to Rabanal del Camino (12.7 mi/20.5 km) - Our book recommended an additional 5k this day, but Rabanal del Camino was a slightly larger town and we loved our accommodation!

Day 23 - Rabanal del Camino to Ponferrada (19.9 mi/32.1 km)

Day 24 - Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierzo (15.0 mi/24.2 km)

Day 25 - Villafranca del Bierzo to La Faba (14.7 mi/23.7 km)

Day 26 - La Faba to Triacastela (16.0 mi/25.7 km) - First day in Galicia!

Day 27 - Triacastela to Barbadelo (14.3 mi/23.0 km)

Day 28 - Barbadelo to Ventas de Naron (19.4 mi/31.2 km) - We went one town past the book recommendation here. Again, the next town was bigger and had more accommodation options.





We’re out of the Meseta and done with week 4 adding another ~112 miles! We were so happy to enter the Cantabrian Mountains and Galicia autonomous regions this week. We have 28 days of walking down. Our final week will consist of reaching Santiago de Compostela and then continuing on to Finisterre (aka "the end of the world"!). We’re in our final 100 km stretch and we can’t believe how fast these days have gone by. We’ve learned a lot since we started walking 4 weeks ago. One of the most important being what to bring to snack on along the way. We found peanut butter in a little shop and it made our day! It’s the little things that make a 16+ mile day exciting. Oh, and always having a stash of "hangry" bars available.

We’ve had snack stops at some of the coolest places imaginable along the Camino. I would share more photos, but it's always me eating it seems. Walking the Camino is a lot like training for a Marathon. You're always exhausted, and always starving. I'm getting pretty excited to receive my Compostela in Santiago too, but Ricardo keeps reminding me it's not a race and I don't get a medal (although, Camino medals would be pretty cool!) There is a lot of encouragement along the Camino from other pilgrims, and even the locals, that does remind me of the running community. We’ve climbed way too many mountains at this point, but (almost) every one has been worth the view at the top!

Remember when I told you about our luggage transfer company we’re using during week one? It’s been almost magical how we say goodbye to our (unsecured) backpacks every morning in some little town we’ve never heard of until now, and they always appear at our next accommodation waiting for us. We’ve only communicated via WhatsApp and have never actually met anyone from Caminofacil this whole time. Well, one day this week we happened to be passing through O Cebreiro as we were entering Galicia and we noticed a couple of familiar bags in the back of this van! I'm most likely one of the only Pilgrims with a pink neck pillow hanging from their bag. ;)



We visited several landmarks this week including Cruz Ferro, one of the most recognizable statues of the Camino. This is the place where pilgrims leave their burdens (a stone they've carried with them) on top of the rock pile which leaves them lighter for the remainder of their journey to Santiago. I didn't carry a stone as my small backpack was heavy enough. I wish we had had enough energy to visit the Templar Castle in Ponferrada after our 20 mile day, but after our not so exciting visit to the Burgos Castle (and many stairs that I won't ever forget), we decided to pass this time.

   

  

More Lessons...

• You can’t have it all on the Camino. You either get semi-decent wifi and have a horrible bed, or if you’re lucky you get a super comfy bed but have cows outside your window. Yes, cows. A lot of cows.


• Make sure you’re aware of meal times. We were finally used to the Spain eating schedule until starting the Camino. We’re usually starving between 2:00-4:00 when we get into town but the restaurants don’t usually open the kitchen until at least 6:30 (and even then they think you’re crazy for wanting to eat “so early”). Hint: the 3 course Pilgrim Menu’s are pretty good for about €10, but they can get repetitive.

Extra Information - Where We Stayed & Pricing (based on 2 ppl):

Night 23: Astorga to Rabanal del Camino: El Descanso de Gaia €37. Private room/shared bath (great room and excellent host!)

Night 24: Rabanal del Camino to Ponferrada: Albergue Guiana €24. 2 bunks. Called to reserve.

Night 25: Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierzo: Albergue de la Piedra €30. 2 bunks in a private room/shared bath.

Night 26: Villafranca del Bierzo to La Faba: El Refugio €10. 2 bunks - just walked in.

Night 27: La Faba to Triacastela: Casa Olga €40. Private room/private bath. Emailed to reserve.

Night 28: Triacastela to Barbadelo: 108 to Santiago €29. Private room/shared bath. Booking.com (great room!)

Night 29: Barbadelo to Ventas de Naron: Casa Molar €30. Private room/shared bath. Called to reserve.