All by ourselves again at the Xunta alburgue in Vilar de Barrio after a pretty awesome couple of days. The weather has been kind when really needed and a bit brutal in spots just to remind us to appreciate the good bits. The walk up to the first pass from Requijo was sunny and dry, but very cold. The Camino has been deviated to the road as there are building works currently on (I think it is the new high speed rail line) but this was OK as there was still plenty of snow about which had our daughter quite excited. After the steady slog to the top it was down, down to beautiful Lubián. There is a deviation sign before the overpass bridge before Aciberos. We took the old way down and through Aciberos which isn’t well marked on the tar road above, past the church and down the valley on a beautiful leaf strewn path (slightly soggy and slippery in parts but worth it) all the way to Lubián. The tiny alburgue is the first building when you arrive and inside was warm, inviting and very well set up with brand new bathroom facilities downstairs. We even had company that night, a nice Spanish gentleman we had talked to at Sanabres Castle the day before. That afternoon we looked for the scallop shell door latch and we are pretty sure we identified the right building but unfortunately the latch has gone. This could be because there had been some basic repair work to the upper and lower doors. We walked around the town checking out every old wooden door but sorry Peregrina 2000, we couldn’t find it. We did however see the amazing wolf fountain (3 wolf heads with water spurting out from their open jaws) that you pass walking up to the bars and panadería. Leaving Lubián in the morning we were escorted by a young tortoiseshell tomcat, who gleefully bounded down the road with us. This started to concern us after a distance as we didn’t want him to follow us all the way to Santiago. Ignoring him didn’t work, chastising him only made him want to follow us more. Finally my husband’s active chasing off worked after covering over 2 km. We found out later he regularly follows pilgrims out of town. Also keep a eye out for deer as we had 5 cross the path whilst this was happening. The Camino was a stream with snow melt at the lower altitudes and heading up towards the pass the snow and ice transitioned from patchy to ankle deep across the path. It was tiring but exhilarating at the same time and we loved every step we took to reach the top. Finally finding ourselves in Galicia we headed on to A Gudiña, another beautiful section that wound through old stone villages, across rugged pastureland and raging streams of snow melt that were crossed by ancient stone slabs. Beware of sheepdogs in this area, we had to wait until the shepard warned off his large pack of massive dogs so we could pass safely. The next morning the weather wasn’t safe for road walking to Laza. Misty rain and wind brought visibility down to 100 mtrs and the uphill slog went on and on. Then miraculously about 4 kms before Campobecerros the fog began to glow yellow and the clouds parted to reveal a deep valley to our left with small villages far below and vapours dancing up towards us, and on our right an expanse of steep pine forests leading up to the snow covered mountain range behind. We called it a day at Campobecerros, the alburgue is basic, has plenty of velvety soft blankets, a good pilgrim menu that is only 8€, but no kitchen facilities, the heating turned off during the night and we had only lukewarm water to shower in. Better weather yesterday made for an easy walk into Laza. There is a climb out to start off and then down to Portocamba (keep an eye out for what looks like more wolf traps on the hill to your right) and then up to one more crest and then a spectacular downhill run from then on. The Xunta alburgue is excellent (great kitchen with utensils, comfy common room and blanket offered when you pay at the civil protection office beforehand). There are 2 well provisioned shops for any supplies you need.
Today we all woke up to steady rain (4 Italians starting from Laza, our Spanish friend, a Spaniard we met in salamanca and ourselves.....wow, other people!) as we all headed out to tackle to climb up to Alburguerea. Clouds parted at the high point long enough to get the rain capes off and dry off the sweat before the next wave of wind driven rain hit. This accompanied us all the way down to the road leading to Vilar de Barrio and then again out came the sun. The Xunta alburgue here is excellent, but you will need cooking utensils as there are none here. The rain has been torrential since 2 pm and is currently hammering on the dormitory windows. We wonder what happened to the Italians? They aren’t here. The bloke from Salamanca walked on to Xunqueria and our Spanish friend was picked up by his wife and headed back to Ourense. Not far to Santiago now