From La Faba to Triacastela

Day 22, Saturday 14 September 2013

Distance to Santiago: 154 km

It was still dark when we left for Triacastela. In contrast with the English administered Refugio Gaucelmo where we stayed a few days ago, which was friendly and welcoming, our stay in the German administrated Albergue La Faba was like being in an army camp. A lot of rules, you should not eat or drink in the dormitory, and if the communal kitchen was not clean and tidy, breakfast would not be served.  The dorm with 66 beds was clean and tidy.  But I did not sleep well at all.
The women next to me slept on her back and snored like a pig.  I even stood up, shook her arm gently but she would not wake up.  So, for the rest of the night I listened to her snoring and the rest of the dorm was busy, zipping and unzipping of backpacks, walking with flashlights, whispering. That was a strange sleepless night.  We got up early, breakfast, bread and preserve were put out, (the kitchen was clean).

It would be a 5 km uphill walk to O’Cebreiro where we had breakfast and visited the Iglesia de Santa Maria Real. 

The road from O’Cebreiro continued uphill on a forest track before dropping down to Linares. We walked past the ancient parish of San Esteban to Alto de San Rogue. 

An imposing statue of a medieval pilgrim stood on the hill overlooking the vast expanse of Galicia and the deep valleys.  We walked parallel to the main road and reached another steep hill that took us to another high point on the Camino 1 335 m above sea level.   From here the path descended more steeply with awesome views.

We reached Triacastela at 3 o’clock.  We booked in at a private albergue Meson Vilasante with beautiful views from our window over the mountain.

We walked 28,4 km for the day.