From Palas de Rei to Arzua
Day 26, Wednesday 18 September 2013
Distance to Santiago: 68 km
We left Palas de Rei early for Arzua. It was cloudy and cool but it did not rain when we left. We walked past the monument and field of the medieval pilgrims where they gathered for the journey to Santiago.
The road was relatively flat to Arzua. The tiny 12th century church was in San Xulian.
The weather was nice for a walk but my backpack was a pain. Strangely, we did not encounter many pilgrims on the Camino today.
It seemed an awfully long way to Arzua. We went up and down hills, following the never-ending Camino road.
We stopped for a rest at Melide where we visited San María do Leboreiro.
From there we walked in shaded oak and chestnut forest for a while, which gradually changed to pine and eucalyptus. I would always remember the refreshing smells of the pine and eucalyptus.
We reached Ribadiso and still had to walk about 3,1 km further to Arzua. What we did not know was that it was a steep uphill walk to Arzua.
Ribadiso was a small town and the entrance was over the Rio Iso. The Roman bridge spanned the river since the 6th century.
The last few kilometres to Arzua was scenic but also steep. We reached Arzua and booked in at Albergue da Fonte.
We walked 28,9 km.