Camino de Santiago, Part 5. Leon to Ponferrada

The Cathedral at Leon illuminated.

Departing Bercianos we were now beyond the halfway mark of our Camino! It was said that if you made it to Leon that you would most certainly make it all the way to Santiago! Well, we had a little way to go to Leon. The weather was threatening all day but we made it to Reliegos without getting drenched. We stopped at a new albergue, the first one we encountered; it was a nice place. Shortly after we came, our friend Deb showed up! David was somewhere ahead, they were going to meet up in Leon. That evening we had dinner and an interesting conversation with an American who was travelling with an older Italian fellow. Overnight there was a terrific storm with an intense rainfall, fortunately we were safe and sound inside!

Click here to see more photos of this stage!

At this point our guidebook recommends taking a bus from the next town, (Mansilla de las Mulas) into Leon. We decided that was a good idea. Also, I used my phone to book a room at a nice hotel in Leon.

Next morning we walked the 6 kilometers into Mansilla and after a little searching found the bus station. It was a nice change to sit in a bus and let the kilometers go by! We arrived in Leon in the late morning and checked into the Hotel Paris, right in the heart of old Leon.

We enjoyed our stay in Leon, staying there two nights, getting laundry done, shopping a little and eating. We made a point of visiting the Cathedral, since we regretted not visiting the one in Burgos. It was fun to run into many of the folks we had been walking with along the Camino, it seems like you always seem to catch up with the fast ones, and the slow ones catch up with you!

Finally, we had to move on. We met Jim from Ireland again, and we shared a taxi to La Virgen del Camino, a little outside of Leon proper. We now regretted the days off, because we experience a lot of pain in our feet this day! Not sure why it hurt so much but we were glad to get off our feet. We stopped at an especially grim little place called San Martin. On top of everything else, it started to rain!  I'd say our spirits were at their lowest at this point!

Storks' nests in San Miguel.

On the next day's walk, we walked through occasional showers. Stopping for coffee and a respite from the rain, we met Thomas, an older American we had been running into since Granon. We also met a girl from Brooklyn who was dealing with plantar fasciitis, just like me! She described a taping technique some nurses had recommended, she also had given up the idea of walking the Camino and would take taxis over large stretches of it! Well, at least I would try the taping.

We managed to make it to Astorga despite our aching feet. There we met Dave and Deb again, and had dinner with them and Noah, an American doing a fundraiser, and Hans from the Netherlands, who was cycling the Camino. We enjoyed the old town and indulged in Astorga chocolate.

The lonely outpost of Foncebadon.

The next day we climbed into the hill country despite threatening weather. We walked through some pretty lonely looking country and ended up in Foncebadon, a rather forlorn mountain village. There were at least three albergues here. We passed by the first one, it looked a little too commercial, and went to check the second. We met Jim as we were approaching it and he recommended the place so we checked in there. The albergue also offered a dinner and breakfast for a few more euros, so we were set for the night!

Welcoming at the albergue!

Wandering around the village we found a third albergue which also had a small shop. I saw a black stocking cap in the window which I really needed in the cool air, so we went past the pair of goats guarding the door  and inside saw Deb and David! They had reserved beds in this albergue in advance, it doesn't have a lot of beds and does seem very nice. We bought some beer and sat around and played cards for a spell, then went back to our albergue for dinner.

Shelly, on the left, approaching la Cruz de Ferro.

Next morning we climbed to the highest point on the Camino Frances at 1505 meters; marked by the Cruz de Ferro, an iron cross set atop a wooden pole. This was of course, a place were the peregrinos would stop and reflect a little. It was a little misty as we made our way to the cross. Now it was all downhill right? Wrong, we encountered difficult, rocky trails leading towards our ultimate destination of Ponferrada!

We checked into the Albergue San Nicolas de Flue, a nice place near the old City, and enjoyed a good dinner. Early the next morning we passed the magnificent Castillo de los Templarios as we left this nice city.

Castillo de los Templarios, Ponferrada.