Day 13 ~ 18th August 2000

Villafranca del Bierzo to O Cebreiro

We set out early, found the correct road out of Villafranca, which is a little confusing, and started along a long gentle climb. We made good progress on the first cooler overcast conditions that we had seen, and at around 10 am we turned onto a quieter side road. Along here, at the suggestion of fellow cycling pilgrims, we decided to leave our panniers at a small albergue & have them sent on to the hostal at O Cebreiro for a cost of 300pts.

A few kms from Pedrafita, we had to climb from the old road to the new road due to road works. The climb between the two was very steep, and Carol strained a calf muscle quiet badly. After applying pain relieving gel we continued on foot to Pedrafita (the 1st town in Galicia).

After, our daily "fruit" break, a van stopped to see if we needed any help. Upon hearing of Carol's injury, they loaded her & her bike into the van and took her to O Cebreiro even though they were traveling in the other direction! I continued alone along a very steep climb (about 8 kms in length) to this fantastic, almost mythical point in our journey, O Cebreiro.

We managed to find a room in the hostal run by the Valinas family (pictured to the right). After packing some ice from the local bar on Carol's leg, we eventually went to explore; the tiny church, the original Galician huts, the picturesque streets, the other hostals. O Cebreiro has a certain atmosphere that is difficult to describe, this really is what the Camino is all about. We had our credentials stamped in the church & the hostal.

In the evening we ate with two pilgrims from Barcelona, an uncle & nephew. We enjoyed our enormous "menu del dia" (1000 pts) almost as much as the company, this was one of the highlights of the whole pilgrimage.