Day 22

Left Ponferrada this morning and headed back into the foothills. Covered 15 mi and about 1,000 ft of elevation.  Tomorrow we will go up another mountain pass for our last major climb.

Rush hour this morning.

First pilgrims we have seen on horseback.

The rain came and went in bands throughout the day, so we put on and took off rain gear 3 times.  In the early part of the day we passed thru a wine region, so there were lots of vineyards, wineries, and one town was advertising their annual wine festival.

Vineyards.

Villafranca del Bierzo 1.

Villafranca del Bierzo 2 - castle.

Pilgrim statue

Under 200 km.

We ended up in the small hillside village of Pereje.  There is one municipal albergue.  There is one bar/restaurant.  When you walk in the albergue there is a sign telling you to go the bar for check-in.  The bartender takes you back to the albergue to finish check-in. When you ask the bartender (who is now at the albergue checking you in) if there is a store in town she says no, but they do have some items like snacks you can buy at the bar.  We told her we would see her soon for drinks, dinner, and supplies.

We looked around the albergue before we talked to the bartender.  There were lots of boots lined up, and when we opened the door to the room with 12 beds we only saw one empty.  We then went to the bar to ask the bartender if there were 2 beds available, she said,”of course”.  After check-in she led us to a second room.  This one also had 12 beds, but we were the only ones there.  If no one else comes in tonight we might end up with another private room.  Cost - 5 euros ea.

Our private room tonight.

A couple days ago we meet an older couple from Toronto. They are our new record holders for the oldest people we have met doing the Camino.  She is 79, he is 81.  She is dealing with a pain in her heal.  I told him they doing a great pace.  He said she was holding him back. They do 20 km per day.  They started in Saint Jean Pied de Port one week earlier than us.

We also stopped to rest at the top of a hill where we talked with Ray.  He is 64 from Pasadena.  Said he had heart surgery 3 yrs ago. Double bypass, valve replaced, aorta repaired.  Feeling gr3at, doing great.  Has walked 1,500 mi on various Camino routes since.  Says it gave him a chance to reevaluate things.