Herbon – Walking without a donkey

Camino Portuguese da Costa – Day 14, October 2nd 2019

It is 25 kms from Padron to Santiago and I was not confident I would manage that with the extra 3.2 kms from Herbón to Padrón, so I decided to break my journey in Teo, making two, admittedly short, days out of one longer one.

I took a last look at the gardens of the monastery of Herbón, Spain and spotted this little critter slinking its way amongst the stones

They played music to wake us up at the Herbón monastery and then there was a return to the large dining room for a shared breakfast. Although we had arrived through countryside, the path out, towards Padrón, was almost immediately into a village and then along a main road.

A typical Galician scene with terracotta rooves, fruit frames and misted mountains in the background, Spain

I was on the Ruta dos Xardins da Camelias, heading towards the home of padrón peppers which we had been told the previous evening didn’t really emanate from Padrón at all. It doesn’t stop them being one of my favourite dishes.

Crossing the River Sar with a wonderful view of the Iglesia de Santiago de Padrón. Still dark enough to merit headlights. Spain

I waited in a bar for the pharmacy to open so I could get some anti-inflammatories for my left foot which was still very painful.

Flattened graves surrounding a traditional Galician church, Padrón, Spain

Perhaps that is Monte Meda (*1454 feet*) in the distance, half hidden by low cloud cover, the sun trying hard to shine through, Galicia

Approximately half way there and I came across the Santa Maria de Cruces Church with its ornate twin steeples, A Escravitude, Galicia

I heard them before I saw them! Hunting dogs keen to get a look at the pilgrims

One was really determined – squeezing sideways under the fence!

And then I was in the rural landscape I love so much. Grass and sheep, scarlet willows with yellow branches stemming from a single point, just a few green leaves left now as winter approaches – nothing too carefully kept.

It’s when the pine needles turn brown and fall. They catch on branches below and create this chopstick effect

Look carefully and you will spot the yellow arrow on the tree in the centre. Getting close to Santiago de Compostella now – ‘the end of the road’, Galicia

Onto the Ruta Saudable de Teo, the healthy route, where you cannot pick flowers or frogs, but you can hike!

Capela de San Marino de Ruta de Francos: modest, solid, ancient, Galician

The country roads were lined with almond trees, almost neon in their greenness, and forming a backdrop to lush undergrowth, rough-stalked bracken. I happily trotted along, constantly overtaken by others rushing to the finish line.

The albergue Xunta de Teo (municipal albergue at Teo) is in a beautiful spot, a drop down from an extremely busy main road, but accessed by the walkers from the opposite, safe side. There are cafes both down and uphill, and they are equally idiosyncratic. Shops can be found even further on: the one at a service station is often open, the much smaller village store is shut for hours at lunch time.

The albergue was closed on arrival, only opening much later (4pm) with a queue, and filled up very quickly, so that many were turned away. It is run in a haphazard sort of a way and there are no utensils in the kitchen.

While I waited for it to open, I sat under a plastic awning and wrote and read and ate p. peppers and drank beer and it was expensive, in comparison to other places.

In all I went up and down that road a few times, eventually getting supplies for the evening meal, and then wandered back through the forest, past the church and other very smart looking buildings, several of which were supposed to be a restaurant and up-market accommodation, but both looked uninhabited. It was like a rekkie for the next day (in the opposite direction), very pleasant, and I returned to sleep when it was almost dark.