Day 29 - Ponferrada to Villafranca del Berzio

A great 24KM walking day mostly through the Bierzo wine region. Cherry trees, roses, wheat, poppy seed fields also present. Luckily the skies were cloudy and made the heat more bearable. Some very old and interesting small villages along the way, the style much different than the Meseta days.

I walked alone most of the day. Great day for a mix of reflections. One common advice on the Camino is to occasionally turn around and notice the beauty of the road you just covered. I have been doing that very often and the views looking back are very surprisingly different that what you keep seeing in front of you. Another metaphor for the life journey, how often do we stop and turn around and admire the beauty in where we have been, what have we done etc.

The morrow is a slow climb over 18Km to get me near the steepest climb of the trip (not highest) into O’Cebreiro, first stop in Galicia. I planned it so the climb is first thing in the morning rather than later in the day when I am already tire. Right now rain is expected in next little while. So planning accordingly. Can’t wait, seems big Galicia is what I have wanted to see the most besides crossed by the Pyrenees which was epic already.

Today crossed the less than 200Km to go till Santiago.

Updated statistics including today:

Total distance (Since I started on April 23rd): 595 Km

Total steps: 813,070 (Should hit 1M by Santiago)

Total Ascend: 7075 Meters