Restablecer búsqueda
Aussie Brothers’ CaminoAussie Brothers’ Camino
Editar ruta

Aussie Brothers’ Camino

septiembre - octubre 2022
  • John Esler
  • Kevin Esler
We walked the 800 km Camino Frances from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in SW France over the Pyrenees and across the rolling hills of northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela, the capital of Galicia in NW Spain. Leer más
  • John Esler
  • Kevin Esler

Lista de países

  • España España
  • Francia Francia
Categorías
Mochilero*a, Familia, Amistad, Senderismo, Fotografía, Autodescubrimiento, Viaje en solitario
  • 730kilómetros recorridos
Medios de transporte
  • Vuelo-kilómetros
  • Caminando-kilómetros
  • Senderismo, caminata-kilómetros
  • Bicicleta-kilómetros
  • Motocicleta-kilómetros
  • Tuk-tuk-kilómetros
  • Carro, auto-kilómetros
  • Tren-kilómetros
  • Bus-kilómetros
  • Campero-kilómetros
  • Caravana-kilómetros
  • 4x4-kilómetros
  • Nadar-kilómetros
  • Remar-kilómetros
  • Lancha-kilómetros
  • Navegar a vela-kilómetros
  • Casa flotante-kilómetros
  • Ferry-kilómetros
  • Crucero-kilómetros
  • Caballo-kilómetros
  • Esquí-kilómetros
  • Hacer autostop-kilómetros
  • Cable car-kilómetros
  • Helicóptero-kilómetros
  • Descalzo-kilómetros
  • 40huellas
  • -días
  • 478fotos
  • 275Me gusta
SeguirCalendarioCompartirLista de deseos
Más recientes primero
  • Aussie Brothers’ Camino

    Ledigos to Sahagún

    5 de octubre de 2022, España ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Ledigos is a small rural town with no shops and only two albergues to accommodate and feed pilgrims. Albergue El Palomar run by father and son, Jesus, was a typical family-owned albergue with dormitory bunks, a few simple private rooms, a garden area for pilgrims to hang out in, pilgrim dinner and breakfast and the village bar.

    I think we were the last guests to leave this morning, and in a taxi to Sahagún, 16km away, to find some medical care for John's problems yesterday. Praise for the care and advice provided by Dr and staff at the medical centre in Sahagún. OK to continue.

    Accommodation is very tight along this part of the Camino so we have two nights in Sahagún while walking the next two stages using taxi to return to lodging and the following stage. Found a great bar, Casa Simón for lunch providing creative and delicious Spanish dishes. We shared a plate of roast leeks with dried jamon and Pedro Ximénez sauce and could easily be tempted to return there for dinner. In any case Kevin is going to try to replicate that dish at home.

    Later: we did return to Casa Simón for dinner. Siobhan and Sean are Irish hiking friends from Cork we had met a couple of times along the Way. We ran into them out front of the restaurant and had a very enjoyable night.    Leer más

    Ver traducción
  • Aussie Brothers’ Camino

    Sahagún to El Burgo Ranero

    6 de octubre de 2022, España ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    It was a nice short walk today, about 18km, with light packs in beautiful weather.

    Because of scarce accommodation in today’s destination town, we walked there and caught a taxi back. We arranged with the taxi driver to return us to El Burgo early tomorrow, whence we will continue forward progress.

    We left our digs at Los Balcones about 8am, with very light packs since we’d be returning later. Walking conditions were near perfect with cool, dry weather, clear skies and a light breeze,

    The path followed a rural road that bore almost zero traffic. It was a wide, smooth dirt track lined most of the way with shade trees, making for a very pleasant stroll.

    We saw extensive corn fields along the way. A couple of high speed trains zoomed past in the distance.

    We stopped for coffee at the halfway mark in the bar of an albergue in Bercianos, where we also met our English friend Steve and his wife, first met back in Alesanco.

    On arrival we had omelette for lunch, strolled up to admire the San Pedro church, and then called for a taxi back to Sahagún.    Leer más

    Ver traducción
  • Aussie Brothers’ Camino
    Mansilla de las Mulas

    El Burgo Ranero to Mansilla de las Mulas

    7 de octubre de 2022, España ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    About 20km in very good conditions today. Barring mishaps we only need to average 18km days in order to reach Santiago before our flights leave.

    As arranged, our taxista from yesterday picked us up at 7:30 in Sahagún and took us back to where we’d left off in El Burgo. With full packs today we were walking by 7:45, with just enough light to see by.

    45 minutes later we were treated to a spectacular sunrise behind us. There must have been a uniform layer of thin cloud between us and the rising sun such that the golden orb was well defined and not too bright to look at directly.

    It was 13km to the next place supplying food, Reliegos. It was cool, clear and dry weather and generally slightly downhill. More varied landscape too, with no wheat stubble in sight. Quite a bit of corn, and even some cows at one point.

    The path was very good too, shaded almost the entire day by a line of trees right beside it.

    After lunch and a foot rest it was an easy 6km to Mansilla. It seems to be a normal rural town but with quite a number of places for Camino pilgrims to stay. It is situated beside the Esla river we noticed (sounds the same as our surname “Esler”).

    Our room is in La Casa de los Soportales a very comfortable new place.

    We ate a great menu del dia of three courses and a bottle of vino tinto for 32€ for two at La Curiosa. Delicious.    Leer más

    Ver traducción
  • Aussie Brothers’ Camino
    Gaudi Building, Leon

    Mansilla de las Mulas to León

    8 de octubre de 2022, España ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Finally today we saw the last of the Meseta walking from Mansilla to León and already the landscape is becoming more featured and interesting and mostly corn fields replacing the wheat.

    We crossed the Esla River (there must be a connection) leaving Mansilla and walked under light cloud on a wide gravel path for about 12km. Our company for most of the time were Jens and Kristin a younger retired couple from Denmark. Our Danish is non-existent but their English was excellent and they were good company for a couple of hours. They have walked and cycled all over Europe.

    We had anticipated not walking all the way in to León as the last 6km is on hardtop concrete and bitumen through industrial areas. So we completed the day’s relocation with a very informative taxi driver who told us about a festival in León over the weekend.

    We checked in to our digs, cleaned up and walked through lively Saturday afternoon streets of the old city towards León Cathedral. No sign of the locals doing siesta with every bar, cafe and restaurant occupied. León’s cathedral Santa María de Regla, is an extraordinarily beautiful building outside and in.

    We came out from early evening Mass at the Basilica of San Isidoro to find the festival in full swing. The streets are thronging with families and all food and drink establishments are open with extra outside seating and hundreds of stalls are selling everything imaginable.

    But time for bed. We walk tomorrow.    Leer más

    Ver traducción
  • Aussie Brothers’ Camino

    León to Villar de Mazarife

    9 de octubre de 2022, España ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    The city of León was partying all night near our hotel in center of town. There were people singing and shouting in the street till about 7:30am.

    We got up at 7 and were out the door about 8. There was a great cafe operating not far away so we had very good juice (fresh squeezed as always), fresh croissant and coffee there before rejoining the Camino trail. It was a fairly pleasant walk out of León toward the west, passing the magnificent Parador hotel on the way. It’s a converted monastery and features in the film “The Way”.

    There followed some slightly grimy dormitory suburbs along the train line. Not far out of town we met our friend Chris from Utah. Then in Virgen del Camino, really an outer suburb of Leon, we had a 2nd coffee and bought a big ham sandwich, in case pickings were slim on the trail ahead on a Sunday. We also ran into our Danish friends there, Jens and Kristin.

    Just after Virgen del Camino the Way forks and we had booked a room along the more scenic side so we left our friends at that point. Pretty soon we were in open scrubby country with a few trees. It could have been outback Australia or Brazil. Red earth, blue sky.

    Conditions were cool (64F/17C) sunny and dry, often with a breeze, but the sun had induced quite a thirst in us when we entered the tiny village of Oncina de Valdeoncina. There was no bar to be found but the owner of a new albergue, Domus Oncinae, invited us in for a cold drink. The place looks very nice there and we enjoyed a rest stop and a Kas Naranja (orange fizzy drink). The next 5k or so were the best of the day. Wide open countryside, some farmed, most not, on a wide soft dirt track, with a nice breeze. That brought us to the village of Chozas de Abajo. Not expecting much we found a capacious bar with a large shaded veranda where we ate our ham sandwich, washed down by more iced Kas Naranja, and a delicious tomato tapas thing accompanying the soft drinks.

    After lunch and a foot airing it was a 4km trudge along a paved road to our destination of Villar de Mazarife.

    21.5km was our tally for the day, in excellent walking conditions.

    We checked into Albergue San Antonio de Padua: $85 for twin room, dinner and breakfast for 2, all very new.    Leer más

    Ver traducción
  • Aussie Brothers’ Camino

    Villar de Mazarife to Villares de Órbigo

    10 de octubre de 2022, España ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    A short day today, just 17km.

    We had a good early breakfast at the albergue and were out the door about 8am. By the time we left the town there was enough light to see.

    We walked about 7km beside a dead straight stretch of road. There was almost no traffic so it was not so bad. Then after a snack it was 3km more on a dirt road between corn fields to Villavante. We had coffee and croissants at the Santa Lúcia albergue there.

    5km further on we found Hospital de Órbigo, with a long medieval bridge leading into the town. Lunch there in a restaurant after a fruitless search for an ATM (cajero), and replenishing a few necessities from the supermarket.

    Not concerned about the ATM as we go through Astorga tomorrow. It is a bigger town and sure to have one.

    And finally 2km out the dirt track brought us to Villares de Órbigo. It’s a very quiet rural town. We were greeted by Martha who runs the El Encanto albergue. Great place and very pleasant hostess.

    More great cool cloudy walking weather, if a bit humid toward the end. It looks like it will rain here tonight, but weather for 6 days ahead looks pretty fine and dry.

    We had the pilgrims’ dinner at Arnal’s Restaurant and Bar up the street. Huge bowl of soup, large slab of steak with salad, bottle of vino tinto, 26€ for 2. Should help avert iron deficiency for the road ahead.    Leer más

    Ver traducción
  • Aussie Brothers’ Camino

    Villares Órbigo to Murias de Rechivaldo

    11 de octubre de 2022, España ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    A day to celebrate with a couple of radlers. We have now completed 500+ km of the Camino Francés and 600+ km if we include rest days and walking around destination towns.

    Our host Marta provided us with all the breakfast we needed and we were walking into the dark morning by 7:45am. Sunrise was 8:30 and we walked mostly along unpaved rural tracks towards the city of Astorga.

    Initially quite undulating terrain, it eventually flattened out a few km before Astorga.

    Mostly cloudy and cool so good walking weather.

    We chatted with a couple of pilgrims from Quebec over coffee and chocolate croissants at the morning break in San Justo de la Vega. Easy flat path for the 4km into Astorga where we had some lunch and did some needed chores. We both needed to get cash and John managed to extend his Movistar SIM until the end of the trip.

    Astorga is the site of one of Antoni Gaudí’s beautiful buildings, the Bishops Palace. Looks very much like the castle in the starting credits of many Disney creations. See Kevin’s photo.

    We completed the day with the final 5km to Murias de Rechivaldo and our room at Casa Flor, a quirky albergue with a relaxing back garden where we have enjoyed a few drinks in the afternoon sun.    Leer más

    Ver traducción
  • Aussie Brothers’ Camino

    Murias de Rechivaldo to Foncebadón

    12 de octubre de 2022, España ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    A 22km day with a sting at the end, in the form of a steep climb. We ended the day 570 meters higher than where we started.

    We left Ingo’s Hostería Casa Flor as the dawn broke after a good breakfast. There were clear skies with cloud over the hills we were walking towards.

    It was about 5km on a wide dirt path through slightly undulating scrubby country to a coffee stop at Santa Catalina de Somoza. There we met the couple from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. They last saw us in Calcadilla de la Cueza, when John had difficulties and took a taxi to Ledigos. They were glad to see us still in walking condition. By now it was very cloudy but the weather forecast promised no rain.

    From there it was a gradually steepening climb to Rabanal where we each refueled with a bowl of spaghetti bolognese. As we arrived there the skies cleared again and conditions from them on were clear and cool.

    Many pilgrims were staying in Rabanal. It’s a very pretty town stretched out along a fairly steeply inclined Camino.

    Our destination was 6km further on. It was a tough climb, getting steeper as we went and the path was rock strewn and hard to walk on in places. The landscape was sort of alpine scrub, none of it farmed.

    We raised quite a sweat and had to stop and catch our breath a few times..

    We were glad to check into Albergue El Trasgu de Foncebadón, get showered and have a cleansing radler out the back with a great view down towards Astorga.

    It seems a trasgu is Celtic Spain’s version of Ireland’s leprechaun.

    While sunning ourselves out the back we also tried a bottle of sidra natural. They provided 2 glasses and a device for adding bubbles to the cider as it exits the bottle. Interesting it was.

    Our room has a window in the ceiling. Convenient for drying our delicate-yet-tough Darn Tough merino hiking socks.

    The restaurant here looks good so we will dine in-house.

    Glad we stayed here instead of back at Rabanal. We may get good sunrise views tomorrow from the top of this range not far above us now.    Leer más

    Ver traducción
  • Aussie Brothers’ Camino
    Approaching Molinaseca

    Foncebadón to Molinaseca

    13 de octubre de 2022, España ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    A day of contrasts. We had the usual breakfast of fresh OJ, toast and cafe con leche at our very nice Albergue El Trasgu early enough to get a pre-dawn start at 8:00am. By the way, El Trasgu is a mythological creature present in the tradition of several cultures of what is now northern Spain, especially in Galicia.

    We started out in the pre-dawn light to walk the relatively easy 2km sloping gravel paths up to Cruz de Ferro (Iron Cross) where pilgrims traditionally leave a stone carried from home to symbolize you leaving all your burdens behind.

    The Cross is at 1500 metres in altitude and to reach our destination of Molinaseca 20km away we needed to drop to 580 metres. We walked on an extremely rough and rocky steep path to El Acebo where we had lunch and gave our feet and knees a good rest. El Acebo is a beautiful medieval timber and stone village refreshed by the Camino traffic.

    We decided that more of the rocky path was not going to do anything positive for our health and would complete the final 10km to Molinaseca down the paved road. Walking on bitumen is not fun and it was steep and exhausting but safer.    Leer más

    Ver traducción
  • Aussie Brothers’ Camino
    Ponferrada

    Molinaseca to Cacabelos

    14 de octubre de 2022, España ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    A 23km day in very fine weather and the way was quite flat, so a welcome change from yesterday’s more vertical ordeal.

    Nothing was available for breakfast in Molinaseca as we left our room at 7:30 so we just marched straight for Ponferrada, 7km away, with dawn breaking along the way. The route avoided some extensive eastern suburbs by skirting the south edge of the town, often with houses on our right and open fields on our left. Along the way we noticed a pleasant scent coming from the vegetation we were passing: slightly peppery and a bit sweet. We’ve noticed it before in the morning walks. A fellow pilgrim thinks it may be wild fennel.

    On arrival at the first bar in Ponferrada we stopped for a coffee and muffin. Also there was Saskia, a Dutch pilgrim we’d met at Ingo’s albergue a couple of days back. After coffee we followed the Camino right through town, admiring the castle as we passed by. On the far side of town we had a second installment of breakfast at a very peaceful bar near the church of Our Lady of Compostilla (not a typo). From there it was about 6km on streets and roads through various small settlements till we opted for a sandwich and cold drink at Camponaraya.

    We finally got back on a dirt path as we exited that town and the final 6km was rather pleasant through some well treed undulating vineyards, some of the vines quite old.

    The day had become quite warm so we sat down for a pre-checkin radler in the shade outside our hotel, the hotel Saint James Way. After getting settled and cleaned up we returned for another drink and discovered that Saskia was also staying here, as was a Danish couple who had also been at Ingo’s albergue, Penny and Frank.

    We all got chatting and ended up dining together in the hotel restaurant. Penny and Frank are traveling with a very intelligent well trained little female dog called “Camino”, of the Papillon breed. She apparently walks all the way with them, and with the normal canine toing and froing, probably does twice the distance that her owners walk. Dogs of that breed are known for their long distance capabilities, Frank told us.

    It turns out that Penny, when about 19, was a backpacker in Australia and had picked asparagus in Cowra, NSW to make some money while there. Likely we will meet them all again as we are all aiming to reach Santiago about the same time.    Leer más

    Ver traducción