Into Galicia: Padornelo to A Gudina

 "Climb the mountain so you can see the world, not so the world can see you."

Camino Sanabrés  Stage 6 / Via de la Plata Stage 30

Climbing into Galicia Spain

Today on the Camino Sanabrés, we crossed into Galicia, the last province pilgrims enter on their way to Santiago de Compostela.  The day brought back memories from the Camino Frances and the Camino Portuguese, but it was also full of surprises.  It began when the alarm went off at 6:00 AM, followed by a quick breakfast of bread, jam, and instant coffee in our room.  When we headed out half an hour later, the sky was just beginning to turn a light pink.

We had slept well despite being beside a major highway, for which we were grateful. According to the guidebook and route topography, today promised to be a strenuous stage, with a number of significant climbs.

With the highest point of the Camino, the Alto de Padornelo, now behind us, we began our first full day in Galicia. From here, there were only about 200 kilometres to Santiago de Compostela, though almost 1,000 kilometres lay behind us since hiking out of Cadiz over a month ago.

This morning’s walk took us through old villages such as Aciberos, where beautiful stone houses and a centuries-old church lined the streets. Galicia’s mountainous terrain added new challenges to the trail, making each step physically demanding but also visually rewarding.

Around us, the landscape had begun to change noticeably from the red earth and muddy farmlands of the south and the sparsely shaded forests to greener fields, woodlands, and an abundance of spring flowers once again. Streams trickled almost constantly down the hillsides, while cows and sheep grazed in the fields around us.

Lubian 

The walk onward to Lubián was easy and beautiful.  Perhaps we should have continued on here yesterday. But what is done is done, and there is no changing the past. The dirt track wove gently across the landscape before climbing under a local roadway and switchbacking into town.

Here, the culture of Galicia begins to reveal itself. Sadly, however, everything in town was closed as we passed through, but it was a beautiful place nonetheless. The albergue looked well cared for, the homes were small stone buildings, and there was a pleasant town square adorned with carvings. We wandered through streets amid ongoing construction and renovations despite the early hour.

Pilgrim Tour Group

Beyond town, the Camino followed a walled road that led us into the countryside. As we approached a dirt track marked for the Santuario de la Tuiza, three large taxis pulled up and deposited ten pilgrims in front of us. Among them were the same women we had seen yesterday, who had been picked up at the hotel and driven away.

Today, again, they were dressed in clean runners, white socks, white shirts, and fashionable exercise clothes. Getting out of their taxis, they proceeded to put on their day packs and shuffle shoulder to shoulder across the trail. Walking in this fashion, they would not allow either the four cyclists on the path or us to pass, instructing us to “be patient, as we have paid a lot of money for our exclusive tour group to hike to Santiago!”

As such, for the next thirty to forty minutes, they shuffled a mere hundred meters, moving agonizingly slow. En route, they repeatedly paused so someone could retrieve a jacket, sweater, or bottle of water. Each few steps prompted new delays as others decided they also needed something, repeating the process again and again and again and again. After barely 100–200 meters, they announced it was break time at a church beside the trail, the Santuario de la Tuiza. Taking advantage of the pause, we walked uphill past them, finally regaining our own pace and making progress for the day.

Steep Climb 

The climb began steep and rocky, but eventually the trail levelled, making the remainder of the ascent over the next 3.5 kilometres far easier. Around us, the landscape was lush and green, though still punctuated with rocks and wet patches. We were grateful for the switchbacks, having experienced ascents on paths like the Fundy Footpath in New Brunswick, Canada, where climbs and descents often felt vertical.

On the Via de la Plata and Camino Sanabrés, our shoes, shorts, and shirts were frequently coated in dust and mud. Today, however, while navigating a trail that felt more like a river than a path, it seemed as though we were carrying the very landscape of Castilla y León over the pass and into Galicia. By the time we reached the top of the pass, our shoes looked and felt like bricks of mud.

Though the climb demanded a lot of energy, we enjoyed the trek and reached the summit by 10 AM, discovering an amazing new carved Camino Waymarker at the top!

Rural Galicia 

Having arrived at the summit of the Alto da Canda, standing at 1,262 meters, we reached the border between the provinces of Castilla y León and Galicia. Here, we found a stunning carved stone marker unlike any we had ever seen. The carved Galician markers, each seemingly shaped to fit the natural contours of the stone, give the trail a distinct character, lending each marker a unique flavour. These intricate waymarks are the work of sculptor Nicanor Carballo, and they will undoubtedly endure for centuries.

Also nearby was a traditional Galician Camino marker that count down the Way of St. James in decimal points, a subtle reminder of pilgrim's progress. 

From the summit, there is no denying that the views were stunning.  Around us, however, the hillsides showed signs of recent extensive forestry, looking more like a ravaged landscape than the dense forest we had hoped for.

After taking a break and taking countless photos, we followed a road and a horse track down from the summit before turning off along a steep descent, weaving between brush and gorse. In the stretch that followed, we passed through the small towns of A Vilavella, O Pereiro, and finally O Canizo. Much of this section alternated between narrow pathways and stepping stones amid lush corridors of green, shifting between exposed fields and damp, sheltered tracks.

Unexpectedly, at one point, the Camino left behind the forests of Galicia and navigated across a hot, scrubby, rocky landscape. It was fascinating, but potentially punishing in more extreme heat. I found myself wishing I could understand more about the geology of this region to know how such areas come to have this range of diversity. 

Along the way, we saw pilgrims we had never encountered before, likely having stayed in Lubián last night.  As has been the pattern in recent days, most appeared immaculate - white socks, fresh gear, day packs - a stark contrast to those who had been walking for some time from Seville or Salamanca.

Leaving the village of O Canizo, we were only a couple of kilometres from A Gudina, our destination for the day. Unfortunately, the Camino arrows led us away from the town. Determined to stay on the Way, we followed this nonsensical route. As other pilgrims simply walked directly down the road into town, we followed Camino markers climbing up and around the city, passing a dodgy solar panel installation and through a decaying parking lot. Presumably, the detour was intended to keep pilgrims off the roadway, but after a long stage, it was hardly welcome and made for a decidedly ungraceful entrance. Eventually, we the Camino route rejoined the highway anyway and led into town past a shuttered hospital.

A Gudina

A Gudina turned out to be an industrial town stretched thin along the highway, its buildings looking tired and abandoned. It did not give a particularly welcoming first impression. Desperate to sit for a few minutes after a long day, we stepped into the first open bar we found, the O Pilgrim Bar on the edge of town.

Our relief was short-lived. To our astonishment, we were charged twenty euros for just two bottles of beer. The only other customer, a local taxi driver, sat at a table littered with empties. Each time his phone rang, he would stumble outside, drive off, and return ten minutes later to resume drinking. If ever we needed a reminder of why we chose to walk rather than take taxis or why trekking on the road along the Camino was dangerous, this was it.

Unwilling to pay any more in this place, we pressed on, walking another fifteen minutes to our hotel at the far end of town. Thankfully, as we went, the atmosphere improved.   The streets became tidier, and the town began to feel a little less bleak. Still, there were no grocery stores open and little sign of life. We had chosen our accommodations specifically because the listing promised an in-house restaurant, and this had been confirmed at the time of booking. Yet, when we arrived, we found the hotel to be another remote, digital check-in establishment, and the restaurant was permanently closed.

Frustrated and too tired to change, we dropped our packs and headed across the street to the San Francisco Bar, where at last we found a friendly welcome and a reasonably priced cold draft beer. With no other options, we also picked up groceries at the nearby Repsol gas station for dinner.  It was not exactly the ending to the day we had envisioned, but it was at least one that provided what we needed.

Reflections upon entering Galicia

As we ended the day in A Gudina, the contrasts of Galicia were already making themselves felt. Yesterday, we had noted how the landscape seemed to be shifting, yet today the difference was unmistakable.  The mossy walls, the carved markers, the constant sound of streams, and the lushness that speaks of Galicia’s unique character. Just as the large milestones on the Camino stand out from waymarkers in other provinces, so too do the small details that set one place apart from another.

The Camino is never lived stage by stage alone. Yesterday’s forty-one kilometres inevitably weighed heavily on today’s walk, leaving us more tired, less patient, and with little reserve for the challenges we encountered. Closed shops and the shuttered cafés in rural Spanish towns make long stages all the harder, reminding us once again how unpredictable daily life on the Way can be.

Given tonight's situation, we talked over the days ahead and made reservations for the next two nights, a small effort at regaining a sense of certainty. But whether the shops, grocery stores and accommodations are actually open and accessible when we get there is another matter altogether. Only time will tell.

See you on the Way!