Those of you who follow me on Instagram will know that this summer (2019) I’m walking 200km along the Camino de Santiago, from Léon to Sarría in Spain. This is the fourth leg of the Camino which I started in 2016 (if you’re interested, I wrote a Q&A post in response to some of the questions people had asked me along the way that year), I’m completing a leg each summer until 2020. This is Day 27 (other posts linked at the end of this post).
Camino Frances Day 28: Astorga to Rabanal del Camino (approx 20km)
Today, after a nasty day of itchy mosquito bites on my feet the day before , I was feeling slightly better, having stocked up on new socks, sock liners and all sorts of magic creams at the pharmacy in Astorga. I set out bright and early and caught a little bit of magic hour when there are not many people around…
An encouraging thing at this point was this sign…
Two days ago I’d seen a sign saying “315km to Santiago” so at least, sore feet and all, I could see some progress!
T’was another hot day with limited scenery today…
I was really focussed on getting to Rabanal early-ish on this day so I could rest and air my feet longer so I notice I didn’t hardly take any photos. As I’d started pretty early, I took an unprecedented stop in Murias de Rechivaldo after around 5km to rest my feet a bit…
Sadly, even by the time I got to my 10km stop in Santa Catalina, it was too early for these…
But there was a nice view of this
And I fell in love with this door…
Door love continued later in the day in El Ganso…
And even this little guy caught my eye…
Strangely, in El Ganso, there’s also a “Cowboy Bar”…
But also this gorgeous church (couldn’t go inside)…
It was a hot early afternoon that day…
And there was a lot of uneven terrain (loose rocks) which is hard to walk on with itchy bite-ridden feet!
Finally though there was a little bit of shade…
And finally I reached Rabanal El Camino…
It’s a tiny town and at midday the streets were empty…
But my guest house,Casa Indie, was fabulous and welcoming…
They took my laundry and gave me some tips for things to do (!) later that day… Including…
The Vespers are held at 7pm every day inside the 12th Century church and the entire service (30 minutes) is in Gregorian Chant. Simply sublime.
I finished my day with a typical Pilgrim meal (9€):
(remembered to ask for “sin atún” – no tuna)
and – not a flan but some kind of light cheesecake…
Verdict: Definitely an “easier” day simply because it’s just over 20km, although a lot of it is uphill (you’ll be at 1155m by the time you get to Rabanal). Rabanal is a lovely village but there’s not much to do so if you’re content showering and napping in lovely clean sheets and catching up on some reading over a beer, you’ll love it. Don’t miss the Gregorian chants…
Stay tuned for the next leg which takes us to the even tinier town of El Acebo (population around 36!)
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Disclosure: I researched Camino trips independently and chose the Camino Travel Center based on a number of features such as flexibility to accommodate a couple of “splits” in some of the longer days, price and customer service. They were, in fact the first company I came across in my very first Google search and the one I ended up booking with. From the initial inquiry to the actual trips, they have been a pleasure to deal with and we have been very impressed with the service provided (bag transportation) and the accommodation choices. I was not compensated to write about this trip in any way but I love sharing companies and products I believe in with my readers. I couldn’t recommend the Camino Travel Center more and, in fact, am booking my last Camino walk with them for next summer (the summer I will finally reach Santiago!).
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