Day 25 - Santibáñez to El Ganso - 25 km
Since we knew today would be a longer walk and quite a bit uphill, we chose to send our bags ahead. I feel so light without a backpack! It’s more like just going for a walk, a real treat.
Leaving this tiny town was more difficult than we expected. They seem to have rebuilt their dirt roads and neglected to properly mark them for the Camino. So we tried one and it did not seem right, then another and we eventually saw some markers. Whew, relief.
It was an 11 km walk to Astorga, which is a larger centre. We stopped there for coffee and pastry. Looks like a nice town. Lovely Cathedral, Gaudi Camino museum, even a chocolate museum! But we didn’t stop except to get a stamp at the cathedral. We had more to walk.
So we kept walking. I had thought we would be doing more climbing today, and it was mostly uphill after Astorga, but fairly gradual. A nice walk since we weren’t carrying much weight, and the weather was sunny and warm, but we did pick up a breeze. Those mountains are getting closer. Can’t really tell by the photo but they are.
By noon tomorrow we will be at the highest point of the Camino.
We stopped for a coke and a bocadillo about 5 km from our destination today. It was refreshing! We also met up with Francisco, who we haven’t seen for several days.
We arrived at 1:30 today, still the first to check in. Again a very nice albergue in a tiny town. We did our routine, then went for a cerveza limon at the El Ganso Cowboy Bar. Interesting place for a beer, but I don’t think I want to eat there. So we will eat at our own albergue. They have a pilgrim meal at 7:00. They also have a kitchen, but we don’t have groceries and there is no real store here.
Later: We had a wonderful meal at the albergue. They served dinner in a garage. We sat with 2 ladies from Germany and a couple from the US. Also in the room was a fellow eating by himself but he wasn't very social. When he left we helped to finish his wine.
Today’s lesson: sometimes the smallest villages have the nicest albergues.
Cafe con leche and pastry 3€
Coke and half bocadillo 4€
Bag transfer 6€
Albergue 8€
Cerveza limon 3€
Dinner 12€
