Pomfarrada/Difficult Days

The Castle in Pomfarrada 

Leaving the Donativo in Riego de Ambrós for Pomfarrada at 6 a.m. 

It was a beautiful morning

The trail started out smooth 

But shortly turned to rock and shale underfoot

For two stages of walking before Pomfarrada, it was steep downhill, hard loose stone with poor footholds. Legs hurt and knees felt the impact of every step. The thought "I'm done" crosses the mind, then the realization that no one is coming to the rescue (how could they when the path barely let's one person through). Toward the end some narrow paths very near cliff edges reaffirm the doneness of it all.

Not pictured, the swirl of tiny flies that seem attracted to the moisture in your eyes and walked with you every step of the way. Another pilgrim passed by and shared that he was trying to ignore the flies but they were getting the best of him. Understood.

A couple, walking along the way, asked if Mando could take a picture of them. In our ensuing conversation the husband laughed and asked in Spanish, what sins had we all committed to be paying the penance of this horrible trail!

Finally getting through it all, walking into town, a taxi pulled up and two women got out with their packs as the taxi driver wished them a Buen Camino! They stopped to chat and sheepishly admitted to taking a cab. They said that they had read that this was the most difficult part of the walk and they didn't want to get hurt and ruin their Camino. I shared that if we were to do it again I might well be right there in the taxi with them.

If you were to talk like this while walking it would be "complaining." If you write it in a blog, it's "news."🙂

                  Two days in Pomfarrada to recover.