Campiello to Berducedo

Sarah was slightly more sprightly this morning than yesterday, and we were on the road early again for what was to be our longest stage so far.

For a couple of days now, a topic of conversation among pilgrims has been which route to take over the high mountains - the low road or the Hospitales route across the top. This was the moment the ways parted - and we also caught up with Janusz, a pilgrim from Hungary with whom we made a lovely connection last night.

We took the high road and were soon being rewarded with amazing views as well as strenuous exercise!



Rolling ranges, sky 

touching; pockets filled with mist,

and we winding through.

We met a couple of Dutch pilgrims.

And the higher we went, the more mist shrouded the way.

We thought for sure the Camino would take us on the lower of these tracks. But ... alas no!

Breathing open mouthed,

I stay in the discomfort

zone, glad to make way.

At more or less the highest point, a festive collection of messages and symbols have been left. The Hospitales route is named for the number of pilgrim hospitals that had been established through this part of the track - all are now in ruins, and this is quite a remote walk.

Though there were plenty of cows in the high pasture and we loved walking across the soft grassy top.

The ‘cow of the day’ came to us along the path.

As we descended, we moved below the mist and regained the view.

This village is mostly abandoned, but we found it very beautiful.

After this village we had only one more steep descent and about 6km to go. But here disaster struck in the form of a nasty fall for Neil. His foot got caught in a well camouflaged tree root, and he fell head first down the hill with no capacity to cushion his fall. Sarah (behind) saw him tumble head first and face down in the dirt and rubble. It was a shock for us both and there was blood flowing from his nose and gushing from a deep gash in the side of his hand. Legs were entangled with poles and he was half in a ditch, so just getting him upright and the pack off was quite a task. We didn’t have much with us to staunch the bleeding, though Sarah’s hanky and bandana were pressed into early service. But then, an angel appeared in the form of Maylin from Germany. We hadn’t even realised she was close behind, but she was suddenly there and whipping out an incredibly well-stocked first aid kit - wadding, disinfectant spray and bandages - which she clearly knew how to use! We were so grateful for her care, which patched things up enough for Neil to walk the final 6kms to our destination. You can see her handiwork below, together with Neil’s poor dirt encrusted face. 

Others passed us too, offering help and care. We thought it ironic this had happened on the Hospitales route, and also that a number of pilgrims offered the comforting thought that, after all, there were only a few kilometres to still to walk!! At first we were worried the damage could be worse and we kept a careful eye out for dizziness etc as we proceeded. But Neil managed beautifully and even had the presence of mind to take a picture of the last bit of forested track!

And, as we entered Berducedo, the Camino provided yet again. The first building on the outskirts of town was the municipal albergue where Klara, a pilgrim from Czech Republic was staying. She was outside as we passed and asked what had happened. She turned out to be a doctor and offered to come to check out Neil’s injuries when we’d had a chance to check into our albergue and get a bit cleaned up. So in due course she arrived with more disinfectant, dressing strips and bandages, and reassured us that Neil’s nose wasn’t broken, nor his ribs! Once again, we were so grateful for her great kindness and unfussed, confidence inspiring care. We felt so looked after by her and Maylin, and many other pilgrims who asked after us or gave us help - like Janusz who gave us his Betadine, the hospitalero at our albergue who gave us big hugs at the end of the night. And it was a wonderful evening, sitting outside in the courtyard having a simple dinner with great conversation and vino tinto, and (all things considered - including regular ibuprofen!) Neil not in too much pain. Especially since it seemed as though we would be able to walk on tomorrow. 

So we are happy still to say, Buen Camino,

Sarah and Neil