Day 29 - walking from Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierzo December 1st (24km)

As I left the albergue this morning the sky was a beautiful colour with luminous colours of blue and pink that rippled through soft fluffly clouds above the dark shadows of the mountains. Outside of Ponferrada I made my way through the urban sprawl of suburbs and towns in a hazy light. After a short stretch through the countryside I arrived in the town of Cacabelos and crossing cars crept close beside me on the medieval streets. I couldn´t really tell if I was still on the camino because I couldn´t see any yellow painted arrows marking the way. I have developed an amazing radar like sense to spot anything yellow on the horizon. It wasn´t until I looked down that I saw small metal scallop shells in the pavement confirming that I was on the right path. I have a similar radar like ability to spot stray dogs that seem to wander the streets of every town. I sometimes get frustrated that few dogs are on leashes and that cars give little priority to pedestrians. When I start to feel annoyed I remind myself that I am the visitor in the country and I shouldn´t be too critical.

Just after Cacabelos I found myself on an old camino patch that twisted and turned through the countryside full of vineyards. Right now the fields are full of rows and rows of dark twisted bodies that seem to be frozen in a macabre dance. Some of the vine plants have not yet been trimmed and they have small branches that stick out in all directions and it looks like these gnarled people are waving their unkempt hair. When I left the highway to take this path the sign marker had said that it was only 6 km onto Villafranca and after walking for about two hours I started to feel concerned because I hadn´t yet arrived. Checking my guide book I saw that I was taking a detour that went in a large circle zigzagging throught the countryside before getting to Villafranca. Really I just wanted to get to the town and be done walking for the day and then I asked myself if I was really interested in getting to the next town or experiencing the walk. It´s very tempting to look at the number of kilometres and listen to others and plan to go farther and farther each day. I had to appreciate the walk rather than the distances and that I was learning more by walking through the countryside than following the highway in a more or less straight line to get from one town to the next.

I think one of the reasons I wanted to walk the camino was because I wanted to change some things in my life and the funny thing is that I feel like I am learning more about how to live life. I have a strange sense of security while I am walking this path this is where I am supposed to be right now and it is very comforting feeling.