Stairs and octopus
It’s been a few days and we have travelled more kilometres. Tonight, we find ourselves in Silleda with just 41 km to go to get to Santiago.
However let’s recap these days. When we left Ourense after a full day off we knew we had a 500 metre climb out of the valley on the N525 highway. The off-road track was going to be too steep so we elected for the road. It was uphill straight away. Fortunately, due to the steep climb it came with and overtaking lane. As we still had to be mindful we were conservative with our power selection and put some hard peddling in as well. Upwards we went for about 10 kilometres until it flattened out. The rest of the day was then ups snd down of a relatively gentle nature.
We arrived at the community albergue in Cea and like is the way with these municipal setups the door is unlocked so you go in and make yourself at home. We did ring Roberto and after much Spanish and no more informed than before the call we settled in. Over the next hour 3 people turned up, none of them Roberto including this fellow from an albergue in Silleda with a very impressive poster of his albergue there. Well, it looked modern from the front, spoke of a laundry and a pool, we will see you tomorrow then.
The next morning, we head off this time taking quieter country roads we had plotted as well as some off-road trails.
It’s pleasant riding in the early morning cool seeing more of the rural Spain I love around Galicia. Lots of summer crops are in including corn and this green broadleafs plant they use to make Galician soup. It can taste really good, on the other hand I e had some crap ones as well.
Into Siledera we go with the highway again becoming quite busy. Right, left the right again following the mapping on my phone (attached to a quad lock on the handlebars) the albergue comes into view.
We’ll talk about lipstick on a pig, it was dated to say the least and we were on the third floor. Having said that they were giving it a real go and were very welcoming. This still didn’t take the pain from the legs on the fourth trip up the stairs to bring gear and bike batteries up
That night we had dinner at a popular little bar sort of up the road and around the corner. Something about his brother’s restaurant. Dinner menu started at 7pm. We were out wasting time so we didn’t have to climb those stairs again so we went back a bit early. Lucky as it was just about full. There might be an agreement to direct pilgrims up her, but hey what a great agreement.
Next morning on the bikes with just two days of riding left.
