Day 27 Walking The Camino De Santiago- Astorga to Foncebadón

Astorga is a beautiful little city culturally and architecturally. We walked out of it that morning passing the South American guys who were waiting for the cathedral to open so they could have a tour.

We had a long way to go this day and a steep climb into the mountains, in uncertain, changeable weather, so we kept walking along the Camino De Santiago De Compostela without any sight seeing stops.

I was a little aprehensive about the days walk on the camino. I had some nightmares the night before. We stayed in the municipal albergue which was great. A very friendly and genuine hospitalero, the albergue was warm and kitchen facilities were good.

We met a very colourful German Character that looked like Rolph Harris. He asked me how heavy my back pack was, to which I replied that it was 30 kg. “13kg” he said! “Ha, I once carried 15kg” The guy from Chile quickly corrected him by telling him that it was 30kg. He didn’t believe it, so the next morning just before we set off he came up to test the weight of my backpack and was amazing by the weight of it. He then wished me luck for the mountain range ahead, with a look of doubt in his eye.

As we passed the last village about to make our accent on the mountain, a man came running out of a door way. “You are the pilgrims with the baby, I have seen your pictures on Facebook, please come in and have some coffee”. To which we obliged!

the air got colder and the terrain became steeper. It started raining and there was snow on the ground which became deeper the higher we climbed. The rain came down heavier and the wind blew stronger. The mountain turned into a river and the camino filled with water.

It was becoming treacherous. One of the Chilean guys caught up with us and walked with us for safety. All the while little Indigo was wrapped up warm and dry under Victoria’s poncho.

My boots filled with ice cold water and it was at this stage that I knew we had to get to shelter quick or we could go down in this weather.

Through the fog I saw the sign for Foncebadon and I don’t think I have ever been so glad to see a sign. We made it and walked in to a warm welcoming Albergue with a roaring fire.

Foncebadon incidentally is where Paulo Coelho famously had a show down with the black dog in his book The Pilgrimage. Apparently it was an abandoned ruin back then.

P.S.We are able to take a month out to walk the camino as we earn a passive residual income online. Want to do the same? Just click below to find out more.