We left at 9:30am having got a solid 10 hours sleep in a hostel. It was a nice sunny day, about 13C when we left Cacabelos. There was a lot of walking alongside the road for the first few kilometres out of town. Eventually some 2 kilometres out of Pieros we left the road and walked through grapevines, that were being harvested.
We walked downhill into Villafranca del Bierzo, passing the castle. We found our way to the Plaza Mayor (main square) and found a nice cafe, when we got lunch (although at the time we thought it was still mid-morning).
After lunch we headed out of town up the Valcare valley. We are gradually working our way up to crossing another mountain range, this time only 1,330 metres at the highest. This afternoon it was getting as close as we could to the start of the real climb. We followed the N-VI which was actually a very quiet road, as it passed under several times the A-6 Autovia (highway). We stopped at Pereje for a medicinal icecream (icecreams are cheap in Spain). We had another rest in Trabadelo where Judy donated her half kilogram book to the local Albergue, for someone else to read.
Eventually after what seemed a long day, after about 5:30pm we made it to the Albergue at La Portela de Valcarce.
Green hills of grape vines outside Villafrabca del Bierzo
Houses by the river at Villafranca del Bierzo
Looking back at Villafranco del Bierzo
vegetable garden by the side of the road
