Day 25 - Wrong turn!

At 8am our hosts drove us back to O Cebriero to resume our walk. The view was very interesting, it looked like there were lakes in the distance but what we were seeing was clouds. There were pilgrims watching the sunrise and we were told that the lost Italian lady had been found, she had been too exhausted to continue walking and had been taken to a doctor.

The walk was the most beautiful so far of all our days on the Camino as we began at the top of the mountain and had huge views of the rolling hills. We knew we had a big descent today so we weren't surprised when when we started on a steep downhill stretch, and we were pleased it was a bitumen road as it was so much easier on our feet than the rocky gravel stretches. We were a little surprised that we didn't see any other walkers but were too busy enjoying the solitude and the view to worry too much. A car going the same direction as us slowed down and asked if we were doing the Camino, when we replied with a yes. He then told us that this wasn't the Camino - we had taken a wrong turn. We realised we had to walk back up the hill, and to add insult to injury another car coming in our direction slowed down and laughed at us then drove on without even offering us a lift! There was another couple that had done the same as but hadn't gone as far down the hill, at the corner where the signage was ambiguous the other lady got some tape out of her bag and made a large arrow on the sign while swearing loudly in English even though she was Spanish.

From there we continued upwards, the climb to the top at Alto de Poio was steep and tough but everyone was rewarded with a very busy cafe to recuperate. From here we continued through the villages with dairy cows wearing bells as they do in Switzerland. In one village the cows were coming back from milking and the tourists were taking videos and selfies - so they had to be the city people! A peek inside the milking shed showed no sign of machinery, just metal yokes for the cows to place their heads in. 

3km from our final stop at Triacastela we had a break at a nice cafe and met a young German girl walking on her own. The route at this point was predominantly downhill so hard on the knees and calves, so the girl gave K a stick to use and this eased some of the pressure on the knees and minimised the risk of slipping.

For some reason today we had been shadowed for much of the way by a Spanish man who had not drawn breath for the entire day,  so we were pleased we managed to give him the slip at the last break. We arrived into Triacastela around 5pm, 9 hours and 25ks after we started the day.