Greetings from Gallicea _ Triacastela

Tuesday
We wish you a happy birthday Sheron, hope you had a great day!
Three days without posting (trouble getting to computers)!
Friday we walked down from the Montes de Leon after spending the night at Molinassecas. We spent all day walking through the Valle de Sil (Sil River Valley), a beautiful valley between the Montes de Leon and the Sierra del Ranadoiro. The valley has a milder climate than the surroundings areas and is famous for it´s vineyards and superior wines (amongst the best Spanish wines). At the start of the valley is the gorgeous town of Ponferrada. It´s worth coming just to see the awesome Templar castle/fortress (maybe it´s a boy thing, I know Louis would love it!!)- a castle dating back to 1178. This was the headquarters of the Templar Knights.

The area here is called El Bierzo and while it is still in the province of Leon it has a close affinity with Gallicea as it was once part of that province. El Bierzo came into national prominance when mass graves of executed republican prisoners were discovered in recent years. This led to calls for a judicial inquiry into the human rights violations of the Franco regime. Conservatives tried to block it but a preliminary inquiry has just agreed that there are grounds for a full inquiry (hopefully th Catholic Church will be held to account for their complicity in mass murder (not for the first time- Inquisition, witch burning and the genocide in the New World).

The night before last we stayed in Villafranca del Bierzo after a tough 35 km hike . The town is named after the French that settled there in the 11th century. It was once called ¨little Santiago¨, since sick and weak people that couldn´t make Santiago recieved the same indulgences from the church (once we get to santiago all our sins are wiped clean and we can start fresh!!)- what a pack of mallingerers!!!

We enjoyed a nice meal in a group of 8 (Japanese, Germans, Spaniards and Kiwi boy). Kiwi boy has kept up with us for about a week now, he´s seen a fair bit of Spain and Portugal and is having over the last 18 months. He heads back to NZ after Santiago, his only regret is that he didn´t make the ¨running of the bulls¨ (in Pamplona) two years running but he did make the Tomatina festival (apparantly for young aussies and kiwis the big three are running of the bulls, Toamatina in Valencia and the Octoberfest!).

Yesterday we walked out of the valley and up and up and up to O Cebriero (1330m) and one of the highest peaks in Gallicea. The forests and scenery generally is spectacular, tracks meander through deciduous forests, many crystal clear trout streams, emerald green pastures and picturesque villages. The background sounds are cascading water and the everpresent sound of cowbells..

After the difficult climb we arrived at the summit with sweaty clothes and grabbed a bed in the first albergue. A lovely albergue/cafe/restaurant which was playing Celtic music. We are finally in Gallicea, an autonomous region (like Catalonia and Viscaya). The Gallicians have a strong celtic heritage dating back to 700 BC when celts from Gaul settled here. The Suabi from northern Europe set up a kingdom in the 5th century and the Visigoths arrived in the 6th century (incidentally the visigoths brought christianity to Spain not the Romans). The language while latin based is different and more akin to portuguese which developed from Gallego. The music is celtic (drums, fiddles and Gallician bagpipes) and would not be out of place in an Irish pub.

Today we walked about 25km downhill most of the day. The scenery was the most spectacular yet, with mountain peaks arising from a sea of fog. We are now in Triacastella and tommorrow on to Sarria. I don´t think we´ll get photos on today, you´ll have to wait. Less than 150 km to go!!!!