Day 6 : Boente to Salceda

Well, for those of you following this blog daily, I apologize for yesterday's lack of a strong signal and the inability to publish my usual missive! 

without headlamp

Instead of starting in compete darkness as I had the previous day, I waited until almost 8:15 a.m.--still not quite daylight, but permitting some visibility without a headlamp. The road wound through more lovely woodlands, then countryside dotted with occasional farmhouses, then suddenly an almost suburban village!  Sometimes the path seems so remote, yet at times I am aware that there a major road nearby.

this, too, is the Camino

cow crossing

Ribadiso de Baixo

morning mist

cows sunbathing

I reached the good-sized town of Arzua too early for lunch, so just stopped at a supermarket briefly, and continued on. Arzua is known for its cheese, so I had to try some. It is a busy place as it is here that the Camino Frances connects with the Camino of the North.

 

way markers in the pavement

backpack transport for the weary

back street leaving Arzua

This proved a long stretch of the Camino for me, and I was very happy to discover a cafe/bar in Calzada, where I caught up with a few familiar faces, including an older German woman I had a good conversation with in the albergue in Boente.
 

outside of Arzua

chicken empanada

cafe/bar in Cazada with a small grocery store and gift shop!

It is here that I almost got lost again. A German man and I somehow missed a trailmarker the day before and we went about half a kilometre hors piste before a local alerted us to our error. My second error, below, may have been encouraged by locals, however, as one house even had a map attached to the gatepost of his yard, and another a small wooden hand-made sign. A woman driving past me told me that I had missed my turn, but I used the "map" I had photographed to find my way back.

It has occurred to me that some villages like Furlos or Ribadiso are picturesque enough to be artists colonies, and that their potential is not nearly exploited enough given the current state of the Spanish economy. And when I saw the advertising for the construction company pictured below complete with "before and after" photos, I thought of all the old buildings I had seen with "for sale" signs along the Camino...Like I mentioned in an earlier post, Oprah's people have been spotted in Santiago and Asturias...