Day 11- Puebla de Sanabria - Verin

Up an down, round and round the mountains of Galicia for 94 kms and 1282 metres of ascent made it a hard days ride. I judged it against a final descent into Verin for the final 10 km, which was a wild downhill rush, so the first part of the day had one heck of a lot of climbs.

This was the first day since leaving Sevilla that I actually came across any fellow pilgrims. I passed 4 cyclists who had paused at a bar, and were just re-starting. 2 of them seemed keen to race me and for the next couple of hours we passed and re-passed each other. Their method of cycling was different to mine, they seemed to prefer to go like bats out of hell for maybe half an hour, then pause for a water break. I tended to cycle more slowly, but only stopped every 90 minutes. The net effect was that we both covered around the same distance on the ground over the time we were together. They stopped at A Gudinia, and I continued on.

The Parador at Verin is about 5 kms beyond the town and, naturally, on the top of a big hill. It is beside the Monterrei castle, and comparatively isolated. The only choice for dinner is their restaurant.

Monterrei castle is an abandoned village, the castle was in ruins, but someone had made an effort at restoring it. However as it was closed Monday & Tuesday, its delights remained unexplored.

Castle at Monterrei	Castle at Monterrei
Verin Parador	Verin Parador

Camino de Santiago - Via de la Plata Map of my route

Day 12 Day 12 of my route