Day 42- Camino Invierno Blog & Video – Las Medulas to Sobradelo Videos

Day 3 of the Camino Invierno (Day 42 Overall)

Today was about 20 kilometres from Las Medulas to Sobradelo.

It was probably one of the best days so far on this Camino in terms of views and also walking surface. And this is Day 42!  So that’s saying something.

The first part was all downhill, losing all the height that I had gained over the last two days. It was a nice dirt path like gravel, which was easy to walk on, and the views were stunning. About a kilometre and a half out of Las Medulas I took a detour up to one of the lookouts, which was definitely worthwhile. It was just a kilometre round trip to that with great views back over Las Medulas.

And then after about 8 kilometres, I was down very close to Puente de Domingo Florez, which is a mix of old and new in terms of the town and the Camino takes you through some of the old parts, which were really nice. And then coming out of Puente de Domingo Florez I found a really good bar to get some breakfast.

Puente de Domingo Florez was quite an interesting little village that has quite a new part and an old part. The Camino takes you through the older part of the town, and as described in most of the guides, there are lots of facilities there. I stopped at the El Cruce Cafe for breakfast and had the standard toast with ham and tomato, and coffee and orange juice, which was all very nice. And along with a tin of Aquarius to top up my water bottle. All of that comes to €8, which is fairly reasonable.

From there I started to walk out of the town and heading towards Sobradelo. The path then took the route through Pumares and then finally to Sobradelo. Most of the path was on dirt tracks through woods next to the railway line with stunning views over the reservoirs along the way. The view of Sobradelo, when I arrived there, was, well it looked like some kind of Alpine mountain train set. There was the river, the train lines and the village. Absolutely stunning.

I may pass through a couple of small villages on the way, I’m not too sure. Leaving the town there was a little bit of a climb which was shown as a little blip on the Gronza elevation guide clip. It takes a bit to get up and over it. And then following the railway track next to the reservoir was really nice. So I’m about halfway.

I’m expecting to get there at Sobradelo at about 1:30 or 2:00 o’clock where I’ll be staying in Bar Mar that gets very good reviews online. Most are  private rooms, with I think a shared bathroom, I’m not altogether sure as I had to book it on the phone.

The hostel is above a bar and the bar was closed. So, I wandered around trying to find the hostel with no luck. Then I rang the bar owner and he asked where I was and I said I was near the bar. I was finally met by the cleaner, who let me in. She took my washing to do my washing, and gave me the keys. I asked the cleaner who I should pay and the cleaner said the owner. So, I ended up texting the owner and saying “how do I pay you?”

We’re going to meet outside the closed bar at 6:30 in the morning so that I can pay him. It’s all is rather informal, but it seems to work. I have a reasonable room with a shared bathroom. And very close by there was a bar where I had a great menu del dia, which is very busy into the evening, so I think I won’t be getting an early night. The noise from the bar is quite substantial. But not to worry, I’m going to have an early start tomorrow and I’ll have a day of about 20 kilometres, I think, to A Rua de Valdeorras. Another great day on the Camino Invierno.