Day 14 - 08.07.2020

We start early in the morning on the way, when it is still dark, so we can cover the 15 km to O Cebreiro.

It is said that it is the queen stage, it remains imprinted in your mind because it has the hardest climb of the French Way, on the territory of Spain. 12 kilometres of continuous ascent with a level difference of 660 meters altitude does not seem like much, but in the last part of 5.7 km from Herrerias to Laguna de Castilla is a level difference of 480 meters.

The climb from my point of view was torturous due to the fact that you have nowhere to buy water in the villages on the route, and the taps had warnings of non-potable water. Only in Laguna de Castilla we find a bar open and we manage to buy water. With small and very small steps we follow the difficult route, trying to encourage each other.

My hands hurt a lot, Vasi can barely breathe, but we don't give up. From birch to the next curve, from certain flowers to the next oak, somehow we manage to reach the plateau. The view heals and the beautiful mountain village is enchanting.

It's lunch time, we sit on the terrace of a restaurant, eat pinchos and then combined dishes and a mixture of embutidos, we enjoy our coffees and set off again. The municipal albergue in O Cebreiro is closed, so we made a reservation in Fonfria.

Because we were very tired, we went on the bike path, to make our descent easier.

At an intersection where we had to turn right, we didn't notice the marking because a motorcycle seating exactly on it, where two boys were working. Unbeknownst to us, we go on about 2 km until a lady in a taxi stops to tell us that we are going in the wrong direction and we have to turn around. Astonished, we believe we are in a nightmare, because we had come down, which meant we had to go back up. Slowly we reach the initial marking, where we notice with difficulty the almost erased arrow on the road.

Tired, with water running out, again, we climb drowisly el Alto de San Roque and el Alto do Poio. We arrive in Fonfria and to our surprise we are the only pilgrims in the huge albergue. For the first time at dinner we take the pilgrim's menu.