Day 37

El Acebo to Ponferrada - 17 kms
17 May 2019

Off and on during the night we heard heavy rain and howling winds but our heavily shuttered window ensured that we were kept snug and warm in our upstairs room of the quaint casa rural, La Rosa del Agua. We woke to a dark morning and put our departure off for about half an hour from our usual time. After our t-shirts, shorts and sun hats of yesterday we wrapped ourselves up warmly in rain coats and pants, beanies, gloves and buffs and set off in a strong cold wind but there no rain at all. We descended quickly from El Acebo at 1155m to Molinaseca at 610m. The path down was wild, at times far more treacherous than any of yesterday's descent. Once again we thoroughly enjoyed the walk - the wind, dark sky and clouds covering the high peaks around us made it wonderfully dramatic.
The village of Riego de Ambrós was a complete surprise as instead of a simple albergue which is what we thought we would find it was another quaint mountain village. We stopped further on at Molinaseca for our morning break. The walk from Molinaseca to Ponferrada held none of the charm of the first part of our walk. The first few kilometres were a steady uphill on a concrete path, eventually the walk took us on a country road which skirted around the outskirts of Ponferrada until we got quite close to the town.
Unfortunately late in yesterday's walk my left calf muscle became very painful. After the nights rest I managed today's walk very well until we were on the concrete path from Molinaseca. By the time we got to Ponferrada I was limping quite badly but as usual on the Camino things appear at the right time - this time the first shop we came to as we entered Ponferrada was a farmacia and with the use of Google Translate I now have some cream that should help.
It's been a cool day, the temperature never got above 14 degrees all day - perfect for walking.

Leaving our lovely accommodation in El Acebo

Reigo de Ambrós - another quaint village

This is Pappy's house. It's at the end of Reigo de Ambrós. Pappy has quite a bit of work to do make it habitable and he'll have to be very careful when he stands on the balcony  ...but he'll have a great view.

Pappy's balcony is rather unstable

The steep treacherous path from Reigo de Ambrós to Molinaseca. 

Looking down on Molinaseca and entering the town...

St James to see us on our way as we exited Molinaseca

The countryside just before Ponferrada

Ponferrada in the distance

Campo, an old village on the outskirts of Ponferrada

A good crop of potatoes in a home garden as we neared Ponferrada

 The bridge in to Ponferrada

Another home garden - the owner was busy watering a newly planted patch. 

A few snaps of Ponferrada

Basilica de la Encina in the city

Near where we are staying tonight

The 12th century Templar Castle - massive fortress covering 8000 sqm.