Camino Frances - 2014
Day 5 - Monday 22nd September 2014
Molinaseca to Villafranca del Bierzo
29 km - 6.33 hours
| The UCI World Cycling Championships were on in Ponferada for the whole week and I did not know what to expect, so I left at 7 a.m. to get through Ponferada as quickly as I could. It was still dark, so I joined two Canadian walkers to benefit from their torch. We soon came to the point where you have to decide whether to turn left and take the country route, or to carry on along the road into central Ponferada. I took the country route last year and it seemed a long way, so I decided to continue along the road. I soon came to a petrol station (Area de Servicio La Peregrina) with a very nice coffee shop so stopped for breakfast. Leaving the coffee shop I was soon in front of the Templar castle, and was joined by an Asian lady from Los Angeles walking on her own. After the obligatory photos we continued on our way. We soon came to barriers erected for the day's cycle racing and there was no way through. The man in charge was totally indifferent to our dilemma, shrugging his shoulders. I then noticed a gap in the barriers about 100 yards away so we sprinted there to get through. Unfortunately, before we got there, another man closed the gap. We protested that it was the route of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, but he to just shrugged his shoulders! It was then that I noticed that he had not hooked the one barrier to another, and with a slight push a gap appeared. before he could protest we slipped through and reached the other side. After that we continued along Avenue de Galicia, and very long and boring road, until we came to Camponaraya where we stopped fro coffee at Meson El Reloj. I did not remember this boring stretch of road at all, and I see from my notes of last year that we went on an alternative country route which went through Fuentes Neuvas. Definitely a better route! |
Still dark as I left Molinaseca
Entering Ponferada by the road route
The UCI Championships
The Templar Castle
Crossing the A-6 Motorway and heading into the countryside at last
Passing through vineyards
Grapes on their way to the bodegas
Cacabelos
Heading out of Cacabelos and approaching the long hill up towards Villafranca
Off the road at last and onto a dirt path leading to Villafranca
Through more vineyards
Entering Villafranca del Bierzo with the albergue on the right
The medieval bridge
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