Camino a Santiago Day 23: Astorga to Rabanal del Camino

Distance: 20k (12.48mi)

Elevation gain: 296m (972ft)

Duration: 4h 17m

Steps: 27,597

Calories: 1,197

I am pretty sure I walked through the Blair Witch forest. Really. Oh, and I went to church. Just in case.

Ok, Ok…this is what really happened.

A slight, but steady climb characterized most of the day’s walking from Astorga to Rabanal. There was a lot of walking alongside roads, but for the most part we had forest on either side of us and maybe a car every half hour or so.

The villages along this part of the Way are quite different from those along the Meseta. I had read to expect this as we walked through la Maragatería. What is that? Think of it as the Leon y Castilla version of cowboy-country. It is named that way because back in the day folks here were known as muleteers. Today they’re merchants and artisans. And they have their own cuisine as well. Including those life-changing chick peas and wild mushrooms I’ve been raving about.

After leaving the last village, and before arriving at my destination for the day, the path took me off the side of the road and into the forest itself. It was not only a beautiful and welcome respite from all the open field walking of the last week, it was also, at least to me, a bit spooky. To my right was a wire fence people have taken to covering in makeshift crosses made of branches and twigs. That fence seems to goes on forever. At some point I just started thinking of Blair Witch and how it gave the effect of a spiritual barrier to keep evil at bay. Yes, I’m cookoo.

Arriving in Rabanal del Camino I checked into my Posada and went off to explore the town. After enjoying a lovely meal under a canopy of grape vines I went back to my room to rest. A change in wind direction meant that the smoke and ash from a nearby forest fire that has been burning unbeknownst to us for several days began to cover the town*

But the highlight of the evening was the opportunity to attend evening vespers. Held inside a 12th century church built by the Knights Templar, the service is delivered entirely in Gregorian chant. The church is tiny and looks every bit as old as its 900 years. But it was very relaxing and I got to light a candle for my Tía Vicky.

It’s something I’ve been wanting to do since she passed away while I was in Pamplona, but I wanted to light a real candle and not one of these electric ones most churches use now. It took me until now to find one.

*This unfortunately was the start of some pretty devastating forest fires that ripped through Spain this Summer. Record-breaking heat, not just here, but elsewhere in Europe has been blamed for them.

Accommodation: Posada El Tesín. This was a perfectly nice place to stay. The room was comfortable, spacious and nicely decorated. My only two buts are that it was literally the first place at the entrance to town. I probably walked back and forth at least four times. On a hill. Entirely my mistake. The second is that the room was very hot at night and I was unable to open the windows until after dark because the town was infested by flies while I was there. If I were to return I would stay at the place I stopped in for lunch. Double room, single occupancy, including breakfast. €50.

Lunch: La Posada de Gaspar. Having done a bit of research ahead of time I always planned to eat here in Rabanal. Their terrace was lovely (despite the flies), and the food was quite good at such a reasonable price. As mentioned above, I should have stayed here and only didn’t to save some money, which in retrospect wasn’t consequential enough. Three course lunch plus wine €18