Day 53 Requejo - Lubian

POSTED A DAY LATE

Before leaving Requejo we had a discussion with all the other pilgrims and it was decided that the paths were thought to be waterlogged and so we should follow the N525 road instead.  Initially we had thought of stopping at Padornelo immediately after reaching the top at over 4300 feet, the highest point on the Camino.



However, once we got there we decided we could do a bit more and continued to Lubian.  We were exhausted by the time we got there so instead of staying at the local Albergue we stayed in Casa Irene, a Casa Rural, where we were very comfortable if a trifle cold.

When we left Requejo it was raining lightly but it was freezing and very windy.  It was a shame as the countryside is beautiful with mountains bordering both sides of the road.  Because of the bad weather and the heavy fog at times it was difficult to make anything out!





For the past few days we have been travelling on and off with a new German friend, Carl, a former Ford executive, now retired.  You may remember Katrin our German friend from Cologne.  Well, Carl is also from Cologne.  Unfortunately he is not as good looking as Katrin but just as good company! We met in Lubian for lunch and later sampled some Licor de Hierbas, which as Carl pointed out was purely for medicinal purposes.

Later that evening we met at Casa Irene for a snack with him, three Italian friends and Nina, a Danish lady we have now met several times on the Camino.  To our surprise we also met Ana, a Spanish girl we had first met in Granja de Moreruela and who is now working for a few days at Casa Irene before carrying on with her journey!





Over dinner we planned the route for the following day which would take us over the A Canda pass at around 3900 feet the second highest point of the whole Camino de Santiago.  Ana Maria and I were a little bit apprehensive about a second day climbing mountain peaks as we were very tired from the first!

Lubian is a small village with very interesting old houses, some of which are being restored.  The village takes its name from a wolf pit where in the old days locals would trap wolves and later take them along the villages asking for money for presumably having saved their shhep from being savaged by the wolves!