The Camino, Stages 17/18 — June 14/15, 2025

14 - 24°C — Clear and Sunny

By Jim

Part 1 (June 14) Tamallancos to Ourense (13 km)

As Laurel wrote, we banked 13 km by walking the first part of the stage out of Ourense on our rest day.  Since I complained so much about the walk into Ourense, I want to go on record that the walk out was quick, picturesque, and steep.  The highlight was crossing the Rio Miño on the Roman bridge.  The Saturday bus schedule did not meet our needs, so we caught an early morning taxi to Tamallancos and walked the 13 kms back to Ourense and our “rest day.”  The beautifully shaded trail with elevations that challenged cyclists was our path.  Along the way we met many of our walking cohort who were surprised to see us walking the other way.

The aloes, cacti, and eucalyptus trees combined with the roosters crowing and dogs barking reminded us of our days in Swaziland (Eswatini)

Part 2 (June 15) Tamallancos to Oseira (21 km)

Since we had already covered the first section, we began today by once more catching an early taxi to Tamallancos to begin our trek to the Monastery in Oseira.  Again the path was green and well shaded by chestnut, oak, pine, and eucalyptus.  We passed through many Galician villages with no services; magnificent stone ruins were reminders of their once thriving past.  For the final two km our trail ran adjacent to an immense stone wall with turrets and gates that guided us to our destination:  Monasterio de Oseira.

Although the monastery was founded in 1137 by the Cistercian order, it underwent many transformations through the ages and was abandoned in the 19th century.  Today it is home to a small group of Trappist monks (we counted eight at vespers) and a 40 bed  pilgrim’s albergue.  The original pilgrim’s albergue is still standing, but today we were welcomed to new, modern facility. 

Our lunch was in a gourmet restaurant that services the tour buses and day trippers who come to tour the church and monastery.