Two Spanish Caminos
Updates
Posting from my phone pleaseexcuse typos.
DAY 1
Leon Beautiful city. Walked around got my Credential. Ate trout slices in oil.
Nice hotel up 2 flights of stairs.left 8:15. Got lost so stopped for coffee. Found river path. Joined road to go to Central Bar.Nice. walk thru woods on dirt road. Some views to L and ahead. Sunny. Long paved I dustrial section near La Robla. Stayed in alburgue. More trout for dinner!
FAy 2
Up at 7:30 out at 8. Nice road walk in town became long grudge Nicecafe in Pola de Gordon with Dutch Peter. After Buiza nice hike in mountains and woods but damp and cloudy.
Long trudge on minor roads to Poladura. Small place in scenic location. Very nice old hotel. Pork in mustard for dinner w tomatoes.
DAY 3 To Poladura La Tercia to Chanos de Someron
Walked with Thomas and his wife up to the Cross in great weather as the clouds cleared.
Later walked about 4 hrs by myself, ending in Alb Cosciuxo. Dinner ww 3 Spanish people – chorizo and beans.
DAY 4
Short walk to Benduenos. Took the hard route and walked on level with great views before finally descending then turning off to Benduenos at Erias. Took a whole to confirm I had a reservation. Stunning donativo with great views. Dominoes w Rual and Ricarso.
DaY 5 To El Rollu. Set off by myself but Larry (from N Carolina) quickly caught up with me and we walked together to Mieres. Met up with the Spanish father and son, and they booked me into the same alburgues as them. It’s Casa Alba, a small house on a terraceabove. Mieres. About 28 km almost all on pavement, but a quick hike!
Introduction
On September 12, 2024, I will leave the Spanish city of Leon, heading north on the Camino del Salvador for Oviedo, 121 km away. When I get to Oviedo, I will turn west on the Camino Primitivo towards Santiago de Compostela, 321 km away.
Camino is just the Spanish word for a path. It also means “I walk.” Usually, when people talk about “doing the Camino,” they mean the very popular Camino Frances, which starts in St John Pied de Port in France, crosses the Pyrenees, and then heads across the Spanish plains to Santiago, about 800 km away.
There are many Camino routes, most of which end in Santiago. They are usually well-marked routes with cheap dormitory-style accommodations called albergues where the walkers, who are called pilgrims or peregrinos, can spend the night. Restaurants along the route will often offer an inexpensive “menu pellegrino”. The routes are popular with people who want to do a long-distance walk on a budget, regardless of any religious affiliation. Many people start the hike alone and join groups of fellow pilgrims along the route, forming a temporary community.
There are many options, including routes from Portugal and Spain’s north coast. So why have I chosen Salvador and Primitivo? Perversely, because they are the hardest of the routes, with the most hills to climb, the furthest distance between villages, and the fewest options for food and drink along the way. This means that the routes are much more beautiful, they include more mountain trails, and they require fewer kilometres of trudging along the side of a paved road. They are also much less travelled.
So, my plan is to fly to Madrid on September 9th. Get a bus to Leon, rest for two nights, and then start a six-day solo hike north over the Cantabrian Mountains. I will have a rest day in Oviedo, then take about two weeks to walk to Santiago, probably including a rest day in Lugo. After that it would be nice to go all the way to the coast at Finisterre. This can be walked in three days, but maybe 442 km will be enough, in which case that can be done as a bus trip!
Note: This is a sort of live blog. It will be typed on a phone or tablet, so please excuse typos and grammatical errors. I will try to fix them when I get back!
Packing for the Camino
At this stage, three days before departure, my backpack is already pretty much fully loaded, weighing about 25 lbs (10kg). It contains a couple of changes of clothing, a sleeping bag, a puffy jacket for warmth, rain gear, electronics, a decent medical kit, and some food, as there are few places to buy food on the second and third days of San Salvador.
I have the route programmed into several apps on my phone, and I will also be taking a tablet, a spare battery, and a whistle and compass, just in case.
Packing is tricky, as you need to keep the weight down as much as possible while staying warm. On the San Salvador, there are probably no places where you can buy additional clothing. You work on the assumption that you will wash some clothes most nights and hope that they will be dry in the morning. At night, most people wear clean, dry street clothes, not pyjamas. In fact, some people wear their hiking clothes for the next day so they can leap out of bed and leave the Albergue quickly and without disturbing people.
Spanish Language
I have been working on my Spanish, but it has not progressed much past “Una cervesa per favor.” This might be interesting because, unlike the more popular routes, this one is mainly used by Spaniards and the English is not spoken much in the small villages. Thank goodness for Google Translate!
First glitch
On the third day, there is a long hike from Poladura de La Tercia to Pajares, with no facilities: no shops,no bars, and nowhere to stay. So most people want to stop in Poladura the night before, have a rest, and have a nice meal. There is an albergue there that does not serve food, so most people book their meals in the only hotel in town. I decided to stay at the hotel, but they told me that the night I would be there was the town festival, and they were closing the hotel entirely for that night, with no food and no accommodation. I could work around this, perhaps by arriving a day later. Or I could show up at the albergue, hope they have room, and bring some food with me, or eat at the festival, which might be fun.
Instagram link:
I will try to post regular updates here, but the most recent photos will be on my Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/johnpoyston/
Please wish me a “Buen Camino”!
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