Day 1 Oviedo to Escamplero, via the Naranco sites +/- 16.7 kms
I wore earplugs last night, not because I was worried about noise, though as none of the rooms had doors noise could have been a problem, but because, as I said on another page, if I wear earplugs I tend to wake up in the morning and say: 'Where is everyone?' When Jacek and I got in, just before 10, the whole house was silent, all the lights were off and everyone seemed to be asleep. That was ominous.
I was right to be wary. I was woken at 06.50 by someone knocking on a door, the person knocking was someone who had left already but had returned because he had forgotten something and he was knocking at the front door!. Someone else opened the door but, as my bed faced the front door, I could see. As I said the rooms had no doors on them, I suppose this is a safety feature but I felt somewhat exposed.
Now that I was awake there wasn't much else to do but get up, I discovered that there were at least 2 rooms empty, the majority of people had left before 07.00. God knows why. I was rather glad that there was every possibility that I would not see these people again. They were welcome to rush ahead, I was going to go to the Naranco hill, to see the pre -Romanesque churches, then go only to Escamplero.
It had rained heavily in the night and was still raining heavily, so it was wet weather gear, but by the time I had got ready in a leisurely fashion and had had my breakfast in a bar the rain was much lighter. I walked across town and then upward and ever upward to Monte Naranco.
I got there behind a bus load of Spanish tourists. It wouldn't be worthwhile for bus loads of other nationalities to turn up as there are only guided tours and these are all in Spanish, I think someone is missing something here! I took umbrage at the fact that I could only visit the inside on a guided tour in Spanish, I'm still tired from yesterday and not very patient, so I just admired the outside and took a photo of the inside.
I went to the visitor centre but it was not very inspired, though it had toilets!
Then I set off to find the Camino. |
| The view back over Oviedo |
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| Useful horreos |
I soon came to the village of Ules, which has a bar, so I got my second coffee.
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| A very large mushroom! |
The walk to Naranco had been all uphill so now it was mostly downhill. Unfortunately any downhill walk always results in another uphill. The walk to Escamplero seemed interminable, made all the worse because it was 2 k on the road and 3.9 on the camino. When I arrived at the bar where I was supposed to get the key, it was closed for holidays and there was no mention of pilgrims getting keys from anywhere else. There was no way that I was going on further but, fortunately, I found a shop and they had the key. The shop shut at 14.30 so I was very lucky that I got there at 14.15!
The shop was only small but sold lots of different things, including lots of things in individual servings.I am on my own so no early morning dash!
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| The albergue |
Day 2 Escamplero to Cornellana 26 kms
Wet, Wet, Wet! It started alright but soon went wrong. I have found the signs in Asturias to be very poor. I came from a track to the centre of a U bend on a road, the sign was on the track and the arrow seemed to point down and there were no signs on the road, so I walked down about 200 metres and found nothing, so I walked up but still nothing. I walked back to the track and looked at the sign again. The arrow definitely seemed to point down so I went that way again. The road went down and then uphill to a village and a junction of paths and still no sign, so back I went again and took the road up, by this time I was ready to pack up and go home, at the very top of the hill, in a village, I found a sign! I stopped in Penaflor for coffee, by that time I was soaking. I wanted to get to Cornellana, I liked the idea of staying in the old monastery. I struggled up to El Fresno and promised myself lunch at the top, in fact I found a bus shelter just a little bit further on. I was going to stop in Doriga for coffee but the bar which has been advertising itself as having the never closing kitchen, was shut, so I continued to Cornellana. I had expected that the albergue might be a bit rough but it is super. The only problem here is that the mobile phone doesn't work, but I suppose that is right for a pilgrim in an old monastery. I had still been communicating with friends from the El Salvador and now I'm incommunicado,
I'm warm, dry, well fed, well watered and my clothes have been washed and dried, and once again I'm on my own.
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| The monastery at Cornellana |
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| The entrance to the albergue |
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| inside the albergue |
Day 3 Cornellana to La Espina +/- 22 kms
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| The view back over Cornellana |
I got up to a clear sky. I had breakfast in a bar and started walking. The signs lead onto a road and I came to the first village mentioned in my guide. The signs I saw seemed to indicate that I should continue on the road, so I did, onwards and upwards. The signs in Asturias were infrequent so it did not worry me that I saw no more signs for a while, then a car stopped, the man got out and asked if I was going to Santiago, when I said 'yes' he told me that I was on the wrong road, I should have turned off 2 km back :( however the road I was on did go to La Espina, just not via Salas. I wasn't going to walk back downhill 2 km only to have to walk up another hill so I decided to continue. I don't think I was the first to make this mistake because if I saw anyone in a village I pointed out that I knew I was wrong and they always said 'No, don't worry you are right for La Espina'.
The route was slightly longer and took me up to the Alto de Piedrafite, which, I'm sure the correct route didn't, it was higher than anything I should have done that day and the weather got hotter and hotter. I had a cold and sometimes found it quite hard to breathe, also there were no bars but I did find a lump of stone to sit on for a while.
When I got to La Espina the albergue 'El Texu' which had been advertising everywhere, was shut. It took me ages to find the albergue El Cruce and I was getting quite despondent, then suddenly I found it, above the supermarket Coviran. It is beautiful and the hospitalera really sweet. once again I was alone, I had a lovely sitting room all to myself. There is only a microwave but I did a jacket potato and had a salad so I was fine.
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| Sunrise over La Espina |
Day 4 La Espina to Borres 29 km
The signs today were excellent though I did manage to get lost in Tineo. I think I was on the wrong side of the street when the sign came to turn off. Fortunately it was not too serious, I got to the end of town and found no signs so turned back. There was an old lady washing the pavement so, as I went to pass her the second time I commented that I seemed to have lost the camino. She told me that lots of people passed there but up on the hill. I thought I was going to have to walk back but she said that of I carried on there was another path up, so all was not lost, I simply went up a bit later. The rest of the walk was fairly uneventful though there is a lot of mud after the heavy rain the other day, it makes for very slow movement over some stretches. The worst was at Borres where there are 2 big muddy puddles that stretch right across the path, I thought I had almost got passed, then I slipped, both feet went into the mud and I ended up kneeling in the nettles and caught on barbed wire. Eventually I extricated myself. The mud didn't go over the top of my boot this time and it's lovely sunny weather so my boots and clothes should dry. I'm still on my own, I thought this camino was busy! |
| So which way is it? |
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| It's the little things in life that give so much pleasure! |
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| Borres way in the distance! |
Day 5 Borres to Berducedo, via Hospitales 26 km
The weather was beautiful first thing but when I had walked up about 5 km a mist started to rise, a rising mist isn't serious, per se, it usually burns off fairly quickly and I could still see 50 to 100 metres around me but I couldn't see the views. By the time I got to 9 km and the Hospital de Fonfaraon the sky was clear and I could see all around me. I thought I would be walking uphill for 14.5 kms but really the hard stuff was done by 9 kms. after that it was very pleasant and really quite awesome. I could almost see the ghosts of all those pilgrims of times gone by, especially at Fonfaraon, which is enormous.The hardest part was from Puerto del Palo when the descent began, the down to Montefurado was dire then there was another hill to climb. The guy in the bar in Borres had warned me about this. I coped with that but I was nearly on my knees when I got to Lago and desperate to sit down, but the bar was shut and they hadn't even left a chair outside :'( I'd run out of water now so the next 3 or 4 kms to Berducedo seemed to last forever, but I'm here and I am not alone, there is a French man here as well.
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| 3 kms done! |
Day 6 Berducedo to Grandas de Salime 20kms
I had misread my profile and thought I only had 2 kms to walk uphill, but that was from La Mesa, I had 6, but I survived. I had been promised a splendid view of the reservoir when I got to the top, but I could only see clouds and mist. It was eerie walking downhill without knowing how far I had to walk, but eventually the clouds lifted and it became another splendid sunny day. I met 2 more pilgrims, a Belgian couple, so things are looking up.
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| These distance markers are great. |
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| my first view of the reservoir |
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| A 'curtin' to protect the bees and the honey from bears. |
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| This looks like something from 'The Dambusters'
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The albergue in Grandas is super, it's surprising how much variation there is between albergues. It is equally astonishing that some of the small villages can afford to keep an albergue at all! I had time here to wash all my clothes and for them to dry in the sun. The albergue became a bit busy, by the evening we were 6, things are really looking up, though 2 were cyclists.
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| The Church in Grandas in the morning |
Day 7 Grandas de Salime to Padron 27 kms
The morning started early. The cyclists were moving before 7, flashing lights, packing bags and whispering, I was surprised as cyclists aren't usually in a hurry. Eventually I was properly awake, but I decided I wouldn't get up before 7. When I got up I discovered that the cyclists were back in bed and, apparently asleep!I continued slowly, I reckoned that, by the time I had had breakfast and got out of the street lights I would be able to see.
It was a day of ups and downs, nothing exciting, though plenty of wind farms, then into Galicia, where we walked on the road quite a lot. I have now had comments from 2 sets of people of 2 nationalities, about how good Asturias was for endeavouring that pilgrims don't walk on the road.
I've come to Padron, I started alone but now I have company, 2 Spaniards from last night and an Italian, who has done 2 stages to change company!
The albergue here is nice and well equipped and right in the country so it was ideal for an afternoon arrival on a warm sunny day.
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| A funny spider! |
Day 8 Padron to O Cadavo 25 kms
It was a very misty morning and I started by making a mistake. I walked a km up to a road, then I couldn't see any signs. Instead of obeying my golden rule, look at every possibility first, I became disorientated, I wasn't sure which direction I should be going, so I walked back the kilometre, only to discover that I was on the right track, so I retraced my steps again. This time I was aware that I was walking parallel to the road, when I got back to the road I crossed over and there was the sign, so I had walked 2 kms extra! I thought the hard bit would be walking up to Montouto and Hospital, it was the last time I had to climb above 1000 metres, but that was easy, climbing to 1000 metres when you are already at 950 is not major, the hard hills came later.
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| The hospital at Montouto |
It also got hot again later and I had dressed for wet, as I wasn't sure if it was actually raining, but it wasn't. I had hoped to walk to Castroverde but if I had I would have got there much later than I would have liked. I like time to wash and dry clothes and for my feet to rest, so now tomorrow will be the long day.
Day 9 O Cadavo to Lugo 30 kms
The lady in the closest bar had assured me that she would be open at 8. I got there just after, she was open and the Belgians were there as they had spent the night there. Apparently the lady had been a bit put out to discover that we actually expected her to be open at 8! I asked for coffee and toast, the toast arrived with jam but no butter, when I asked for butter it transpired that she didn't have any so she had put olive oil on the bread before toasting it. Olive oil and I do not get on, especially when I'm walking, it caused me to have a most uncomfortable days walk.
The walk started with a climb, but, fortunately, being early it was not too bad, it probably wasn't bad in relation to earlier climbs either.
In the village of Vilabade an elderly man stopped us all and showed us into his barn where he had a collection of small carvings that he made to sell to pilgrims.
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| wooden pieces made by an old man in Vilabade |
A lot of the walk was along the road, they said it was a temporary deviation, but the land on either side was private so I don't know where they are planning to put the route. I stopped for lunch at the side of the road at Bascuas, there was nowhere else to sit. I had the remains of the previous days sandwich and what was supposed to be a hard boiled egg, unfortunately it was not as hard boiled as I thought and it had been loose in the pocket of my pack, the shell had broken and the pocket now stank!
I went to the Cathedral, to see if I could get a stamp. The Cathedral is wonderful, so different from Oviedo. I'm not a religious person but this cathedral really did seem to be a place of prayer. It took me a while to find the Sacristan, he was busy but he was happy to stamp my credential. I then went for a wander around the city and took photos, before returning to the albergue for food and a rest!
Day 10 Lugo to As Seixas 33kms
The lights were set to go on automatically at 7am. This was bad enough as I had anticipated a gentle start and a short walk to San Roman de Retorta. A general conversation in the evening made me re-think a little and I planned to start with an open mind, either the 19k to San Roman or the 33 to As Seixas.
Someone had their alarm on for 06.50. Why? First it was the alarm, which went on for ages before he turned it off, then the lights went on, so I gave up and got up and decided to aim for As Seixas. Fortunately Lugo is big enough that the street lights lasted long enough to get to daylight, or enough daylight to see the signs. A lot of road walking, intermingled, occasionally, with tracks. Fortunately there were bars situated at strategic points, like almost 10k and almost 20k.
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| The church at San Roman |
The albergue in As Seixas is lovely, a renovated village house, the hospitalera is a bit of a dragon! We were only 3, an Italian, a Spaniard and me, so it was tranquil. It tried to rain a couple of times during the day and the weather forecast was dodgy so again I had an open mind on where I would end up the next day, Ribadiso or Arzua, which ever it would be it would be on the Camino Frances, peace was now over.
Day11 As Seixas to Ribadiso 27 kms
We all started together and we still managed to get lost. We were all so busy looking at the bar (Cascaminas I think) that, even though we didn't intend to stop, we just walked straight past it, without realising we should have turned right. I left it to the lads to sort out and then just followed them back, I'm usually on my own when I do silly things like that, so nice to have company:) After that is was uphill and the guys went on ahead. it was a pleasant walk, plenty of places to stop and, even once I got on the Frances, not too many people.
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| The church in Melide |
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| The shells are back to front in Arzua |
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| River Iso and albergue |
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| A big kitchen but not a pan or plate in sight! |
I watched people arrive, one largish group had several younger people pulling very smart little cases, not ones that had been pulled from Sarria but ones that had been pulled from the car park. They were with people who carried back packs so it looked like a family outing, some walked, some went by car, as long as they had credenciales and got them stamped twice a day it was a nice little outing!
All in all it was a day for scams because later, just before 9pm, a group came into the dormitory looking for empty beds. In Ribadiso the beds are allocated so this was strange, then some Spanish men recognised them as having done this before, they turn up at albergues at the last moment, when the hospitalera is not there or inattentive and sneak in without paying. They weren't very happy to be challenged but they went and when the hospitalera returned they left, so they obviously hadn't intended to pay.
Ribadiso is a lovely albergue but I did feel we were a little bit open for anyone to enter, I think the outer gate is supposed to be locked but I am sure I was the first out in the morning and it was unlocked then.
Day 12 Ribadiso to Monte de Gozo 36 kms
The clocks went back over night but I decided to still get up early so I could start walking at first light. I put my alarm on for 6.35 but, in fact, I woke up before 6 I lay for a while but I got bored so I became one of those horrible people who get up at 6. I tried to be very quiet and not to flash lights around. I walked up to Arzua where I found a hotel open for breakfast and then I got started. It wasn't really that I needed to get to Monte de Gozo early but that I wanted to finish before it got too hot.
It's funny how much of the camino I had forgotten, mostly the best bits, though some of them came back to me as I came to them again.
I half contemplated walking into Santiago without my backpack, once I had showered, but that was a morning thought, by the time I got there I was more than grateful to stop and stay put. Monte de Gozo is even more dead now than it was four years ago, the albergue is fine but the rest of the site is a shell.
I shared a room with a Hungarian, a Mexican and a German. When I commented that I was bored the Hungarian girl suggested that I should go with her when she went out to eat, I had already eaten but going out for a drink seemed a good idea, in the end the Mexican girl came as well. I reckoned they were taking the old lady out so that she wouldn't go to bed early!
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| sunset over Santiago |
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| Sunrise at Monte de Gozo |
We all woke up early. It was the Mexican girls 30th birthday and she was excited to arrive in Santiago so we walked down together. There was only one other person waiting at the Pilgrim Office. We got our stamps and Compostelas and had breakfast then went our ways, Priscilla to her hotel and me to the bus station and home.
I have enjoyed this camino, it was not as hard as I had imagined it would be. I am very glad that I did the Hospitales route.
