Camino Primitivo 2019

'The Camino is God's dream for how people should be with one another.'unknown source.

Camino Primitivo

I am just setting up this page in preparation for another camino for 2019. This time I am planning to walk the Camino Primitivo, a mountainous route from Oviedo in Northern Spain to Santiago. The route follows mountain ranges for about 320kms with heights of up to 1200 metres (about 4,000ft). My Dutch friend Bauke is joining me and now my son Nathan has also decided to come along.

We hope to complete this walk in about 12 days which means walking an average of 26kms per day, quite a challenge over such tough terrain! I fly out to Asturius-Oviedo on 4th September and begin walking the following day.

4th September 

We managed to make our connection with just over an hour between flights at Madrid airport. The second flight was running late and we had a bus to catch so it was the usual split second timing to get from one means of transport to the next. We managed to get to the hostel just a few minutes before check in closed at 11. We flew over a barren mountain range on our approach to Asturias-Oviedo, I wonder if we will be walking in those mountains tomorrow? They looked quite intimidating before they disappeared behind a blanket of cloud. Bauke arrived earlier this afternoon and has done my shopping for me; one pair of walking poles, a banana and a bottle of water. We’re meeting at 7:15 in the morning and aiming to walk 27kms. The forecast is rain.

321kms to go

5th September 

Last night Nathan and I shared a twin room. The room was classically Spanish, wobbly toilet, squeaky beds and a shower that you had to constantly push a button in to get lukewarm water flowing. There were just 2 power sockets one of which was about 8 feet up the wall above the wardrobe. After climbing on a chair to unplug my mobile phone at 5am I realised that I had brought a dodgy phone charger and had to wiggle it around to get it working. It’s good to be back. 

We met Bauke outside our hostel at 7 this morning and decided to walk to the Cathedral to start our Camino. I bought an app for this Camino with a GPS map which was helpful in navigating through the city streets. After about half an hour we left the city and walked out into the foothills. The countryside is very green and quite misty. It didn’t rain. 

I had read that this is the Camino that has the least people walking it and that has certainly appeared to be the case. There are not many people walking at all although a few are making this their first Camino. We managed the 27km walk ok but were all ready to stop when we reached Grado. We have found a nice private hostel I’ve had a shower and now just relaxing before we get something to eat.

294kms to go

6th September  

Yesterday we passed a group of blind people walking the Camino. When they came into our hostel in the afternoon with their guide dog Bauke managed to convince Tanja from Germany that the dog was a Camino guide dog and had been trained to follow the yellow arrows. She eventually worked out that he was joking. It was funny and of course Nathan and I went along with the whole thing. You need a good sense of humour to put up with our little group which Tanja somehow managed to do. 

Today we set off at 7am and walked almost 30km, it was really hard as the last 9kms was all uphill and took us up to 650 metres. Lots of off road trails today through forests of pine and eucalyptus. There only seems to be two directions on this Camino, up or down. We finally made it to La Espina about 3pm, it was a long day.  

I really want to try and spend a bit more time on self reflection on this Camino. With this in mind over the next few days I’m going to reflect on my life using 5 things every man needs to know and accept from Franciscan teacher Richard Rohr. 

1. Life is hard

Walking the Camino is no picnic. Although I’m in pretty good shape I’m suffering from the heat rash I always get on my feet and ankles. It makes walking painful. I also have plantar fasciitis in my left foot and towards the end of a days walking there is a lot of pain involved. 

I’ve been reflecting on a time in my life when I was at my lowest point. It was 2006 and I was working for three Church of Ireland parishes on a joint project. After about 2 and a half years the project wasn’t going well. It was clear that the three churches, all with their own clergy, actually had three different projects. 

We were enjoying living in Dublin and so I was trying to make it all work, mostly by working harder and harder to try and fulfil all the different expectations. Eventually it all became too much and I ended up becoming ill. I remember the doctor signing me off work and just lying on the sofa for days on end completely burnt out. Rock bottom turned out to be a lot further down than I could have ever imagined. I remember feeling that I had let my family down and that I had completely failed. I remember wondering if I would ever be able to come back from this depression that I had slipped into. 

Richard Rohr once said, “you don’t learn anything from your successes, in life, they just make you feel good.” The one lesson I’ve learned from that difficult time is how to really look after myself, physically, mentally and spiritually. We eventually left Ireland and it took me over a year to recover enough to get back into ministry. Life is hard, I know, I’ve been there. 

My app says 253 to go (this doesn’t make much sense!!)

7th September  

Today we walked 24kms to Campiello the last stop before ascending the 1300 metre mountain, the highest on this Camino.  

Nathan was actually the first person up and ready this morning and Bauke the last, that’s a first for both of them. We set off at 7am in the dark using head torches to find our way. The number of cobwebs I had to push through suggested we were the first people out on the trail this morning. 

We had to walk about 12kms before reaching a Cafe at Tineo where we managed to get breakfast. From there it was a 6km ascent before another 6kms down to Campiello. We had a break at the top, the view of all the mountains around us was great, this is what I came for. The hills are full of beautiful tan cows with bells around their necks. Mostly off road walking today with just the sound of the cow bells in the background. 

Our hostel is very modern and looks great, as ever I have a bottom bunk. We have had some really good hostels so far, not like last year. Tomorrow we climb up to 1205 metres and walk 27km.

Richard Rohr’s second thing every man (and maybe woman too) needs to know and accept is;

       2. You are not that important

This seems like a counter cultural statement in today’s world. And don’t get me wrong you are important, you’re just not that important. 

There are two ways to spiritual transformation, either by focusing on letting go of your ego, sense of self righteousness, specialness and self importance or through pain and suffering. As a priest I’ve tried to actively let go of some of these things through meditation and prayer and no doubt I’ve still got some way to go. And I’ve had my fair share of pain and suffering too. It’s what you do with all that pain and suffering that really matters. You can sit and dwell on it and let it drag you down or you can accept what is and move on.  

The message here is simple really, ‘get over yourself’.  The world will keep on spinning with or without you.

227kms to go (I seem to have lost about 13kms somewhere)

8th September 

We began our day early today and were on the trail by 6:45. We heard last night that all the hostels in Berducedo were already booked and that one was undergoing renovations. The only problem was that Berducedo was the first stop for 27kms over a 1205 metre mountain.  

It was cold and foggy this morning with a lot of frost. Before long the sun came up as we began to make our way up the mountain and the layers started to come off. After about 3 hours of walking we were above the clouds and we had the most amazing views of mountains below us and in the distance poking up out of the clouds. 

We were really lucky to make it on that route as it is often covered in fog which was obvious from the yellow Camino markers every few metres. Apparently people were getting lost up there. There was also an alternative route for use in bad weather but we obviously didn’t need to take it. We passed the remains of two medieval pilgrim hostels which reminded us that this was the ‘Primitivo’ or original route.  

As we made our way up higher into the mountains the wind started to get up and the layers went back on. By the time we got to the summit it was blowing a gale.  

Bauke, Tanja and I found a spot out of the wind to have our breakfast as there was no cafe for the whole 27kms. Nathan had walked on ahead and missed Tanja sitting on an ant hill full of big angry black ants, another memorable moment.  

What goes up must come down and so the really hard part began, descending the mountain on loose stone and shingle paths, it was quite dangerous. The lower we got the hotter it got until we were baking under the afternoon sun on our way to Berducedo. I could feel myself getting dehydrated and was praying for a space there as it was just over 4km more to the next village and that only had a 20 bed municipal with a poor rating.  

Luckily we managed to get 4 of the last beds available. I’ve never walked such a long stretch of any Camino without finding something to eat or drink before. It might not have been the longest walk I’ve ever done but it was certainly the hardest.  

I’m laying on my bed now suffering the effects of dehydration and too much sun. Tomorrow we only have around 20km to do but the majority will be down hill, about 3-4 times longer downhill than today and just as steep. After that it’s up and over an 1100 metre mountain so we do it all again. 

 

      3. Your life is not about you 

 

I’ve been a parent since I was in my early 20s and from that point on I’ve never felt completely in control of my life. I’m now 49 years old and my wife and I are just starting to do some of the things we never had the time or money to do before. Walking Camino’s is the obvious example for me.  

The majority of my life has been spent with the welfare of the people I care about in the back of my mind, even when I’ve felt called to make risky decisions. It’s certainly not all been about me and never really can be. But also at a deeper level I feel that my own small life has really been about something much bigger and not really about me at all. And in the end I believe that everything will work itself out. God gives us the things we need to cope with life’s trials, such as space in a busy hostel when we really needed it.  

It seems to me that lifestyle is more important than having the right belief system, theology or theories. Using labels like Catholic, Protestant or Evangelical is mostly unhelpful. Trying to meet peoples expectations of who or what we should be is also mostly a waste of time. Once you understand that your life isn’t really all about you and you stop trying to control everything, get stressed about everything, or even try to make sense of everything, your lifestyle will become your message.  

Priests aren’t so much called to do something as to be something and to live life to the full. They are supposed to be a sign to other people that they too can live life to the full, not because their lives are perfect or all about them but because they are also part of something more.  

The priests that people always remember with affection from the past are the ones who never seemed to do anything other than have time for other people and not those who are so holy that they never have time for anyone. Walking the Camino I often find I’m being a better priest than I am back home because all I’m doing is listening to people, living life and enjoying the moment.  

As Richard Rohr says, ‘Your life is not about you. It is about God and about allowing Life and Death to “be done unto me,” which is Mary’s prayer at the beginning of her journey and Jesus’ prayer at the end of his.’

9th September 

It was very foggy this morning as we set off for Grandas de Salime, it was difficult to follow the markers as the fog reflected the light off our head torches. 

After quite a climb up again that we weren’t expecting we finally began the descent down the mountain. It wasn’t as bad as the guide book suggested and we eventually found ourselves traversing through pine forest down to a lake. We continued across a dam where we found a cafe and stopped for breakfast. 

Just six kilometres later we reached Grandas de Salime where we managed to find space in the municipal hostel. We had hoped to go another 5kms to a small village a bit closer to the base of the next mountain but they only had a small youth hostel which is fully booked. We only walked just under 20km today but there’s no where else to go until we get over the mountain tomorrow. Tomorrow the weather looks bad.  

This year’s cast of crazy Camino characters includes Alina the hyperactive talkative Australian girl, also an older Tasmanian man Greg who is always smiling even when he walks in hours after us. He describes Tazmanians as inbred Aussies. There is a German girl with a captains hat who everybody Captain Katja who does yoga in the morning. I spotted her at 6am standing on one leg. 

    4. You are not in control 

I suppose self control is one of those virtues that people strive for in the first half of life. People like to be in control and yet realising the truth, that you are not in control, is a difficult reality for many people.  

The biggest control freaks I have met are so clearly not in control of much. When something beyond their control happens they are the first people to have a crisis of faith. 

It’s hard to accept that you are not really running the show and that any attempt to control it will ruin it. 

It means accepting that you really are loved and it means trusting the process.

 175kms to go

10th September 

Last night I couldn’t sleep it was too hot and not the best hostel with 20 beds in one room. 

We set off at 6:40 this morning as everyone was ready early. We were joined by Katja today who walked all the way in her ‘sliders’ (basically a kind of flip flops.) and her captains hat. It rained most of the day today but at least we managed to find a cafe at the top of the mountain just after crossing the regional border from Asturias to Galicia and also passed the half way point in our journey. We ended up having 2 rounds of hot drinks as the rain lashed the cafe windows but eventually ventured out to brave the elements for the final 10kms into A Fonsegrada where I am laying in a bed with real sheets, no sleeping bag, at 2:30pm. i have a 14 day set plan I found on the internet and we have just completed day 8 in only 6 days so should easily make it to Santiago on time.

My son Nathan is really finding his stride. He has been running up and down the hills and earned himself the nickname the puppy as he seems to have limitless energy. He has also been trying to start a little Camino business offering massages for €10 but despite a lot of haggling and negotiations has failed to find his first customer. 

   5 You are going to die

On the one hand it seems a bit of a no brainier really, but I think so many people are living in denial of this simple fact of life. People constantly fill their lives with more and more stuff, as if ‘things’ will somehow insulate them from the inevitable. Accepting this fact of life is key to achieving transformation, I will leave the last few words to Richard Rohr; 

“The transformational journey of death and resurrection is the only real message. It makes you indestructible. The real life, God’s life, is running through you and in you already. But allowing it to flow freely doesn’t come easily. When you do, the spiritual journey really begins. Up to that moment it is just religion. Everything up to then is creating the container, but you have not yet found the contents; you are creating the wineskins, as Jesus says, but you are not yet drinking the intoxicating wine.”

155kms to go

11th September  

This morning was cold and damp but nowhere near as bad as yesterday. There were some big hills to climb today, lots of going up and down. By the time we arrived at our hostel in O Cadavo Baleira the sun finally came out and after half an hour of sitting outside I’m now seeking shade inside. The weather here is crazy.  

Last night we went out for a meal in a nice restaurant with a few other people including a man from the USA called Tiger. He apparently worked in the movie industry but was now an activist and was responsible for sending the inflatable Donald Trump baby thing to London. 

For days now Tanja had been trying to tell me that the scallop shell symbols on the marker posts were all facing one way in the province of Asturias and the opposite way in Galicia. I think she had read this in her German guide book. I had argued that there was no way they had all been put on facing the correct way, this is Spain after all. The ones in Asturias were all facing backwards with the shell points away from Santiago and the first ones we came to in Galicia yesterday were indeed the opposite way around. This morning however walking along in the dark I pointed out a marker that was the opposite way round. Tanja seemed so disappointed and just stood looking at it for a while. About two hours later after seeing that 50% of them were the wrong way round I worked out that they are actually all facing the same way on the posts but that the posts can be on either side of the road. Tanja seemed even more disturbed by this revelation and when I pointed out that the very specific distances to Santiago recorded on each post in Galicia to the nearest metre were not actually very accurate and could even increase from one to another she looked like she couldn’t cope. I think it’s a German thing.  

Tanja is a lovely person, it’s great to have her walking with us. She and I went to Mass last night and along with some other pilgrims, including Alina from Australia, and were sent off with a special blessing after the service. 

Tomorrow we walk 30kms to the city of Lugo. Nathan says Lugo is a proper city because it’s got a proper football team, I’ve never heard of them.

129kms to go

12th September  

We had a good meal last night thanks to Spanish chef Jorge who recommended a restaurant to us. Jorge is from Santiago but has been working in Bristol for the past 4 years. He has an overloaded 60litre backpack and is the only pilgrim I’ve ever met who is thinking about getting his mum to drive down and pick up all the things he really doesn’t need. His pack is 13kg mine is 6.5! 

I woke up early this morning after a reasonable nights sleep and had the urge to just slip away and spend the day on my own. I quietly grabbed all my gear and packed it all in the kitchen area downstairs, text Nathan to let him know I was walking on my own and then set off at 6am into the pitch black. 

After 8kms I arrived in a village where a man was just setting up a mobile cafe and I had some breakfast. The cafe was just opposite a church and when his wife arrived she very proudly told me she had a key to the church and urged me to come and have a look inside. She unlocked the door and switched all the lights on, I had a quick look around and she stamped my credential and then as I left she locked the church back up despite the fact the cafe was only a few metres from the church door.  

I don’t understand what it is these people are worried about. I’m glad we leave our churches open. After hearing about the lack of welcome and church taxes people experience in Germany I’m also beginning to realise that being a cash poor church that leaves its doors unlocked has maybe made us more welcoming and inclusive than we would be if we were wealthy. We don’t have to agree with everyone’s lifestyle or point of view but we can still make them feel welcome, and as long as people give what they can what more can we ask for? We can’t afford to be fussy and we certainly shouldn’t want to be. 

I spent the rest of the day completing the 30kms to Lugo. The day was mostly foggy and cool until the sun finally came out at 11am. I arrived here about 12 so completed the walk in 6 hours. 

I haven’t quite felt like the lean mean walking machine I became on my first Camino but wanted to see if I could still push myself. I am quite happy with what I managed to do today. My legs ache a bit and I ran out of water after 20kms but I feel fine. I’m just sitting in the main plaza by the Cathedral, a scruffy, smelly pilgrim amongst all the clean people in the city. When the others catch me up we will try any find space in the municipal hostel and I can get a shower!

99kms to go 

13th September 

Yesterday afternoon I realised that in my absence our little group had split up for one reason or another. I guess that living in close proximity to one another isn’t always easy and sometimes people fall out.  

This morning I walked most of the day with Bauke. Nathan walked on ahead and we only caught him up when we came to a bar where he was having a beer in the sunshine.  

We then walked on the last few kilometres to Ferreira, a tiny village with 2 hostels and a bar and not much else. It’s been good walking again today, a bit of road but mostly through forests with paths that are soft underfoot. It’s been a strange Camino in that many people seem to walk later in the morning than on previous Camino’s so you hardly see anyone out on the road. The hostels have also mostly been quite good.  

Tomorrow we should get to Arzua when we will join the Camino Francaise for the final 2 days. I’m not looking forward to fighting my way through the crowds again but there is no other way into Santiago.  

72kms to go

14th September 

Today we are heading for Arzua which due to an incorrect number on my app is 34km not the planned 29. Last night we had a great meal of paella at the hostel which was cooked in a giant pan, quite a work of art. 

I set off at 6:30, Nathan and Bauke wanted a bit more time in bed after a night in the bar. It was pitch black this morning, a bit creepy with cats eyes reflecting off my torch light. I was mostly walking through woods today and could hear dogs howling and barking in the dark. At one point I encountered an angry German Shepherd dog but managed to get around it, I was glad to have my walking poles with me. As the sun came up I ascended the final big hill at just over 700 metres, the terrain was all heathland and pine trees with the occasional eucalyptus plantation. I spotted a large snake dead on the road. I passed a German man called Tom who I first met at the bus stop at the airport. He had walked 7kms further that us the previous day. I eventually reached the first cafe after 15kms.  

Nathan and Bauke walked into the cafe just as I was leaving but I decided to keep going and let them catch me up again. As I walked into Melide a man from New Zealand who must be about 70 and runs the Camino everyday stopped to chat to me. He had been bitten by the German Shepherd dog and had a bandage on his leg with lots of blood on it. 

After stopping for an ice cream I left Melide on The Camino Francaise, the route I had taken 2 years ago. The first place I recognised was a stream with a stone bridge over it. 2 years ago there was a donkey in the meadow by the bridge who had his own stamp for the credentials. I still have a photo of Linda, Jenny and Freja walking over that bridge. This time there is no donkey and I realise i am on my own so no point taking a picture. I have missed walking with a group of young people this time. 

I eventually caught up with lots of tour group pilgrims with tiny backpacks. At one point I had an English woman behind me having an argument with her boyfriend over the phone. I kept quiet and pretended to be from another country. I don’t think she spotted my Union Jack patch on my backpack. 

The last 14kms through the heat of the day to Arzua I did nonstop as I might not have been able to get going again if I stopped. It was a very hard walk today. Just two short days to finish now. 

This evening we went out for pizza and sat outside while the town hosted its annual 10km run. When the male runners were nearing the finish line about 50 metres away from where we were sitting Nathan suddenly jumped up and raced some of the stragglers to the end. As he passed the finish line the crowd roared and the man at the end asked him where his number was. It didn’t seem to occur to them that a 6 foot blond man with the palest complexion you have ever seen might not actually be a genuine competitor. 

39kms to go.

15th September  

Today we walked to O Pedrouzo leaving just after 8am. Bauke decided to wait for Katja who had set off at 7am from somewhere 7km back. Nathan and I were getting through the day too quickly so I suggested we pub crawl our way for the last 5kms. As there were 3 bars in the first village we came to I had to make a rule of 1 bar per village. At our third bar Nathan ordered extra large beers and it was only 12:40. 

I staggered into O Pedrouzo at about 1pm where we have a good hostel to stay in. We watched some of the world basketball finals in the local bar, it’s Spain vs Argentina, we decided to support Spain.  

We met lots of South Koreans on the road today. They completely cover themselves up including gloves, long sleeves and trousers. Apparently if you have a darker complexion in Korea it means you work out in the fields so kind of makes you a peasant. I guess it’s a kind of class thing, a bit sad really. 

We had dinner last night with Tom and Tanja who are both walking the remaining 39kms to Santiago today. I have no intention of doing that as I really wouldn’t know what to do with myself for 2 days in Santiago. I have a ticket booked on a bus to Porto airport on Wednesday where Jocelyn should be waiting for me. We have an apartment booked in Porto for a weeks holiday. 

Nathan is going to walk to Finisterre and then bus down to us so we can fly back together. Bauke has a flight on Wednesday to Barcelona where his family have a holiday house but he’s not sure if he may do some more walking instead. 

Final day tomorrow pushing our way through the crowds to get to the Cathedral, not really looking forward to it but it has to be done.  

Thanks for all those who have prayed for my feet. I can honestly say I have had less problems with my feet on this Camino than any other despite damaging my foot running earlier this year and the plantar fasciitis in my other foot. I was really concerned but they have been fine. 

If you have read this blog don’t forget to add a message to the guest book so I know who has been following me this year. 

20kms to go

16th September  

Over dinner last night Nathan and Bauke were telling me about the previous evening when they were with Tasmanian Greg and a group of Irish people from both sides of the border. Apparently when Bauke told them his name they thought he was called Malcom. No matter how many times Nathan and Bauke kept trying to put them right they kept coming back with, “yes, Malcolm” Nathan of course was just loving telling me this. Then apparently one of the women from Dublin who was at least 40 was telling the story of how she came on the Camino to find true love and staring into Nathan’s eyes whilst telling everyone the story. Nathan couldn’t wait to escape.  

Last nights hostel was full of retired Americans boasting to one another about how many years they have been here to walk from Saria which is only 100kms and the minimum distance needed to obtain a compostela certificate. Most of them also pay to send their luggage ahead and only carry tiny backpacks. They also snore very loudly.  

5am and the Americans stop snoring and start putting lights on. They also make lots of noise and shine torches everywhere even though you can see perfectly well given all the lights. By 5:45 even Nathan is awake so we decide to get up and go early.  

We finally got out at 6:30 and spent the first hour or so overtaking the people who woke us up. I don’t know why it seems such a long walk on the last day, we actually arrived at 10:45 having taken 2 cafe breaks. I asked Nathan and Bauke if they wanted to run the last 100 metres but they declined then Bauke said I wouldn’t make it anyway, so I had to run then to prove i could do it. Tanja was standing by the tunnel entrance by the cathedral square waiting for us with cold beers and couldn’t believe  it when she saw me run past. 

After a celebratory beer and a few pictures we dropped our backpacks at our hostel and went to get our compostelas. This year they have a ticket system, I have ticket number 820 and there is a 3 hour wait so we are in a bar now waiting. Just need to go and visit the tomb of St James and give his statue its annual hug then I’m done for another year. There’s no mass in the cathedral due to internal renovations so no chance to see the botafumerio in action this year.  

Will I come back next year? Maybe, there are a couple of very short Camino’s that I would like to do, the Espiritual is an alternative 100kms off of the Portuguese route up the west coast of Galicia and the Inglaise or English route, another 100kms from the north coast to Santiago, perhaps I will combine these to make up 8 days walking, who knows? 

I have questioned myself over my motives for coming here again at several points on this journey. At the beginning for the first couple of days I wasn’t really sure what I was doing here. I certainly had moments when I thought this might be my last Camino. But after a while I settled into the daily routine and the simplicity of it all and realise that this is what the Camino is all about, journeying with others, sharing stories and living life. I think this really is God’s dream for how people should be with each other.

0kms to go