Camino Via de la Plata 2022
Camino Via de la Plata (The Silver Route) 2022
"None of your knowledge, your reading, your connections will be of any use here: two legs suffice, and big eyes to see with." A Philosophy of Walking
8th April
The day is fast approaching, 1000km (that’s about 23 marathons) in 36 days. No time for rest days, I’m meeting Jocelyn on the Costa Brava for a weeks holiday so I don’t want to be late. I’m in fairly good shape and have lost some weight but haven’t really done much walking so I will have to get fit on the way.
This year I am making a few changes and walking in open toed sandals, no boots and have opted to travel very light with less than 6kg in my pack. I can always get some boots on the way if it doesn’t work out.
19th April
Although the trip to Birmingham airport didn’t take long, getting through security was hard work. As we heard on the news they are short of staff and the queue zig zagged backwards and forwards taking about an hour. I managed to sleep on the plane to Barcelona missing most of the flight and arriving at midnight local time. I then tried to get some sleep in the airport but didn’t do so well. Baggage check in opened just after 4am, straight through security and onto the plane to Seville nice and early. I had a window seat at the back of the plane and once again slept through most of the flight which arrived 15 minutes early at 7:30am.
I’ve sorted my rucksack out, had a bite to eat and now waiting for Bauke to arrive from Amsterdam. He should be landing at 9:40 then it’s a bus to the cathedral, get our credentials stamped and walk the first 22.5km. It was quite cold when I arrived but it should warm up nicely by this afternoon.
Bauke arrived on time around 10am so we took the bus into Seville and went to the cathedral. There was a large queue to get into the cathedral so we approached a steward who immediately whisked us past the crowds like VIPs and took us to the office to get our stamp.
We set off through the city following the usual yellow arrows and Camino shell symbols then along a riverbank that was used for fly tipping and smelt of sewage. We passed 3 carts being pulled by oxen which was a strange sight and a goatherd leading his large flock of dairy goats from the front, all very Biblical.
About 8 or 9kms in I noticed hot spots on the soles of my feet and as the day got hotter they developed into the biggest blisters I’ve ever had. 22km would normally be an easy day for us but it was hard work with sore feet, fatigue and walking so late in the heat of the day. We finally arrived just before 5pm and found the small hostel looking busy so we walked another km to the municipal hostel to find it has closed. A kind local took pity on us and drove us back to the first hostel where they only had top bunks left.
Have carried out minor surgery on the blisters and hopefully with the aid of some painkillers will get through tomorrow.
20th April
We only walked 18.2km today. Once we left the town we were out in the wilderness for the rest of the walk so no cafe breaks. We left around 8am and arrived before 12. I have completely miss judged the weather here, I expected it to be hot but today has been cold and windy. The terrain is relatively easy, very green at this time of year with many wild flowers.
There is talk in the hostel that there has been snow in Salamanca overnight. I am equipped for hot weather and walking in sandals so will need to get some hiking shoes as we continue north.
Tomorrow will be a longer 29km walk through wilderness, the day after that we may take a bus as the weather forecast is for rain and it’s 35km with no stopping places again. The blisters on the soles of my feel are healing but my little toes look bad.
We are staying in a Municipal Albergue with 18 beds in one room, all full up. The average pilgrim this year is older, male and Spanish although there are a few younger people here too.
21st April
I realised in the early hours of this morning whilst shivering under my blanket that I wouldn’t be able to walk today as my feet need some time to heal. Public transport options going forward were impossible so I opted to take a bus back to Seville, over an hour journey for €3, and stay the night in a hostel in the city centre.
This gave me the chance to find something else to walk in and I have bought some walking shoes now. I managed to get into the hostel early and shared a washing machine and dryer with a Welshman whose accent was really hard to understand. Seriously, I’ve had easier conversations with people here who can barely get by in English. I managed to work out that he has quit his job, sold his house and was travelling the world. He was telling me all about his liaison with a Spanish girl the night before, then he asked me what I did for a living and the subject quickly changed to how he went to Sunday School as a child and how much he used to enjoy going to church.
From here in Seville I can take a bus in the morning to Zafra, get ahead of Bauke and rest my feet for another day. I’m really disappointed that I didn’t prepare properly, with having Covid, work and a sick dog, the past few weeks have been too busy and I just didn’t make the time to really test everything out and get properly fit before setting off. I thought i was completely over Covid and back to full health but I’m not so sure now. Hopefully I can bounce back from this and get back into the walk in a day or two.
22nd April
I hear that there are new subscribers to these great spiritual writings, I hope that one day they will become a semi apocryphal text that people in the future will look to for wisdom.
For the benefit of all the newbie’s a short glossary of terms may be helpful;
Bauke - (pronounced ‘bow car’ or just ‘Paco’ if you are American) name of my Dutch walking companion who I tease mercilessly.
Albergue - crappy Spanish pilgrims hostel crammed full of squeaky bunk beds where you are guaranteed to not get much sleep.
Camino de Santiago - The Way of St James. A pilgrimage that can start anywhere but usually ends up in Santiago de Compostela at the Cathedral and the tomb of St James.
Compostela - A certificate claimed for completing at least 100km of walking or 200 by bicycle.
Credencial - A pilgrims passport that gets stamped at each hostel, bar and random donkey you find along the way. This enables you to get your Compostela above.
That’s all I can think of for now, I will add more if needs be.
The last Albergue was a classic, as soon as it opened there was a mad scramble to get the bottom bunks, followed by 20 people trying to grab 10 blankets. Then everyone rushes for the 2 showers which also contain the only 2 toilets. You wouldn’t want to be at the back of that queue!
Anyway after a 2 hour bus journey from Seville I have arrived in Zafra at 9:30pm and now you can understand why it’s so exciting to have a hotel room. Unusually for Spain everything seems to work, there are no bare electrical cables sticking out of the walls and nothing seems broken! Apart from the hobbit sized bath tub it’s great.
I spent most of the afternoon back in the city centre hostel, a very modern funky place full of young people who were all travelling. They thought I was completely mad trying to walk to Santiago from Seville but I enjoyed chatting to them. They were from Argentina, Chile, Belgium, Germany and Spain.
I had a text from Bauke this afternoon to say he was soaked through and waiting for a bus. He said he didn’t know how he was going to dry all his clothes. I told him to ask for a hair dryer at his hotel. Then I told him to make sure he put his hat on first (Bauke is completely bald).
I don’t know how it came to this - taking the bus I mean. I have walked 5 Camino’s, Bauke has walked 7 or more and we have never taken a bus anywhere. We have looked down on those who take the bus and now look at us, it’s like we just don’t care. We have nothing to prove and our standards have slipped.
I hope we can get it together at some point and do this properly. It’s going to rain again tomorrow and Bauke wants a day off. I remember he had a day off once in 2017 but I didn’t. Now I will have walked 2 days out of 5 and done more kms by bus.
23rd April
I caught up with Bauke this morning. He had a bad day yesterday. He jumped over a puddle, slipped in the mud and fell into the water. He managed to get some dry clothes on then got soaked through by the rain. He had to wait 2 hours for a bus and was so cold when he arrived at his hotel that the lady there took him by the hand and led him to his room where she put the heating on for him and ran all taps to get the hot water through. I don’t know why I find this so funny, I’m sure it was a traumatic experience.
Although we had planned to take the day off I noticed there was a municipal (council run) Albergue in the next village Los Santos de Maimona so we decided to walk the 5km which gave me a chance to try out my new shoes and means we only have 15km tomorrow. It was freezing this morning, only 6 degrees but by 11am when we set off it wasn’t too bad. More rain is forecast for this afternoon.
We had phoned ahead and the voice on the other end told us to call again when we arrived. When we got her sure enough we phoned again and 2 minutes later 2 policemen walked around the corner with the keys. It’s the quickest police response I’ve ever seen and they didn’t even seem to be in a rush. They unlocked the place, charged us €7 and stamped our credentials with the police station stamp. We have to put the keys in the letter box when we leave in the morning.
They told us that this little hostel is only a few years old and is hardly used. It comprises 2 buildings with a walled courtyard garden in between. There are only 6 single beds in 2 rooms with a kitchen diner the other end of the garden which could seat about 20. I think we will be the only ones here tonight.
My feet seem fine, they do look like I’ve been punished by the Taliban for a minor infringement of shariah law and my little toes are still a bit sore but I’m hoping I can get going properly now.
24th April
We left our police Albergue at about 7am, it was only 7 degrees and still dark as we followed the Camino to Villafranca de los Barros just 15km away. The path took us through ancient olive plantations and vineyards that showed signs of spring growth. There are wild flowers everywhere and the landscape is very colourful with birds singing as the sun rose almost an hour into the walk. Unfortunately the path was extremely muddy in places and many large puddles had to be crossed. This gave Bauke a chance to improve his puddle jumping skills although he didn’t fall in today.
I have discovered that Bauke doesn’t like mud. I am quite used to walking through mud so watching him trying to keep his expensive walking shoes clean was amusing. In some places the surface of the path had dried out but there was a layer of slippery mud underneath that had us sliding all over the place.
We followed a sign off the camino to a cafe which turned out to be closed at the weekends and found another path that rejoined the camino further along. We arrived here about 10am and managed to get a drink in the café which had just opened.
We are now sitting up on the Albergue terrace but can’t get into our room until 1. We need to find supplies for tomorrow as we have a 27km stretch to walk with nothing along the way.
25th April
We got up early this morning and left at 6:15 using our head torches to navigate out of the town and onto the old Roman road which the camino followed all the way to Torremejia.
It was another cold morning but as the sun rose in the sky the layers came off and the sun cream went on. We walked 28km and there were no villages or cafes. It was mostly vineyards as far as the eye could see with some olive trees.
I wonder how much of the world’s agricultural land is used for the production of alcohol? Or alcohol and drugs. Answers in the comments box below please. I know where I live it’s a significant percentage of the land for cider apples, hops and a vineyard.
Today was a good day, no rain, no mud and no blisters. The shoes are working out fine. It was a significant step forward and I finally felt that I was making some real progress. Maybe we will continue to walk the rest of the way without too many problems. It’s only 780km more.
When we got to the Albergue at 12:30 we were soon joined by Paul from the Netherlands and Juerk from Germany, two pilgrims we had met the previous day. Both were camino veterans but they had taken a train to Almendralejo, a town a few km to the west of the camino and walked 14km from there. There is something quite intimidating about this camino, perhaps it’s the long distances without seeing anyone or anything other than flat endless vineyards that tempts us to take the easy option.
26th April
I booked last nights Albergue on Booking.com and am sure I paid a premium for the privilege. The plus side is that we got a room with 2 beds all to ourselves so got a lower bunk each with bedding and towels included. We also had our own en suite shower and toilet, all modern and clean.
The Albergue owners daughter ran the local bar so there was a deal on for dinner and breakfast which we took. Dinner was from 7pm with breakfast from 6am so the timings worked well for us. The dinner menu came in a selection of languages all badly translated, I didn’t fancy scrambled mushrooms with egg! As there wasn’t a Dutch translation Bauke decided to write it all out in Dutch so that they could add this to their list of languages. He also decided to use some interesting phrases for some of the food, fried rubber rings for squid and old shoe instead of chicken.
We left the Albergue at 6, had our toast and hot drink breakfast in the cafe and got walking with head torches for light along the way. The camino followed alongside the road for a long way until the sun came up and we eventually set out into the fields. We have seen a number of unusual birds, some unidentified and others we managed to identify as storks and a spoonbill. The wildflowers are amazing at this time of year and in full bloom with numerous large insects.
We planned to stop in the city of Merida and get an early lunch at Burger King but when we arrived there at 9:45 we realised it doesn’t open until 12. We managed to get a second breakfast in a cafe where we had a good break and then walked on planning to stop again at a cafe 5km further along. This cafe was closed and as we came to a beautiful lake we thought we might find somewhere open. Despite passing numerous lakeside cafes nowhere was open nor were there any benches or picnic areas to sit so after a rest in a bus shelter we walked the final 8km stretch to our Albergue.
Again I had booked on Booking.com and paid twice the price the guidebook said but it is a nice place with lots of space, our beds were already made up for us and towels were again included in the price. Only 2 other pilgrims have arrived today so only 4 out of 20 plus beds filled.
It was quite a hard day today, a couple more days and I will be up to full strength and ready to take on more challenges as we move further north.
27th April
We ended up leaving earlier than expected due to some heavy duty snoring from one of the older Spanish men sharing our room. The cafe wasn’t due to open until 8.30 and we were away by 6.30 so we took a chance on the only other cafe on the route being open just 2.5km into the walk which it thankfully was.
The camino then took us through a wilderness of rolling hills, rocky scenery and wild flowers. I would imagine this will be like a desert in a couple of months but for now it was a beautiful landscape full of an abundance of bird life. We found ourselves slowing down to enjoy the experience and climbed up onto a rock to take a break and enjoy it all. It was also a bit misty for the first few hours which just added to the effect.
The wilderness eventually gave way to cattle county where all the wild flowers and grass had been eaten, the path got stonier and the going got harder especially as the sun began to break through the mist. Wild lavender bushes grew either side of the path and the smell was really strong.
Although it was a relatively short day, after yesterday I struggled towards the end until we reached Alcuscar where we drank a cold beer before the Albergue opened at 1pm.
This evening’s Albergue is in a Friary and we basically have a bunk bed in an old monks sell with a chair, a bin and a single power socket that is hanging off the wall. There is no set charge for this accommodation but they ask for donations. It’s described on my guidebook app as “an authentic pilgrims experience” They unlock the gate at 7am and if you’re not in by 10pm you get locked out. Bauke is working out how we can escape over the wall before 7. It feels like we are planning a prison break.
It’s only 5pm and I can hear the same man from last night snoring through the walls. Happy days!
28th April
I slept soundly in our little monks cell much to Bauke’s disgust. You could feel the wooden slats under the mattress. In the morning we got up at 6am but had to wait until the hospetalero had his shower and unlocked the door at 7am. There was no great escape for us.
Today was a good day for me, my body is finally adjusting to the punishing amount of exercise it is putting up with. We walked 26km so an average day. We managed to get 2 cafe breaks today, the first only had hot drinks and opened half an hour after it was supposed to. The second we had to divert off the camino for but managed to get breakfast. It was a nice day, sunny but not too hot. At one point during the walk earlier on I heard what I thought were birds in the distance but eventually realised were frogs, probably thousands of them, in a large pond.
We arrived at the Albergue to find Kevin who we met on our second evening there. He had been using the bus and walking short stretches. Geoff who we had met the previous evening was also there, he had probably passed us as we were in one of the cafes. Within the next hour or two the Albergue was pretty much full. Paul and Juerk also arrived having done bits on the bus too.
Here’s a little interactive map of today’s walk;
https://www.relive.cc/view/vXOnZk9BQBO
29th April
Just arrived in Casar de Ceseras at the Municipal Albergue. There are shower cubicles directly opposite the bunks with a nice notice, “do not piss in the shower.” Probably because the toilets are around the other side in another bedroom, glad I’m not in that bed! It was only €6 for the bed so we will have to make do.
Got up this morning at 5.30am. There were no blankets in the Albergue so I slept in my walking clothes with my jacket over my legs. I’m not the only one to have only brought a sleeping bag liner with me based on previous experience. It was a cold night in a room with 14 beds full of snoring, farting pilgrims.
Unfortunately it’s still only about 7 degrees at night. The days are warming up though with temperatures into the late 20s expected this week.
A nice straightforward 22km walk today with a break in the city of Ceseras, well we got there so early we actually took 2 beaks and 2 breakfasts as we walked through the city. We arrived here about midday and need to prepare for a 32km walk tomorrow with no cafe breaks. I’m not looking forward to such a long distance without anywhere to take a proper break.
30th April
It's hot, damn hot. 27 degrees in fact. We set off at 5.15 after the usual uncomfortable night, the first where I got a blanket but didn’t really need it. With 33km to cover it was important to get finished as early as possible before it got too hot. Geoff from Windsor walked with us along with Anna an ex pat Londoner from Australia.
After 2 hours walking on a nice gravel road in the dark the sun began to lighten up the sky and we climbed up onto rocky ground and narrower trails. Not for the first time on this trip I could hear cuckoo’s calling to each other and see black kites soaring in the sky. At 14km we came to our first stopping point, a picnic bench. After a 20 minute break we all left individually to complete the walk at our own pace.
The camino wound it’s way back down to a scenic lake and crossed 2 long bridges before I reached the second picnic bench after another 8km. It then headed away from the lake and climbed back up for another 11km before dropping down into the town of Canaveral where we had pre booked beds in the very nice private Albergue.
The last part was really hard going with rocky ground and increasing temperatures. 33km with only a picnic bench to rest at made for a long hard day. To make things worse it seems that a number of other pilgrims we recognised from the previous Albergue had got ahead of us by taking taxis part of the way.
I mentioned at the start of this blog that the camino had mostly Spanish pilgrims but there are none now. There are a few French, Dutch, German and English and one American. Most seem to be older pilgrims who are veterans of other Camino’s.
1st May
Ha ha, yes I do count myself as a bit of an oldie now but not as old as many here! I managed the 27.5km to Galistaio quite well today considering the distance we did yesterday but a few years ago these would have been easy days. A few more little blisters on toes today and a swollen foot but nothing major. We may try a few more 30km days to Salamanca to avoid a very long day after so hopefully I can maintain the pace.
This morning we left at 5.30 and walked up a big hill through a forest in the dark. When one of us checked the GPS we realised we were on the wrong path. We eventually managed to get back on the camino having done a bit of extra mileage.
The morning started off quite warm, then it cooled right down until the sun came up. We didn’t meet any other pilgrims on the road today. There were a mixture of paths with many narrow rocky trails. It’s a shame when the only thing you see for long stretches is the trail in front of you as you try to avoid the stones. We passed through some very scenic countryside and just as yesterday there were no villages along the way. A group of about 5 vultures seem to have been following us today, they are huge birds.
Bauke only likes to hang back on two occasions; when there are cobwebs across the path (especially the ones that get in your face) and when there are cows where he uses me like a human shield. This morning I was getting a face full of cobwebs much to his amusement and getting angry with him for laughing at me, I didn’t realise he was videoing me getting wound up. It was revenge for me videoing him having a meltdown when we were in our monks cell a few days back.
At one point we found ourselves in a field full of bulls. These were the lean mean looking black bulls that are used in bullfighting with their wicked horns. Thankfully they decided to get out of our way as I don’t think i was in any shape to run away! It’s certainly no country for old men.
2nd May
A bit of an odd day today, the Albergue that we were due to head for is closed so Bauke and I headed East towards the city of Placencia where we took a bus to Aldenuevo del Camino. We left just after 6am and arrived at 10.30, managed 2 cafe breaks, a trip to the supermarket and a McDonald’s before arriving at the bus stop for a bus that was 30 minutes late.
Anna and Jeff met us at the bus stop, Anna had developed a knee problem so they took a taxi there. They are staying in our Albergue this evening but are finished for now.
When we got to the Albergue two Belgian girls walked in with huge backpacks. They have been walking from Grenada doing 20km days and camping so they are carrying food, lots of water and a tent. Another girl came in a bit later, she had walked from Malaga, again with camping equipment. She said her backpack was 18kg, mine is 8.5 fully loaded with 2 litres of water. The thing I really couldn’t believe is that she was wearing exactly the same make and model of sandals that I had started in.
Not for the first time I am somewhat humbled. But let’s not forget I am 52!
3rd May
When we left our Albergue this morning at 5.30am it was very cold. Walking towards snow capped mountains wearing shorts and inadequate clothing on reflection does seem a bit stupid. The worst thing though was the wind which we have been fighting against all day.
The Camino took us along the main road for the first 2 hours. The cafe in the first village after 5km was closed. The cafe in the second village after 10km was also closed. After about 13km we came to a petrol station which had a coffee machine (with tiny little cups of coffee & hot chocolate) and a couple of tables and chairs to sit at, this was a life saver.
The trail continued to take us through a gap between the mountains and to a village at the 21km point which had a bar that opened for us and we finally managed to get some toast and hot drinks. The final stretch took us away from the mountains and through pastureland and the sun finally made an appearance although the wind fought us all the way to our Albergue.
For the first time on this camino I spent quite a while walking with Anna from Germany who was on the camino with her French boyfriend. As with most people here she had walked a few other Camino’s but had also missed speaking to other pilgrims as there are so few on this route and many are older and not as social. I was pleased that she considered me to be one of the younger pilgrims, I guess all things are relative!
4th May
The village we stayed in last night was a ghost town. Most houses were boarded up and this appears typical of the villages in this area. There were only 2 other pilgrims in the Albergue which had lots of single beds close together. We managed to get some greasy food in the local bar but didn’t stay there long. By 8pm we were sat huddled in our beds as they were the only warm place in the village.
This morning we left at 6.20 in the hope that we would find a cafe open in the next village 12km away. It was supposed to be 7 degrees but with the wind coming in from the north again it is starting to get intolerable. If things don’t improve by Salamanca we may need to rethink what we are doing.
We arrived at Fuenterroble after 12km to find the cafe open, just as well as that would have been it for me. We had breakfast in the cafe walked about 10 metres then went into a second cafe and had another breakfast where I am sitting now. I can’t believe there are two cafes open in this one village. Maybe we will complete another 18km today after all. It’s time to put socks on our hands to try and keep them from getting frozen again!
As the day progressed things did improve. We met Anna from Germany on our way out of the village and walked with her for about an hour until she caught up with her French boyfriend Damien who always leaves before her because she walks quicker than he does. The cold weather started to improve although we fought the north wind all the way.
By late morning it was finally warm enough to take a break out in the open and lie down on the grass for a while. We then set off joining Anna and Damien again then missed our turn as we were headed on an alternative route to our Albergue. This was the second time today that we had to backtrack as we had tried to take a shortcut this morning that ended in a dead end. I have no idea how far we ended up walking today, maybe 33km or more.
We eventually made it through another herd of cows and into Perosilo de los Aires where we collected the Albergue keys from the mayor and are the only pilgrims in residence. We have a nice room with 9 beds, a bathroom and a kitchen. They even put bread, jam and butter in the kitchen for us to make toast, all for a donation.
We managed to get to the bar in time for lunch, (before 4pm) and had another greasy Spanish meal although better than yesterday. Finally relaxing in the shade outside a bar next to the Albergue, bullfighting is on the television inside with one elderly lady watching. It kind of reminds me of us trying to get past these cows earlier, one had a particularly mean look in its eyes!
5th May
The distance we have covered so far is 496km but due to injury and lack of accommodation, I have taken the bus just over 100km. We have 476km to do so are over halfway but have another problem now with accommodation on the next stretch. This combined with the fact it would be a good idea to rest my feet for a day means we are planning to take a bus to Zamora today and pick up the Camino Sanabres route tomorrow so we can complete that in full. If we manage to walk the remaining 407km without any problems we could still complete just over 800km in total so about 500 miles.
This does mean that I won’t beat my personal best of 880km of continuous walking from St Jean Pied du Port in France to Finisterre on the west coast of Galicia in 2017 but I just have to accept that this camino is so much harder.
The good news is that I managed to get antibiotic cream for my infected blister and it’s already feeling much better. One day of rest and I should be good to go.
7th May
Yesterday was spent eating an all you can eat buffet breakfast in the hotel, washing clothes and later taking the bus to Zamora. Bauke wins the prize for navigator of the day for using Google maps to satnav his way three paces out of the hotel entrance to discover the laundrette was only next door. At least it worked, not all our navigation has been so successful.
I took a cheap room in another hotel last night, only 1 star this time but it gave me a bit more space and another chance to tend to my feet in a cleaner environment. Bauke stayed in the Municipal Albergue and we planned to meet at 7am in the town square, although he did say he expected me to text him at 6 to ask if he was ready.
At 6.30am he text me to say he had found a cafe open and as I only had to put my shoes on we managed to get breakfast before leaving at 7. Chocolate and churros, a real treat.
No need for head torches today, 7am was light enough to see clearly as we made our way out of the city and through arable farmland. The fields were mostly wheat with some rye and rape and the paths mostly good farm tracks. I’m happy to have left all those cows behind.
The only cafe on route was closed so after a short break on a park bench we walked the 19km in just over 4 hours including another sit down on a railway bridge. We managed to buy cold beer and snacks from a petrol station before we arrived at our Albergue.
The Albergue is another Municipal one, the door was unlocked and we helped ourselves to beds and got settled in. The instructions were that the hospitalero would come and collect our €5 donation at 1.30pm but if he didn’t to leave the money in the mail box. It’s now 2.15 and he hadn’t showed up yet.
The days look like they are starting to get warmer, there is a 20 degree rise each day from early morning to mid afternoon. By the middle of the week it should be 31. We have some long days next week so will have to start ea
8th May
We set off this morning at 6:15 to walk 28km to Tabara. This was on an alternative route along the road as the main camino route to Tabara was a 2 day walk. Walking on tarmac for this distance was hard on the feet and finding places to rest was difficult. I managed to follow some farm tracks parallel to the road for about 5 or 6km and at our only possible cafe break we found the cafe closed on Sundays. We had however planned for this possibly and taken enough food for the day.
By the end of the walk at 1pm the sun shining down and it was starting to get hot. The next couple of days look even hotter but it is still cold in the mornings. It’s the first day I’ve had to put on sun cream and hat for a while. It’s more like I expected this camino to be in terms of the weather. In terms of people it’s still mainly retired people. I do miss walking with young people, they always speak good English and are usually good fun. Yesterday we had French lady trying to ask us something in French despite the fact neither of us could understand a word. She just tried again but louder, that didn’t work either.
Lying on my bed now having had a siesta. Everything hurts, hope we don’t end up back on the road again tomorrow. A slightly later start tomorrow but we still want to beat the sun. We are surviving on breakfast bars and occasional bananas in the mornings when we can get them. The shop here is closed on Sundays so it will have to be a breakfast bar tomorrow and hope the cafe at 14km is open.
9th May
I may have mentioned at the start of my blog almost 3 weeks ago that we heard the sound of a cuckoo. What I haven’t mentioned is that it seems to be doing the whole camino with us. Every day for hours on end all we hear is cuckoo, cuckoo. A sound that is a rare delight back home is beginning to drive us, well … cuckoo!
This morning we set off at 6.30am after a really good nights sleep only ruined slightly by an old French lady making a strange snorting sound. After about half an hour of this we decided it was time to go. It is due to get hot today and we wanted to be finished before it became too sunny.
The camino took us through about 14km of wilderness. We kept seeing what we assumed were big cat footprints along the trail. There are Iberian Lynx here along with wolves and bears but we didn’t see any today.
The sun warmed us up nicely but there was still that cool wind from the north. After 14km we came to a village where we found 2 cafes open and managed to get some breakfast. Another 7km and another village with a closed cafe but an open shop, then 1.5km to our Albergue.
Accommodation today is in a Municipal Albergue run on donations. The place is large, clean and spacious and you basically just help yourself to a bed and put a donation in a tin. There is a notice telling us to get a stamp at the church but the church is locked, no surprise there, so we will get one from the bar.
Resting on my bed right now I can hear that damn cuckoo outside through the window. I hope it’s not going all the way to Santiago.
10th May
Today we headed west for the first time since leaving Seville. We are now walking on the Sanabres Way which runs parallel to the French route into Galicia. We both wanted to avoid the French route which is oversubscribed with tourists walking the final 100kms from Saria, the minimum requirement to obtain a Compostela certificate.
Today we actually passed two other pilgrims on the road, most days we haven’t seen anyone. The walk to Rionegro was mostly along good roads but we did manage to get lost once. We decided that following GPS was better than following the arrows that seemed to be pointing us in the wrong direction. It turned out that the camino had been moved and we ended up bushwhacking our way through the undergrowth and sliding down a steep bank to get back on the road. Not the best choice we have made, thankfully I only ended up with minor injuries.
The cafes along the way were closed as we expected as they tend to take Tuesdays off for some reason. We did manage to get a cold drink at a little Albergue with 4 beds run by a South African man, I would have liked to have stayed there but it was too early. As it was we arrived here just after midday having completed 28km, we had left at 5.40 this morning to beat the heat.
It’s nice to arrive places now and sit in the shade with shorts and tee shirt on. It’s still cool in the mornings but nothing like it was a week or two ago.
We went into the local restaurant which was across the street for lunch. It was basically run by a guy who thought he was Spains version of Gordon Ramsey. There was no menu, they just served the same old food you get anywhere in Spain dressed up with a bit of jam and sauce. It was hilarious, the guy told us which glasses to use for the wine and water and which knife and fork to use for each course. At the end they left us sitting there so long with the three shot bottles that we managed to drain them by at least 50% before they noticed and gave us the bill, €17 each including the two drinks we had before the meal. Fully rehydrated now and about to sleep it off.
11th May
Today we set off at about 6.20am having gone through our usual routine of picking up our packs and boots and getting sorted out in the Albergue kitchen. As we crept quietly out of the dormitory the 6am alarm of a French couple went off waking everyone up anyway.
We had timed our departure this morning to coincide with the opening time of a village cafe about 9km along the camino. We arrived at 7.50, a bit early, to find the place already open. As we were eating our breakfast we were joined by Johachim who we have discovered likes to leave earlier than us but makes up his own camino route as he goes along. He basically sticks to the roads if they are quicker. Johachim is sixty years old, overweight and is a Spanish bus driver with a good sense of humour and a large appetite. Last night he went back to the whacky restaurant and had a second meal as well as having had lunch there.
Johachim got a stamp at the cafe and put yesterday’s date on as he is trying to make his credential look more believable. I think he uses public transport more often than we do.
We continued our walk with one short break to apply sunscreen and arrived at Astarianos at about 12.15 having completed 26km. The only problem was that the only Albergue in the village was half a km up a lane in the back of a sports centre with only 10 beds. We decided to go to Puebla de Sanabria a much bigger town by taxi where there would be better accommodation.
Having booked a hotel room each we asked the owner of a cafe we were sitting in if there was a local taxi service. His wife said yes there was and that it could be organised quickly. We ended up with another Dutch pilgrim and Johachim sharing the taxi fare with us. The ‘taxi’ turned out to be the cafe owners van which had a second row of seats in it. I’m sure he runs several taxi rides a day in this.
For us we have finally sunk to a new low as we have never resorted to being ‘taxigrinos’ before (peregrino = pilgrim) and have always looked down on those that have done this on the camino. But this is certainly no ordinary camino.
Unbelievably it looks like we will end up on public transport again tomorrow due to a complete lack of accommodation along the next stage on the route.
When we arrived in the town we went into a restaurant for lunch and there were the French couple whose alarm went off at 6am looking rather clean and fresh considering it had been such a long dusty stretch of road today. How they had got there before us, I have no idea. They must have taken a taxi, typical taxigrinos.
12th May
It’s been a funny day today, we had planned to walk 25km and then take a bus due to lack of accommodation. However we realised that there was no transport from the village we wanted to walk to plus I had a painful blister so we just decided to take a day off and took the bus to our next stage. We should at least be able to walk the last 200km now over 8 days.
We are currently in the small town of A Gudina maybe 1km from the Portuguese border in the mountains of Galicia. The locals speak Galician and don’t understand my Spanish very well. More bizarrely they serve Superbok draught beer in the bar which is the Portuguese standard beer that you get everywhere in Portugal. I had one earlier just to remind myself how bad it is.
13th May
We had planned a later start today as we only had 20km to walk today but as ever our plans were scuppered by early risers, alarms etc in the spacious Albergue we were staying in. So we set off around 6.30 passing a classic Galician countdown to Santiago marker with 197,108km on it, only 2km different to the ‘guide book’ (guide book these days = phone app) and not to be trusted. It’s not uncommon for these to actually increase between markers on other Camino’s I have done.
Today we walked at around 1,000 metres high through the mountains of the Galician/ Portuguese border. We could see mountains all around us and the weather was beautiful. We passed a few other pilgrims on the way including Johachim who left really early and seems untypical of most Spanish who generally don’t mind walking in the heat.
We arrived at the mountain village of Campobacerros at 11am, the first to arrive. A quick shower and then off to the local bar for a late breakfast. The 2km descent down to the village was hard going and I noticed my little toes are starting to hurt. We have just traveled around 800km on the flat and now everything is either up or down. I think I will lose a toe nail on my left little toe, at least it’s not a big one like last time.
14th May
We left this morning at 7am, it was a warm cloudy day and after a short ascent up we began the long descent zig zagging our way down towards Laza, only 14km, one of our shortest days. It wasn’t long before we heard thunder in the distance and this continued throughout the morning. The storm finally caught up with us when we were only 3km from the town and we had to battle our way through heavy rain with thunder and lightning.
We arrived in Laza at 10am, quickly finding a cafe to take shelter in and took the opportunity to eat a late breakfast. At 10.30 Johachim walked in, he had left at 5.30 an hour and a half before us. He couldn’t understand how we had passed him but we finally worked out that he had walked an extra 5km along the road and taken 3 long breaks. We had walked quite slowly but only taken a 5 minute break.
The Albergue didn’t open until after 12 and we had to register at the local emergency services office with an officious little fireman who eventually gave us the key to get in.
Tomorrow we have 33km to walk but the forecast is for more rain.
15th May
We left early for our 33km walk to Xunqueria de Ambia, just before 6am. We wanted to try and stay ahead of any bad weather and get over the mountain as quickly as possible. We also knew that the cafe at the top would be open at 8am as Johachim had walked there the day before and text to let us know.
The first hour we walked upwards in the dark, mostly along the side of the road and then we ascended up onto the foggy mountain for another 400 metre climb. Even though the sun must have risen some time just after 7 we didn’t see anything but mist and fog.
We eventually got to the cafe for about 8.20 and soon after the first taxi load of pilgrims from the previous nights Albergue walked in behind us. We set out again walking another 8km, all downhill this time, to a second cafe with black clouds overhead and the constant threat of rain. We did feel the odd spot but thankfully it came to nothing.
The final stretch was much the same until the last half an hour or so when the sun finally came out and tried to cook us. Thankfully we were walking through shady woodlands for this stretch.
Despite being in the Galician mountains now the cuckoo’s have never left us, even making their annoying noise through the mist this morning. The only times we haven’t heard them are when we have walked into the cities.
When we arrived this afternoon we walked on past the Municipal Albergue in the hope of staying on the town another 600 metres away but then found that the private Albergue now only had expensive private rooms so after eating in a restaurant traipsed back to the Municipal Albergue. It’s Sunday so no shops are open anyway, at least we managed to get some food.
The route markers say we have 128km to do, the app says 132 but we will now just keep walking until we arrive. We should be there in five more days.
16th May
A 23km walk to the city of Ourense this morning, fairly uneventful walking along the side of the road most of the way. With 8km to go I spotted one pilgrim waiting for a bus but I think most people walked in.
The only benefit to walking on the road so close to the city is that all the villages seem to have cafes open early. The villages are all in good condition with many large houses, I think this is a commuter area for the city.
Despite it being a relatively short walk I really struggled today. My feet are hurting and I think I have plantar fasciitis in my left foot. The stress of walking on a hard surface all morning has taken it’s toll.
Sitting outside at a cafe now opposite the city centre Albergue waiting for it to open at 1pm.
17th May
I wasn’t directly involved in this incident but just after the Albergue opened at 1pm yesterday four of us checked in and a fifth pilgrim arrived who had come to the city by bus. The hospitalero refused him entry and pointed out that the accommodation was first for people who had walked, then cyclists, then from 6.30pm others who were starting in the city or who had traveled by bus.
He was correct as there is nothing worse than finding all the bottom bunks taken by people who haven’t walked. However the guy started pleading that he had blisters and wanted to be let in. He only had a couple of stamps in his credential and the hospitalero started yelling at him. At one point it looked like he had the pilgrim by the throat as he refused to leave and he was certainly nose to nose with him. He eventually threw him out of the Albergue.
Despite this it was a nice place to stay and centrally located in the city. We even managed to get to McDonald’s and have a meal out of normal Spanish eating times.
Today we walked about 5km to the outskirts of the city over the old Roman bridge spanning the Rio Mino which reminded me of last September when I walked with three of my boys along from the mouth of the river in Portugal 30km inland to Valenca and crossed over the bridge into Spain to Tui.
The following 5km were uphill on tarmac road with the promise of a cafe at the top. The cuckoo was waiting for us mocking us with it’s annoying call long before we reached the top where we found the cafe closed. The next cafe was almost 3km, also closed. The last chance for a hot drink was another 3.5km, finally a cafe that was open. It had been a long walk.
The final 5km into the little town of Cea was mostly off road and easy going. We arrived just after 11am and were let into the Albergue which was still being cleaned. I managed to get a shower and get a couple of hours sleep needed thanks to the snoring from last night.
A few other people that we have met began arriving about an hour later and we ended up walking back to the start of the town to the only restaurant open for food as it is a public holiday today. Whilst we were eating we noticed lots of new pilgrims walking in late. We didn’t recognise any of them and they all turned out to be last 100km pilgrims come to do the minimum requirement for a Compostela certificate. This was confirmed by a pile of backpacks in the entrance to the Albergue of those who pay to have their packs transported ahead of them each day. These people are a bit of a joke and it’s hard to take them seriously. There is a whole family of Americans here along with other groups all limping in after their first day. After half a bottle of wine and a few beers this all starts to look quite funny to watch.
Tomorrow will be another 5.30am wake up as we aim for a 33km day. The forecast is cloudy so that should be perfect.
18th May
Bauke and I had a small disagreement about whose stupid idea it was to do this camino yesterday afternoon. This followed another steak with a bottle of red wine and several beers, no burgers this time. This camino is getting ridiculous, there are now groups of Americans walking and sending their backpacks on ahead. I mean it’s only 100km they are walking, 4 days maximum. I thought backpacks were for putting on your back.
There are others walking now who look like they are struggling. A very large German lady with her father who seems to be trying to relive a past camino and share the experience with her. She looked like she was going to have a heart attack when they arrived yesterday. Most of these people have grossly miss calculated as an Albergue at 15 or 20km (depending on which route you take) is closed leaving a minimum 33km walk.
We left at 5.40am this morning as we both fell asleep early last night. I think I was out by 8pm, no idea why. We had to walk 15km for 3 hours over hills before we found a cafe. As we arrived a group of 4 long distance walkers we had seen regularly got out of a taxi. We both found this really disappointing as it is a requirement to walk the last 100km to obtain a Compostela certificate. When we later passed them Bauke challenged one of them who admitted that she had cheated and was going to basically lie and claim a Compostela anyway which I’m sure they will all do.
We both find this a bit hard to take from people who should know better. I certainly won’t be claiming a certificate of distance because I didn’t walk everything I should have but we have walked as much as we could and didn’t jump in a taxi just because we didn’t want to walk 33km. These people have walked from Seville and should be able to cope with 33km. I think they have simply given up trying.
We arrived in our Albergue just before 1.30, the first ones here and pick of the beds. Looks like we have American slack packers in the bunks above us now. Only 2 days and 52km to go.
The Albergues we have been staying in over the past few days are all run by the province of Galicia and tend to be much nicer than other Municipal Albergues in other places. Last nights one was a modern construction of industrial style concrete and wood with open ceilings in the rooms which create one big sound box. I bet the people that design these places never had to sleep in one.
When the group of 12 Americans returned from their evening meal they congregated downstairs and made a lot of noise before eventually coming to bed and making more noise. That combined with hearing each time someone used the toilet in the night and the mosquitos made it another night without much sleep.
We left this morning at 5.30am for our 34km walk. Today we managed to take 3 cafe breaks including breakfast at 7am. No more closed cafes, no more disappointments, even the cuckoo has finally left us to go and mock someone else. Actually we kind of missed the annoying little thing. We also started to walk past more people walking the last 100km, new backpacks and clean shoes are the giveaway.
We are in another modern Albergue probably designed by the same idiot that designed last nights. Let’s hope the Americans don’t show up, with 34km and the sun now shining they will have to take a taxi if they want to get here. This place is in the middle of nowhere, there’s nowhere to get food. Luckily we did our research and brought an extra 5kg of food and wine up the hill in the heat for 5km from a supermarket in the last town we passed through.
There is no stopping us now, we are only 17km from Santiago. An early start tomorrow and we will be there for breakfast.
I managed to get a good nights sleep last night. I was trying to read through my blog to remind myself of the places I have been over the past 32 days. I got most of the way through before falling asleep.
We were keen to get going this morning and try to arrive at the pilgrims office early to get our Compostelas so left at 6am for our final 17km walk. We managed to get breakfast at a cafe on the way and then got stuck up a bank after trying to take a short cut. We ended up looking like a right couple of novices climbing down onto the path which went under a tunnel below the road we had been walking on. That one was down to Bauke’s poor navigation skills.
Eventually the markers counted down to 10 then 5 then 2km until we finally walked through the last of Santiago’s city gates and into the old city and different entry route to the Cathedral square at 9.45.
I’ve never felt very emotional about arriving in Santiago before and expected it to be a bit like Groundhog Day but this time was different. We both ended up blubbing for a bit before we pulled ourselves together and took a few pictures. I don’t know why this time was different, I think maybe it was just so damn hard.
We went to the pilgrims office took a ticket and then sat outside in a cafe and had more breakfast whilst watching the ticket numbers online. My number was 183 and it was only 10am. Finally our numbers were getting close so we went back in and collected our Compostela’s.
Bauke managed to get an early check in at his hotel so I dropped my pack at my hostel and went to the Cathedral to pay homage and say prayers at the tomb of St James. Then I went to the midday Mass to complete the experience and make sure I get my indulgence and full forgiveness of all my sins, something I really needed after this camino.
I will post a few final thoughts tomorrow but for now I just want to get a shower, get into my bed and sleep.
Final reflections
Why did I do this walk? A question i have asked myself many times over the past month. I originally planned to walk it last year simply to add the Camino to my list but this was delayed due to Covid. Over the past year it’s become more of a need for a break from ministry, I’ve been exhausted and just knew I needed time away. Walking a camino seemed to me the best way to keep me occupied and take my mind away from my everyday life and give me other things to worry about.
Walking such a ridiculously long distance kitted out for sunny Spanish weather and finding the mornings close to freezing has been shocking. Somehow we made it, there was a moment on one freezing morning though when the whole trip would have ended if a particular cafe had not been open, but it was so we carried on.
That annoying cuckoo (I’m sure it was really many cuckoo’s) became symbolic of that inner voice that tells us we can’t do it, that we’re not strong enough and that we should just give up. It was the cruel mocking laugh every time we came to a closed cafe. Swearing and shouting at it in the middle of nowhere didn’t really help. It was significant that it gave up on us on the last 2 days although we did both miss its call in the end.
I originally thought I would end up walking this alone due to my friend and walking companion Bauke maybe not getting the time off work but I’m so glad I didn’t and that he managed to work it out. I would have given up long ago if not for Bauke. The man is solid as a rock, never lets you down and knows how to operate a washing machine. He is also fun to wind up but really knows how to push my buttons too!
He stayed in a hotel room last night with a bathroom that was so small he could sit on the toilet, brush his teeth in the sink with his feet in the shower all at the same time.
I’m really pleased he has found a good woman who along with her young son seem to have made him so happy. I really didn’t miss him chasing around after German girls this time even if the only single German girls we met were all over 60. Bauke worked out we have now walked 2000km together and reckons I have complained for 1900 of them. Thanks for putting up with me again! Until the next time 😁
I haven’t said much about the people I met on the way in the later part of the walk. I mentioned Anna & Jeff who pulled out just before Salamanca but for most of them i never got their names or even spoke their language, we just shared a smile of companionship along the way and gave a cheer for them if we spotted them arriving whilst we sat in the sun drinking a beer.
They were known to us as Spanish smiling man, Italian man, Swedish man, younger German lady. A large Swiss man called Gianrito (or as we called him Giant rito), Polish couple, English lady and old Dutch man. The cheaters I’ve briefly mentioned, South African lady, old German lady, Danish wheelbarrow man (he had a sort of trailer thing for his pack) and other Dutch man tended to keep to their little group of cheaters in the last week which soured things a bit for the rest of us.
Johachim, the large Spanish bus driver is still sending Bauke pictures of the food he eats each day. I’ve no idea why Bauke gives these people his phone number. It never ends well and I have to listen to him complaining all day about the texts they send him. I think Johachim went on a diversion to visit his cousin who he probably got to taxi him to Santiago to collect his Compostela.
Thanks to all who have left comments on the blog and encouraged me along on this really stupid venture. At several points in this journey I have said never again, but there is a little camino through the mountains of Asturias that I haven’t done yet…
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