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Day 0 travel to San Vicente de la Barquera.
Long day in the car and 2 buses, and almost no walking. Lots of rain between Gijon and here, which stopped before arrival. San Vicente is a picturesque Cantabrian small coastal town, so there are plenty of tourists around. The albergue also caters for both, so pilgrim's vibe is limited here. Looking forward to the mountains and to quiet landscapes, hopefully with no rain. Got the special credential (photo), all set for tomorrow!!
Day 1 San Vicente-Puente el Arrudo, 25,8km
Nice walk, bits of sun and clouds, very humid. Elevation gain 827m, down 774m. So, not flat, although not mountainous. Most of the walk is along river Nansa, that carves nicely the limestone rocks. Lots of shade, some beautiful chestnut and oak woods, and one good place for coffee and tortilla. A second place where a grumpy man sells drinks in his field. Now in a relatively small albergue, and hoping for a better night. Yesterday was terrible, with late arrivals, lots of chit chat and mosquitos...although not representative of most of the walk, there were nice steep parts like the photo shows.
Day 2 Puente el Arrudo-Cicéra, 18,1km + 6km
Short day...but beautiful. Left at 8, as it’s not very hot during the day, and made a 1,5km detour to the only cafe en route. Waited for the only shop to open at 10:30 (not worth it as fruits and vegetables were from 2021 at least), and then made my way up through a beautiful valley. Cicera, where I am staying, is a small mountain village, with one albergue and one bar/restaurant (not great). The village is pretty and there are a few rural tourism houses as there are several Picos de Europa walkers. After lunch “in town" and a great nap, I walked to a viewpoint (3km up) which was the highlight of the day. The sun came out, it was hot, there were plenty mosquitos in the forest and I sweated like a pig. But seeing how Deva carved the valley bellow was wonderful (photo). Ended up accumulating about 2000 metres (1200 up and 800 down) which was a good test for tomorrow. Sadly, I broke my sunglasses...
Day 3 quick pool
Not only I broke my sun glasses yesterday, but this morning, when opening a plastic bag (!) I completely broke my front tooth! No pain, no blood, just a branch falling off an old tree. Phoned dentists at home and the best appointment I got was 28th August or 1st September. 1st means I cannot walk Salvador, 2nd means business as usual up to Oviedo. 3rd option would be to go home in 2-3 days and wait for an urgent appointment, missing part of Vadinense and all of Salvador. So, thumbs up for continuing all the way looking like a beggar, thumbs down for going home asap, any other expression for skipping Salvador and going home. Nice photo in attach!!!
28 km to Monasterio Santo Toribio.
1st camiño is finished...got the Lebaniega and a new credential for tomorrow. It was a crazy day, phoning dentists as I climbed the 2nd hill. It was tough, hot (up to 34), and can’t remember such accumulated height: 1821 metres up and 1792 down! I took a longer route, through Cabañes, and forgot my pole 1km down in a supermarket (had to go down and up again). Also can’t remember such a beautiful stage as well...one of the best of all camiños I walked. Until now I was the only foreigner as all pilgrims I met were Spanish. Tonight, there are 3 Portuguese here – 2 walkers, dad and daughter, with mum driving between stages! Got to go to bed...quite tired!! Thanks to all who reacted to my message, and to all who sent private messages . I have to make a decision Monday. Meanwhile, tomorrow is another walking day!!
Day 4 25km to Espinama
Today seemed easier, but I ended up accumulating 2000 metres up and 1600 down. Most the walk was through incredible forests (beeches – faias - and oaks towards the end). Thus, always shade in a hot day. Few cafes, since it is Sunday. Now I am in Espinama where there are a few restaurants. They cater mostly for tourists so they are expensive. Espinama is a picturesque mountain village. There is only one shop/supermarket but it's closed on Sunday afternoons. I have to improvise some food for tomorrow, as it will be a tough mountain stage with no services at all. Great thing about arriving early on a sunny day when being a pilgrim, is that you can deal with the wash very efficiently.
Day 5, 38km to Boca de Huérgano
Today was simply the most stunning stage of all my camiños. Left at 7am, and climbed in the mist for 3-4km, then over the clouds for another 6-7km, to reach the highest point of this camiño (Vadinense for me going south and Lebaniego for those going north) – 1794 metres – with beautiful blue skies. After 3 tough hours walking up, it is always down, not too steep. I was going to stay at Portilla de la Reina (sort of the official stage end after 24-26km) but influenced by a friend who is an incredible walker ( in this group) and was here about 2 weeks ago, and continued for another 12km to this where I am now (Casa Crescente). For the first time in this walk I have my own room (including towels, a luxury for pilgrims, and just the right moment as I forgot mine this morning), and cheaper than last night's hostel, where I shared dorm with a couple that came back from dinner after midnight...!! Again accumulated about 2000 meters up and went 1700 metres down! Crazy. Difficult to pick a photo, and the 2nd day I really regretted not bringing my camera (I wonder how much more tired I would be)...
Day 6 29km to Cremeñes
It was supposed to be easier, but as I did not want to walk on the road, I made an alternative route on a road that in winter is submersed by a reservoir, having to climb through a forest to get back on the route (see photo). Then after Riañes I took the mountain route, which although shorter climbs more than 300m very quickly. 37 degrees and lack of cafes/bars/shops (only a bar with no food in Salas) explain why it took me 7 hours to get here. Anyway, landscape was beautiful although I dislike dams and reservoirs. This one was so low.....that it really is an ecological disaster. I walked near a beautiful bridge normally submerged and all the fields are now just dry mud. People were moved, churches were moved and now we can turn on all our shity ACs and electric appliances, as we produce sustainable energy!! Here the tourism industry calls this lake and surrounding mountains, the Leon fjords… wtf, the leaflet made me vomit.. now for the 1st time I have my own bathroom, and that feels really nice. More than double from last night, but no options here. Dinner starts at 21...too much for me so I had lunch here at 16 and took part of it to the room (had a small argument with the silly man for doing that, and I even have my container!!). No shop here, no breakfast till 9...so tomorrow breakfast is after 16km, I think...
Day 7 41,2km to Gradefes (1,2km from)
After a long day and with 37 degrees, checked in a hotel with pool (either this or a 5€ albergue)...no more news...
Day 8 43,7km to Los Robles
Crazy day. Up early and finished camiño valdiniense in Mansilla de los (where it joins Frances). It was always flat, along river Esla and cool up to 10am. By 12 I had done the 27km left... Luckily the Portuguese family finished at the same time and generously offered me a lift to León, right to my car. I repacked my bag (changed the sleeping bag for a liner, new t-shirts, socks and underwear, left the book I did not even open), and went straight to get a credential for the Camiño Salvador. As walking close to 55km in total was out of the question, and pharmacies were showing temperatures of 36, 38, 42 and 43, I had something light to eat, got an urban bus out of the city and started walking about 10km later. Lots of mosquitos or insects along the river, so I walked some parts on the main road. Warmer but free of the little fuc**ers!!! Got here late, I am doing my laundry of today, have to go to the supermarket, have dinner and go to bed...today there was a nice sun rise, which reminded me of those of last year in the camiño frances (those were more spectacular)...still, this one was magical too.
Day 9 23,7km to Poladura de Tercio
Started at 7 and by 12 I was already in the small village with one albergue and a rural house (staying in the latter). First part of no real interest, stopped for a coffee and tortilla after +-2 hours, and then a beautiful second part through mountains. Never too steep, never too long, cool weather, quite easy after the stages in Lebaniego and Valdiniense. On the way I passed about 12 pilgrims, and that's a difference from the previous camiño, where there’s nobody. Now I have the whole afternoon to rest and recover for tomorrow’s stage which is going to be long...
Day 10 32,5km to Campomanes
Had a rough night with stomach problems...had to take some tablets to stop going to the toilet every 10 minutes and started at 7 not knowing if I could walk what I had planned. Perhaps some food I eat or doggy water I drank, or both together with all the sun and heat. I went a bit more slowly than usual, but I made it. First 10km are beautiful and it was great to walk at dawn (photos). On the other side of the mountain though, it was foggy and I could not see much. Got to Pajares before 11 so I was glad I did not plan to stay there. After it started to rain a little at mid day and going down hill was tough. The rest of the stage was quite difficult; it seemed endless. In total I accumulated 1788m up and a crazy 2632m down!!! Staying at a nice place. I deserve my own room and bathroom. Let’s see if I recover for a possibly long stage tomorrow.
Day 11 41km to Oviedo, the end!!
The 2nd or 3rd longest day of these 3 caminos....certainly not the hardest. I had my best night in a perfect bed and did not start until 7:30 (actually thought wtf was I doing getting up at 6:15 on a rainy Sunday when I could sleep all morning). Anyway, nothing makes sense, so there I went in the rain. After 7km, black coffee and tostada (my stomach recovered fine). Had the company of a 70 year old man from Porto who I had met 2 days before. What a tenacious walker! I was in Mieres (20km) at 12 where one stage ends...said goodbye to him and continued. After a few km the Camino goes up and I stopped at Albergue Casa Alba. I had a reservation there and had phoned cancelling but wanted to have a kind word with the hospitalera. She was so nice, offered me a drink, chips and olives (which I did not have to save my stomach), we chatted and she showed me the albergue. 6 nice beds in 3 rooms and only an Hungarian girl staying who hadn’t arrived yet. Didn’t feel so bad that I had cancelled as I didn’t take anyone’s bed! The Camino was more beautiful in this last part, going up and down, up and down. After 30 or 35km it’s tough and at one stage, when I could already see Oviedo in the distance, I put some music to keep me going: Star Wars, and other uplifting epic sounds, really loud. I have met nice people along the way but because I made 3 different caminos and quite fast I really had no time to socialise much. Many people were doing Lebaniego only (3-4 days), almost no one was doing Valdinense (met 5 people in 5 days!), and some were doing Salvador only (and I was going too fast to meet people for more than one day). Also felt that many of the people walking 4-5 days were kind of turigrinos, having late diners, making noise in albergues, a kind of mix of holidays and walk. Now, after getting the Salvadorena (equivalent to the Compostela), I had a great meal to commemorate these 11 days ( should have been 15) and 350km, which were the toughest physical and mental challenge I have had. And I feel exhausted!!! Got my bus ticket to Leon tomorrow morning and I should make it to the dentist in Portugal at 5pm...in my mind there is Ingles, Espiritual, Invierno, Olvidado and Mozarabe, but with time. It’s a bit crazy to do it like this, not having the time to recover from one day to the next!... so leave you with a video this time instead of a photo (photo here in the site)!! Ciao
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