Author: Ben & Joon

Friday Oct 28. Ribadeo to Lourenza.

We decided to take a bus to Lourenza. As we stepped outside the hotel, it started to drizzle for a short bit. Prescient?

After lunch in Lourenza, we spent the afternoon in silence and meditative prayer. This is soulful for a pilgrim.

Tomorrow, we walk to Abadin. Blessings.

Thursday Oct 27. La Caridad to Ribadeo. 6hrs 20mins, 24.1km.

One may think that lodgings are merely a footnote to Caminos. That one merely needs a bed to rest one’s head. But just as one admires the local culture of the villages and towns that one passes through, one should also appreciate some of the unique lodgings that one comes across. Hotel Casa Xusto in La Caridad is one of those lodgings that has a unique character and ambience. Even the entrance door to the hotel could have been mistaken for one of those old castle doors, it was solid heavy wood and many inches thick. The furnishings were old world, and there was ample sitting areas, both upstairs and downstairs. The decor attracted one’s attention and curiosity.

We had an early start this morning, departing Hotel Rural Xusto at 8.10am. Sunrise was 8.56am. We decided to have our breakfast provisions that were bought the previous day in the enclosed area outside the hotel lobby. The owner-proprietor had furnished it with a sofa/coffee table and coffee vending machine. We had checked out already, handed in the key, and the door into the hotel lobby was secured. After the vending machine had dispensed the two cups, and as we were eating our breakfast, the hotel door open and the owner-proprietor came out with a plate with some cookies, to our surprise and delight! He had probably heard/observed that we had operated the vending machine. He didn’t realize we had breakfast provisions. Nevertheless, what he did was beyond professional courtesy. We were the (grateful) recipients of a generous and compassionate heart. This was not totally out of character, because the previous day on checking in, he offered me a can of beer and a plate of jamon. And he carried one of our bags to the first level for us. Even though we couldn’t communicate in a common language, his language of the heart was very discernible.

As we walked out, it was still dark. Using the App, we walked out onto the main road that was running through La Caridad. I didn’t pay attention until we were about 30m when I realized we had over-shot a turn off. We backtracked, and quickly came onto a path through the forest. No more street lamps. Fortunately, our blinking personal beacons could be used as mini-flashlights. It was powerful enough to light the immediate area in front of our footsteps but not much else! And so, we walked about 700-800m, for about 12 mins in the forest, before we came out onto a road. After many days on the Camino, any anxiety over the unknown becomes one of anticipated curiosity. What is this experience? How does it change me?

Today’s walk was generally flat with minor climbs of 150 feet and less. It passed the countryside and many farms that raised cattle. There were farm land that had been harvested and were furrowed. There was minimal traffic on any country roads that were walked on. Near a beach area, we were on boardwalk. In short, a very relaxing walk in great overcast weather (that we were able to even see a rainbow in the distance).

There were occasions when we came upon the coastline. This would be the last coastline stage as after Ribadeo, the Camino route swings inland. At one such site, we could see several camper vans. One such family of surfers had a little child with them. A different lifestyle indeed.

We finally came to the bridge that will take us into Ribadeo. This bridge separates Asturias from Galicia. Our hotel manager gave us some examples of the difference in pronunciation for the same word.

I pondered on this term, “language of the heart”. Kindness is one of its dialects. So is compassion. But as I walked today, I focused on the language of the heart with God. How could I learn and express that? And that was the beauty of today for me.

As one delves into this language of the heart, one gets a heightened awareness to hold back words of the tongue when such words will cause an emotional disturbance, out of love for the Other.

Wednesday Oct 26. Villapedre to La Caridad. 5 hours, 19.6km.

We left El Pinar at 8.21am (sunrise was 8.54am), a nice facility that had a kitchen area with a microwave, coffee & beverage vending machines. We were able to heat up some meat pastries as our breakfast.

The street lamps were still on as we left El Pinar, walked about 100m of the main town center before exiting onto country roads. There is enough light reflected from the sky that it was not pitch dark on the country roads. The odds of pre-sunrise walks when we return to our usual routine might be very low. I should ask myself, “Why?”, if it’s so enjoyable and allows one to break the daily routine and taste a different slice of life.

Camino routes are designed to lead one past various churches/iglesias, ermitas/capillas, etc. Today was no exception. When they are open, we will stop in. The vast majority are centuries old, though we came across a fairly modern parish in La Caridad.

On the Camino, one has to be open to ‘signs’. That’s either a primary or secondary reason that people walk the Camino, and not some outdoor trail with great scenic views. The simplicity of the villages and towns that one passes through, the natural beauty around and adjusting one’s walking pace and internal rhythms, does open up one’s receptivity.

I had various signs during the earlier stages, and I will share one that seemed to ‘shout out’ at me today. As you read, my post yesterday was themed, “Listening to Others’, and ended with a penultimate sentence about the ‘wise one’.

Lo and behold, during today’s walk, I sighted on THREE occasions, statues of ‘Owls’. I did some Internet research on why owls supposedly represent wisdom.

The owl was a symbol for Athena, goddess of wisdom and strategy, before the Greeks gave their pantheon human forms. According to myth, an owl sat on Athena’s blind side, so that she could see the whole truth. In Ancient Greece, the owl was a symbol of a higher wisdom, and it was also a guardian of the Acropolis.

Our walk today took us past many farms, open countryside and parallel residential pathways next to a major road, N-634.

During our lunch, prior to checking in, Joon double checked and realized the 38.8 km of the last stage would be too large to handle comfortably. So, we decided to change our stay the night before this last stage and walk more the second last stage. On checking in, I explored three possible options. The first two options did not work out and I was on the last option. Lo and behold, there was ONE room left on Booking.com! Net, we were short to split the 61km of the last two stages from 22km/39km to 33km/28km. We would arrive in Santiago earlier in the afternoon on our final leg. A much better proposition.

It’s difficult, no, it’s impossible to explain the how’s of the Camino. It just is.

Tuesday Oct 25. Cadavedo to Luarca. 4hrs 45mins. 15km. After which we took a taxi to Villapedres for the night.

The weather forecast indicated 40-70% chance of rain in the early afternoon in the region of Villapedres. The skies were overcast, and we left Casa Rural Roja at about 8.20am in the morning. It was dark as the sunrise was later, at 8.55am. I used personal beacons (light emitting devices) as we walked out of Cadavedo on the road. Though there were side diversions now and then, through parallel residential streets.

It was a pleasant walk. Generally, most were still asleep and thus, there was not much activity nor noise (other than a factory that was already in operation!). We were walking along a residential road in Caneiru when we spotted a line of cows in the distance walking up ahead of us. They were being led to a pasture. Seems it was a 3 person operation – someone in front guiding the lead cows, an elderly man bringing up the rear with a farm tractor, and a woman in a car blocking the road we were on.

About 7.5km into the walk, we arrived at Hostal/Restaurante Canero. This was when the Yellow Arrows differed from the WisePilgirm App. Latter seemed to indicate a more circuitous route, while former seemed to point towards a more direct route. We followed former (Yellow Arrows) and climbed about several hundred feet up a mountain incline. Which exited onto a road. That’s when my map reading skills fell short. The Yellow Arrows pointed downhill the road. I consulted the App and it appeared that we should head uphill the road. Joon wisely stepped in, and checked the App, and ‘zoomed out’ to see how going uphill on the road will eventually looped back. So, we headed downhill on the road and less than 10m, we saw other Yellow Arrows guiding us to climb uphill again. That “clicked” then for me as going downhill all the way on the road would have led us backwards. Only with the two sets of Yellow Arrows did the direction (uphill and westwards) become clearer.

My learning – check in with others, because they may have a better and more accurate perspective.

Re the weather forecast, we felt some drops of rain as we were about 6km from Luarca. We stopped to don our raingear. And/But it didn’t rain. So, after about 10 mins of walking, we took off our raingear.

The descent into Luarca provided some spectacular views of Luarca, a sea port. We took advantage of arriving just before 1pm to check out the menu of the day offerings at various cafeterias before settling on one.

After lunch, some grocery shopping before hopping into a taxi to Villapedre. The wise one advised to have an afternoon with nothing to do. That sounds good.

Monday Oct 24. El Pito to Cadavedo by bus.

This was one of those stages that would taken much from us to complete due to the multiple ascents (guesstimate cumulative 2,800ft) and descents (guesstimate cumulative 3,000ft). We decided to take the bus from Cudillero, which is about a 25 mins downhill walk from El Pito.

This post will focus on our general observations to date.

Cudillero is much bigger than El Pito. But our accommodation in latter was a steal, Euro 36 for a night in a row of cabins with an outdoor patio with chairs and table. I think Hotel Avalro almost had a full house with many locals who drove there. The rooms had foam mattresses and Joon had the highest Fitbit sleep score to date on the Camino!

In the waterfront of Cudillero, while we only patronized one eatery, my general impression was that it was not overly “inflated” as might be expected in such prime locations. In other countries, one might expect only upscale establishments to take over such prime estate. That was not the case here. Thus, we saw many local tourists, taking pictures, visiting the souvenir shops, etc.

Spaniards seem to love to socialize a lot in casual relaxed settings. They love to sit out on the terraces or patios, just having coffee, wine or beer. Any food plates (rarely seen) were more like raciones (rations or appetizers). A contributory factor to this culture might be the design and prevalence of open squares in Spanish cities and towns.

The costs of meals in standard restaurants is very affordable. In Cadavedo, a menu of the day cost us Euro 11 each. We had a first course, second course, dessert, water (or table wine) and bread. Great value and sufficient portions, such that we can cut back/down on the usual second meal of the day.

One of the biggest favorable impression was the public transportation. A bus ticket from Cudillero to Cadavedo, a distance of 23.4km (14.6 miles) cost each of us Euro 3.60. The bus was practically empty, and thus, I am led to suspect there’s a State subsidy. Which I believe is a great and needed investment to connect all these towns and people.

After all these observations, one cannot but ponder the ranking of countries that can offer its citizens a widely accessible First World life.

Sunday Oct 23. Soto del Barco to El Pito. 3hrs, 12km. We took a bus from Aviles to Soto del Barco.

We decided to take the bus to Soto del Barco. This easy morning allowed us to view Niemeyer’s buildings in the morning sun and catch the rainbow ending in our hotel.

We made our way to the 12th century Romanesque Iglesia de Los Padres Franciscanos, where we enjoyed some spiritual time.

We had cafe solo, before making our way to the bus depot. We met Jerry & Phoebe, who were taking the bus to Ribadeo. Jerry shared that he had to take in his belt by three notches since the start of his Camino! Yikes, I do not ‘pass Go’ and may have to return to Irun! Nope, not on the cards.

The bus driver understood our plans. Seems that he had ferried others on the same leg. After disembarking, we started our walk. Essentially via inner roads, through dirt paths and through residential areas. We were able to catch some great surrounding scenery.

We walked our way to Muros de Nalon. Our adventure begun as we started the final 5km to El Pito, where we would spend the night. The overcast skies were about to rain. And rained it did.

Fortunately, the route took us through a forest where the trees gave us some shelter. It was very windy too. That sort of howling wind through the trees. This forest path was probably 1.5km. We were lucky that nothing fell on us as we saw a relatively large fallen branch later on smack in the path. And amazingly, as we turned a corner, the wind and rain stopped. Quite an unforgettable experience.

The final stretch into El Pito was on paved roads. We reached our lodging in good shape and spirits.

The story of the rainbow is about a promise that the world will never experience another civilization ending flood. For us, the rainbow delivered a day that was better than it would have been otherwise.

Day 24, Fri Oct 21 was a Rest Day in Gijon. We visited the Roman baths, churches, other touristic stuff, trip planning, etc.

Day 25, Sat Oct 22. Gijon to Aviles, 8 hours, 24.7km.

We started the morning with getting an empanada that was filled with ‘pollo curry’ from a nearby panaderia that had opened since 7.30am. This is highly unusual as most tend to open at 9am. We kept this for later in the morning.

Our Plan A was to catch a bus to a stop just outside the city limits. This would spare us the drudgery of walking through the older and industrial sections. After getting directions and a map from the hotel front desk, we set off for the bus stop that was like 5 mins away.

We noted that the bus #24 (per guidebook’s recommendations) was listed as stopping at this bus stop. There were other people waiting at this bus stop. The minutes passed, the other buses came, the people waiting at the bus stop got into their buses. After waiting 30 minutes, we were the only ones at the bus. I typed into Google Translate a question of whether bus #24 stops here, clarifying that we had waited for 30 mins, with the intent to show any bus driver which pulls up or who I waved down. However, a lady showed up to wait for a bus, so I showed her my phone with the Spanish translation. She put on her reading glasses, got up to check the printed schedule. Somehow, we got the message that bus # 24 will only come in TWO hours time, since it was the weekend (Saturday!)

What was Plan B? We decided to walk. And it wasn’t a drudgery at all. We went through the suburbs, and it was interesting to see the contrast of the city glitz versus the down to earth suburban facilities. One of the notable differences was the pricing levels. Granted, for food items, a lot depends on the amount and quality of ingredients. But we bought atun (tuna) empanadas at Euro 5 and 4 at various towns. Here in the suburbs, it was Euro 3.25!

Life decided to throw a ‘fast’ ball at us as we were nearing that bus #24 destination, Sat within 0.5km, which was the start of the steep climb. I term it a ‘fast ball’ because the event will cause a gut reaction. There’s no time for intellectual analyzing. The ‘fast ball’ was a bus #24 coming up behind us! So, it wasn’t a 2 hour wait back in town. Perhaps our overall system was too tired to respond with unnecessary emotions or perhaps the Camino Way was starting to seep into our bodies, but it was a ‘so what’ response to seeing the bus #24. We got to walk even though we might not be so refreshed for the climb if we had been on the bus. And we observed some pretty interesting local sights.

Life is about Plans A, what our primary objectives or aims, and consequently, desired expectations and outcomes. A curve ball is then sometimes thrown at us. Plan B is then needed.

Today seems to be sprinkled with Plans B.

Let me jump to the evening after we had arrived in Aviles (the day will be depicted via attached photos). Given the next day will be Sunday, the priority was the supermarket shopping. Armed with a short but needed list of 5 items, Plan A was to walk to Lidl, a German based supermarket, which was 0.6km. One of the hardest thing to find was electrolytes which we had bought at Decathlon (Bilbao, Santander), a chain found only in major towns/cities.

As I was within 200m of Lidl, out of the corner of my eye, I realized I was passing another supermarket chain, Alimerka. Plan B neurons activated and I decided to see if I could get the 5 items on the shopping list in Alimerka. After getting 3 (which every supermarket would have), I was left with the electrolytes and pastries. As I stood at the end of an aisle, considering which sections to explore, I happen to just turn my head and saw the familiar electrolyte tubes on a shelf that was an arms length from me. A wave of astonishment swept over me! Plan B.

Plan A was to have an early dinner. Joon had found a restaurant in Aviles that offered Phad Thai and other fusion style food and was open at 7.00pm. This was attractive, both in terms of the early dinner and variety of food. As we made our way there, we noted a church that seemed open and said to ourselves that we would come back to it after dinner.

At this restaurant, Bambola, there was a sizable crowd. We went in and an English speaking waiter informed us that it’s best to return at 8.30pm when the kitchen would be fully opened (he initially said 8.15pm but left some leeway for the cooks to ‘settle in’). The sizable crowd was from the lunch hour plus afternoon aperitifs.

Plan B was put then into motion. We went back to that church we had spotted earlier. To our pleasant surprise that was a service in progress! What made this exceptional was there were portable 150-200 children, likely below 10 years, who were singing. They sat in the front pews and outnumbered the adults, some who were standing outside (parents, grandparents, etc.) We were able to partake of the Eucharist, which was special for us.

Plan A had been to only reserve 6 or so nights ahead for flexibility. But I had been wrestling with the stage stops as we were getting into smaller towns/villages that had a paucity of separate room accommodation. Joon kindly reminded me on checking in that I had wanted to ask the reception staff to assist with some bookings in Spanish as I anticipated this hotel might have good bilingual staff. After checking in, I changed my strategy and spent time re-doing the stage stops, sorted through various sites and accommodation offerings. Marta then helped secure two different reservations through phone calls. Booking.com was off little help in those two locations. Marta was instrumental in Plan B, and thus, I ended with reservations all the way to Santiago. Plans B sometimes require ‘angels’ in disguise.

As a Parent, I wanted my children to be focused on their own Plans A. But as I grow older, I wonder if I should have instilled in them the discernment, resiliency and serenity for Plans B?

Thursday Oct 20. Villaviciosa to Gijon. 8 hours. 31.2km. 2 notable mountain climbs; first was to elevation of 475meters; second was after descending to 100m, a climb back to 275m.

Walking out of Villaviciosa was easy as within 30 mins, we were on country roads. Traffic was much lighter on these roads.

About 3.7km, the route splits into the Primitivo or Del Norte. We kept on the Del Norte as our Correos luggage service was for this route. In hindsight, I should booked Correos from Irun to Villaviciosa on the Del Norte, and made a separate booking from a different carrier from Villaviciosa to Oviedo. Correos only starts their Primitivo service from Oviedo.

Our Cicerone guidebook advised staying on road VV-10 after Casquita. That shaved off 2.4km as the Yellow Marked route took a more circuitous route through the countryside. When later route joined up with us, it was the start of the climb to Alto de la Cruz.

Joon had been coping with a low grade fever, so we took it slow and easy. We started this climb just before 10am when it was still cool. It was generally an unpacked path, dirt at times, rocky and stony at other times. We climbed 350m in 2km. We were able to reach near the top where a road meet us within an hour. There was still about 80-100m of elevation gain on the road before we started a long descent.

The descent was pleasant as the gradient was gently and didn’t force our toes against the boots/shoes. As we reached Peon about mid-day, we saw the two pilgrims that we had briefly seen at the start of the climb (they were about 50m ahead, one was carrying a very distinctive yellow backpack). They were having a cup of coffee seated outside a restaurant. I wrongly assumed the cafe-restaurant was open; their small cup of coffee was from a vending machine. We took the opportunity to rest, have coffee and our snacks. The guidebook had alerted there would not be any services available and it was right.

The couple were the only pilgrims we saw today. We suspect most have diverted onto the Camino Primitivo.

The second climb, while to a lower elevation, was perhaps more taxing as it was mid afternoon with the sun shining, and after we had already walked for 5+ plus hours.

We started walking through residential areas. It was interesting to note the interesting features and decorations of homes.

When we finally were on level ground, the route took us away from the major road into Gijon for safety reasons, as heavy traffic was non stop. But going through residential areas is never a straight line, and I estimated this added another 2km or so. Gijon is a big city, and getting into the center from the outskirts was another 2km.

Our walking style is a slow and consistent pace. Our rest stops are short, sometimes a couple of minutes, sometimes 5-10 mins.

When we age, we all wonder, where did the years go?

Wednesday Oct 19. Colunga to Villaviciosa. 5 hours, 18km.

All (Camino) walkers face this daily, even hourly temptation. To walk fast between the scenic viewpoints. To only pause for pictures. Perhaps it’s Fall, or the much less patronized Camino del Norte, but on the Camino Frances, we did see pilgrims having picnic breaks on grass at various viewpoints. Not so on del Norte.

Un-hurriedness is a virtue that I seem to have lost, misplaced somewhere during my growing up years. The Camino helps restore this.

It may seem simple but the other day, we had to wait at the bus stop at a road. Unlike trains, we know that the bus arrival times are not so strictly adhered. We were about 30 minutes early – which means there was no way we will miss the bus. As the scheduled arrival time came and passed, I was unable to ‘wait’ without being anxious. It seems decades of being a car owner had robbed me of the un-hurried ability to wait at a bus stop. The bus did arrive about 12 mins past schedule.

Un-hurriedness on the Camino meant we took the time to pay attention when we were in nondescript surroundings. It means catching sight and appreciating what seemed to be some special effort by others.

Today’s walk was along countryside. It was slightly overcast. We enjoyed the unhurried amble. And made it to Villaviciosa before the drizzle came down.

Postscript – without premeditation, we did smell a rose this afternoon.

Tuesday, Oct 18. Ribadesella to Colunga. 21km, 5hrs.

This is being posted after the Camino, as I realized that I missed a day! Horrors!

From the pictures and Joon’s notes, we experienced a lovely sunrise as we left our Hotel Marina in Ribadesella. In our exploring of the town yesterday, we didn’t realize there was a nice beach with some lovely homes.

It was nice day for walking, a mix of countryside, hilly stretches and beach areas. We came across many surfers at the beach areas.

We love it when we came across this cow in the countryside!