Category: 2022 Camino del Norte

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.

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.

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.

Sunday Oct 30. Abadin to Vilalba. 4 hrs 50 mins, 20.7km.

After two days of rain, it was a dry cold day. After a good breakfast at Casa Goas, we started out at 8.35am (the clock was adjusted back one hour at 3am). The temperature was 48F. This was the fall temperature that we had been expecting and it finally arrived. We opted for light pullovers as we figured that we will eventually warm up through the walking. That was indeed the case, though we may need our down jackets if it gets windy.

We quickly progressed to a quiet country road within a couple of minutes. And then into the countryside, via forested paths adjacent to farms and open meadows.

The cool air, damp dirt paths, low hanging clouds and rays of sunshine created a tapestry of colors.

Today’s countryside walk in cool weather was greatly enhanced by the fact that we were 99.999% of the time by ourselves. The few people we came across were working the land, three walking pilgrims, four cycling pilgrims, a lady walking her dog, one crafts seller. As the tag line goes, this was ‘priceless’. To be able to soak all these in, with one’s loved one by the side.

Joon found out that about 1,000 pilgrims had arrived at Santiago on the 29th. I am expecting that as we get closer to Santiago, as more routes converge, we will start coming across more pilgrims as we walk.

We arrived in Vilalba at about 1.30pm. We found there was a pulperia opened. Yummy!

We discussed our experiences to date, and there was commonality on the core themes. But this story still has four days to be written.

Monday Oct 31. Vilalba to Miraz. 9 hours 20 mins, 35.8km (30 mins lunch stop).

The weather forecast was for rain in the morning till 12pm. The forecast was spot on, though the rain came and went multiple times.

The rain was mainly a light drizzle, not a downpour. We found that umbrellas are more effective than raincoats as they keep our backpacks out of the rain too. Unless it’s too windy.

It’s an experience to walk 3.5-4.0 hours through intermittent rain and drizzle. Fortunately there weren’t many muddy stretches nor significant puddles. Soaked shoes, socks and feet can force one’s attention ‘downward’, which may counter the uplifting of spirit that the Camino brings about.

The route took us through the countryside and small villages. A small village could be a cluster of 6-8 homes with the road passing right through the middle. There were forested paths, open countryside paths and country roads. Traffic on latter was non existent in the early and middle stages.

At about the half way mark of 18km, we reached Baamonde at about 1pm. We saw and greeted a pilgrim who was sitting on a step and applying some tape on his leg; he was likely experiencing shin splints. Joon had twinges off this too, but it was tolerable for her. We took the opportunity for a pizza lunch stop and bought some provisions as the next day was a public holiday (which Hiro had informed us several days ago).

As we started the second leg at 1.30pm after lunch, we knew we had another 18km to go. Based on terrain (i.e. ascents/descents similar to the morning’s, I mentally estimated we would reach our destination between 5.30pm – 6.00 pm). Bearing in mind we had already expended energy in the morning.

On the Camino, this stage was the longest in terms of distance. That is not necessarily the hardest as the terrain was not so mountainous as other stages. But the distance still makes it a challenge especially when one has issues like shin splints or corns on one’s foot.

This is really when one needs to draw upon one’s inner reservoir. As Joon aptly put it, we can only draw out what we had previously stored in it.

There’s a mental, physical and emotional drawing that one has to pull out during the Camino. Unlike a fuel gauge that can tell how far more the car can travel based on the remaining fuel, our inner reservoir has no such gauge. And we generally always surprise ourselves! Clearly, there’s a spiritual drawing upon for some of us too.

In Life, there are many elements competing to be stored in one’s ‘external’ reservoir. Money has become too common the major make up of many reservoirs. Perhaps in subscribing to the philosophy that ‘Money solves many problems’, we may become susceptible to the cousin-philosophy that ‘Everyone has a Price.’ Goodwill with fellowmen is a very neglected reservoir element.

We reached our accommodation at 5.38pm. The lodging proprietor was expecting us. We gratefully checked in, had a good wholesome dinner (found in such rural settings), and slept for 9 plus hours.

Postscript – I need to consciously reflect what and how I am filling up my reservoir.

Tuesday November 1. Miraz to Sobrado dos Monxes. 6 hours 33 mins. 25.5km.

A typical Galician breakfast consists of espresso and tostada (toasted bread) with olive oil and (fresh) tomato paste. We had latter fresh before but on this occasion, our lodging provided this in single serving Jan containers.

Today’s walk was shorter than yesterday, and in better weather. But what was more important for us was whether we had recovered sufficiently from yesterday’s effort. We passed that test. Co-incidentally, the sum total of yesterday’s and today’s mileage is the same as the last two stages, namely 61km! This increases our confidence about our walking ability for the last two stages.

While this stage takes us to the highest point in the Del Norte at about 2,300 feet, we were already starting at about 1,600 feet!

The first 4km were reported in the guidebook as ‘some of the last scenic off-pavement walking on the Norte.’ Yes, it was. And we took a leisurely pace at that.

The purported tallest height of the Norte was given to us in mostly gentle gradients along pathways. There were some steep inclines along forested paths but this was really insignificant relative to everything we had experienced in earlier stages. Thus, today’s walk was relaxing.

The relaxing walk today allowed for some pondering. Refinement is a process of removing impurities or unwanted elements from a substance. My thoughts gravitated not to the impurities, but the pure essence that results from this process.

There is a term used for benchmarking, namely the ‘gold standard.’ IMO, the experiences walking the Camino helps refine us and our ‘standards.’ What gets refined is unique for each of us.

I toyed in my mind various gold standards that I possess and (intuitively, sub-consciously) apply in my life. For example, what is my gold standard for compassion? For humbleness? For generosity? For forgiveness?

It’s not only the absolute measure in a standard that’s important. But its integrity too. For example, when we profess certain humanitarian values or compassion standard but balk at homeless shelters in our neighborhood, we lack integrity.

Christians have a universal gold standard. It is Christ’s life, teachings and commands.

Lastly, the Camino experience can sometimes continue during one’s sleep. Two days ago, part of my contemplation and prayer during my walk was on that self-purifying [refinement]. That night I had a dream that was specific to that afternoon’s self purification prayer! It was as though the dream was either affirming the correctness of what needed to be purified or was part of the purification process! I am hoping it’s the latter! Furthermore, I dreamt of my wife’s deceased parents. I have never dreamt of either of them before, let alone the two of them together in the same dream. I will find out when we next meet the meaning of this dream!

We ended our evening by attending Vespers at the monastery. A lovely way to end a relaxing and contemplative day.

Wednesday November 2. Sobrado des Monxes to Salceda. 9.5hrs 33.3km (included 1hr lunch).

The sign says it all. Temperatures were below 50F when we left our hotel just before 8am. Even though we are tired out from each day’s walk, somehow we seem to have no problems waking up early!

Walking out of Sobrado was along the main road before transitioning to quiet countryside roads and forested trails. An early incline gets the heart pumping and increases our core temperatures. All is good.

We walked a bit with two other pilgrims we met earlier, Pedro (Lourenza bus stop) and Claire (Albergue O’Abrigo at Miraz). It’s great to chat a bit before we parted ways.

Claire raised a hot topic about the adjustment to daily Life after the Camino. The common thread seems to be the inability to retain the Camino serenity, calm and peace. Which may be why many return for multiple Caminos! This is not our case but that’s a different story.

It’s easier to discern the factors when one compares one’s routine on the Camino and back to daily Life. I posit that one of the biggest factor is that on the Camino, we do not pay much attention to the news, gossip, television, etc. To put it another way, what’s going inside us is what is around us on the Camino. As computer programmers say, ‘garbage in, garbage out.’

A second factor is likely our appreciation and gratitude for everything that we come across on the Camino. In daily Life, entitled attitudes likely robs us of that our enjoyment and gratitude for what is.

Lastly, going through a Camino that is very dependent on the externalities and the surroundings, is likely the most ephemeral of experience. Unless there is an internalization of the experience, one cannot carry it wherever one goes.

We decided to have lunch in Arzúa because it’s a bigger town. And we found a very nice restaurant where the service was impeccable and the food delicious. We wanted some local cuisine and we found it at Casa Nese.

We have had good fortune, in the dry weather, with good company for a bit, and long stretches when we were the only pilgrims! Tomorrow, we walk into Santiago de Compostela!