We started out from our excellent apartment in El Pito in the wrong direction. “The route’s that way” I pointed out, but the others said they were going to Cudillero, a ‘must see’ tradtitional Spanish fishing village apparently. Only 1.5kms detour they said. We can get a coffee there and provisions, they said. I followed reluctantly on legs still to wake up, not very happy.
Cudillero is built up either side of a steep gorge, leading to the sea. It is rather drab and dingy, until reaching the port itself, then it morphs into a picture postcard town. Needless to say, no cafes or shops were open at that time of morning and we took the obligatory photos before climbing out of town on a new, winding road with the early morning traffic whizzing by.
“I can think of one good reason to have taken this detour” I grumbled to Jannik, “And five much better reasons why not”.
The 1.5km detour was more like 3kms but I wasn’t really complaining. My hill legs are working better than ever and long climbs are a pleasant challenge.
The rest of the day was pleasant enough, other than the 15km trek before hitting a cafe and getting that so-needed first café con leche – coffee with milk (one of our many discussions is why at home we wouldn’t touch milk in a coffee but on the Camino it’s almost mandatory).
The highlight that night (for me, anyway!) was staying at a smal hostel run by one of Spain’s top athletes, Bea Tenreiro, previous world sprint duathlon champion and 3 times Spanish triathlon champion. The restaurant was adorned with trophies and framed photos of her successes. She made up a packed lunch for me for around 1 euro. Bea will never grow rich despite her talents, but was delightful and seemed to enjoy the early morning banter with the locals, asking one of them to take this photo.
The following two nights were spent in Albergues, back down to earth after several nights hotel accommodation. The big pro of albergues is the mixing with fellow peregrinos, and unlike the first week where we fell over the same people all the time, we now keep bumping into new people, which is fun.
Strangely, I seem to sleep better in 20+ bed albergues than hotels. With earplugs pushed firmly in, the drone of the snoring all around is almost therapeutic!
The downside of albergues are the limited space, the total lack of privacy, often sparse facilities and worst of all – bed bugs! Fortunately neither of these albergues had been infested!
Luarco was a lovely stop, a beautiful fishing port with the ‘wow’ factor when we first caught a glimpse of it; our spirits were uplifted at the end of a tough day knowing we were staying there overnight.
The town looked equally attractive as we left our Albergue pre-dawn to make the most of the cooler part of the day.
Camino Artwork: Walking the Camino feels at times like we’re part of a large organised event, such as cycling ‘Ride London’ or running the London Marathon, but in a very low-key way. What I mean is that all along the route the local people are making an effort for the benefit of peregrinos, building sculptures, designing works of art on the walls or rocks, both passively and actively encouraging us on. In his book about the Camino, Jean-Christophe Ruffin talks about peregrinos being invisible. My experience is the total opposite. We are welcomed, encouraged, people leave out food and drink for us, they call out ‘Buen Camino’ from the side of the road, their houses, even passing cars. It really is a unique experience. And the artwork is great fun!
And now we change direction. The sea that has been our constant companion for the last 3 weeks is left behind and we move into the mountains. Harder and more remote, and ever closer to our final destination of Santiago.
Our sunset last night was stunning. We’re in a cafe eating breakfast, feeling positive after an evening relaxing in a comfortable apartment. Time to go.
Peebeecat 