Trip Report: August 2013

[Dave]

Hi everyone,

I just made it back to the US after two months of Camino-ing. I started in Le Puy, followed the GR 65 to St. Jean, then turned right and followed the GR 10 to Irun. Once there, I was joined by a group of my students and we followed the Camino del Norte until transitioning to the Primitivo. After Santiago, we continued on to Muxia and Finisterre.

We were on the Primitivo from July 31 to August 12. Some observations follow...

Albergue Stuff:

• The Primitivo has a number of new/newish albergues which are quite outstanding. Pola de Siero has great facilities and three very eager hospitaleros. Grandas de Salime is similar, as is As Seixas. Castroverde's new albergue is even spiffier than Cadavo's (though it risks feeling impersonal and perhaps too slick). La Espina's hospitalera runs the supermarket downstairs; she opened it to pilgrims staying there on a Sunday.
  
• In the summer, La Mesa has two hospitaleros who also run a small shop out of the storage closet.
• Speaking of La Mesa, that (along with Berducedo) proved to be the most problematic part of the Primitivo for beds. On that day, you had a lot of people walking from Pola de Allande, and a lot of others walking from Campiello/Borres along the Hospitales route. If I were walking here again in the summer, I'd definitely reserve a bed in Berducedo's private albergue and take it easy. Otherwise, the pilgrim crowds (at their peak in August) were absorbed effectively pretty much everywhere. Grandas and Fonsagrada have both added a lot of overflow space
  
• We stayed in Borres. The albergue there is much criticized for its neglect. It was pretty bad when we arrived--you couldn't even sign in to the pilgrim book because of the swarming flies. That may sound like hyperbole, but there were a lot of flies! We ended up returning to Campiello where the store across from Casa Herminia has a lot of fly-killing supplies. We bought fly swatters and fly-strips and returned to Borres with a vengeance. In that moment, Santiago Matamosca was born. An hour of killing and cleaning later, it was very pleasant! I'd encourage others in the future to do the same--factor it into your donativo!
• We stayed in the private albergue Villa Cecilia in Oviedo. It was worth every penny to be able to check in when we arrived, instead of waiting until 5pm!

Route Stuff:

• There have been no meaningful route changes since the book was published. People have tried to make entry into Fonsagrada more confusing (the arrows split over and over again), but no matter which option you take, you'll end up in the same spot.
• The last place to suffer from some route changes (between Grado and Cornellana) has stabilized. Well marked and very pleasant.
• More and more people are taking the Hospitales variant now. It really is outstanding.

While we met some people on the Norte who weren't totally thrilled with the route, it was striking how upbeat and happy people on the Primitivo were. It's a demanding walk, but I think some people are unnecessarily scared away from it. As they say in Spain, vale la pena.

We are preparing a list of updates for the Northern Caminos this week, in support of the second printing. Have you used the book? If so, we'd love to get your feedback. Just message me here.

Regards,
Dave

 

[fraluchi]

Thanks Dave. Useful info for our upcoming Camino.

 

[GaryandKatie]

Hi everyone,

I just made it back to the US after two months of Camino-ing. I started in Le Puy, followed the GR 65 to St. Jean, then turned right and followed the GR 10 to Irun. Once there, I was joined by a group of my students and we followed the Camino del Norte until transitioning to the Primitivo. After Santiago, we continued on to Muxia and Finisterre.

We were on the Primitivo from July 31 to August 12. Some observations follow...

Albergue Stuff:

• The Primitivo has a number of new/newish albergues which are quite outstanding. Pola de Siero has great facilities and three very eager hospitaleros. Grandas de Salime is similar, as is As Seixas. Castroverde's new albergue is even spiffier than Cadavo's (though it risks feeling impersonal and perhaps too slick). La Espina's hospitalera runs the supermarket downstairs; she opened it to pilgrims staying there on a Sunday.
  
• In the summer, La Mesa has two hospitaleros who also run a small shop out of the storage closet.
• Speaking of La Mesa, that (along with Berducedo) proved to be the most problematic part of the Primitivo for beds. On that day, you had a lot of people walking from Pola de Allande, and a lot of others walking from Campiello/Borres along the Hospitales route. If I were walking here again in the summer, I'd definitely reserve a bed in Berducedo's private albergue and take it easy. Otherwise, the pilgrim crowds (at their peak in August) were absorbed effectively pretty much everywhere. Grandas and Fonsagrada have both added a lot of overflow space
  
• We stayed in Borres. The albergue there is much criticized for its neglect. It was pretty bad when we arrived--you couldn't even sign in to the pilgrim book because of the swarming flies. That may sound like hyperbole, but there were a lot of flies! We ended up returning to Campiello where the store across from Casa Herminia has a lot of fly-killing supplies. We bought fly swatters and fly-strips and returned to Borres with a vengeance. In that moment, Santiago Matamosca was born. An hour of killing and cleaning later, it was very pleasant! I'd encourage others in the future to do the same--factor it into your donativo!
• We stayed in the private albergue Villa Cecilia in Oviedo. It was worth every penny to be able to check in when we arrived, instead of waiting until 5pm!

Route Stuff:

• There have been no meaningful route changes since the book was published. People have tried to make entry into Fonsagrada more confusing (the arrows split over and over again), but no matter which option you take, you'll end up in the same spot.
• The last place to suffer from some route changes (between Grado and Cornellana) has stabilized. Well marked and very pleasant.
• More and more people are taking the Hospitales variant now. It really is outstanding.

While we met some people on the Norte who weren't totally thrilled with the route, it was striking how upbeat and happy people on the Primitivo were. It's a demanding walk, but I think some people are unnecessarily scared away from it. As they say in Spain, vale la pena.

We are preparing a list of updates for the Northern Caminos this week, in support of the second printing. Have you used the book? If so, we'd love to get your feedback. Just message me here.

Regards,
Dave

Thanks so much for the great Primitivo update......we start on the 10th of September.......any/all info, more updates is greatly appreciated! Your book is the only one we are taking ( well, the pages about the Primitivo.................couple of questions

I know you can't know this but wondering what your gut tells you---------------think September will be busy, or not (we're banking on not)

Any great alternatives to the final stages to avoid some of the large crowds?

Thanks again, Gary

 

[Dave]

Thanks, Gary. Hope it serves you well.

I think September will be a fantastic time to walk. There will still be plenty of pilgrims, but things will have calmed down a bit. It's probably the best time to be walking--the weather is likely to be good, facilities will still be operating at peak capacity (for example, the little store in the La Mesa albergue will still be open), and the holiday month will be over.

The pilgrim crunch didn't really kick in until we hit the Frances. It doesn't seem like a significant number of people walk only the last 100km on the Primitivo--that's more of a Frances deal. But, some thoughts:

• I'd really recommend staying in Castroverde instead of Cadavo-Baleira. Between Padron and Lugo you have around 50km to walk. Most people still do the 20ish to Cadavo and then 30ish to Lugo (sorry about the imprecision--just typing off the top of my head). But, Castroverde allows you to flip that, setting you up with a short walk into Lugo. If there happened to be a bed crunch, you would be much better positioned with this approach, but really it's about maximizing your time in a great city.
• We walked from Lugo to As Seixas, following the Roman road (that's the route outlined in the book). When you arrive in San Roman, turn right before the church and pass in front of the bar/grocery. The Roman road proceeds from there, past the albergue. This is 2.5km shorted than the other route and makes As Seixas possible for most. I recommend it--the municipal albergue is fantastic and there's a new bar offering a great range of food options.
• From As Seixas, you have some options. Melide is only 15km away; at that point, you're on the Frances. Many walked from As Seixas to Arzua (a little less than 30km) and then gunned it for Santiago the following day. There's certainly no shortage of private albergues in Arzua that could be booked in advance. We did the opposite, scheduling our really long day for the day after As Seixas and then having a "shorter" walk into Santiago. For us, that meant Pousada Salceda, which has a small albergue and private rooms. It's really good value and a nice option if you want a quiet, peaceful spot on the Frances before your last walk. There are, of course, other options.
• Of course, that's an aggressive schedule, covering the last 100km in three days. If I wanted to do it in four, I might break it down the following way: Ferreira, Ribadiso, Pedrouzo. That said, I personally don't care for Pedrouzo (though I love Ribadiso). But, if you're looking for an albergue at that point in your schedule, it's pretty much the last option until Monte de Gozo (unless I'm missing something new). Plenty of hostales/hoteles, though.
• BTW, we stayed in a new albergue in Santiago this time - Roots and Boots. Loved it. The view is incredible--from my bed, I had a perfect shot of the cathedral's facade. It's also perfectly located for walking on to Finisterre. And, you can walk to it through Alameda, so there's almost no road walking between it and the downtown. You pay for the convenience, but I thought it was totally worth it.

Dave

 

[Kialoa3]

Dave, my wife and I will be walking this exact same route right after Easter next year. Have you posted any other comments on your walk from Le Puy to Irun and down the Norte? Also when do you expect the Northern Caminos 2nd edition to be available. Do you know of any plans for a new edition for the Chemin Le Puy guide?

Thanks,
John

 

[Dave]

Hi John,

I posted some notes in the relevant sections, so you can find other posts on the Norte and Le Puy pages, along with a little on the GR 10 connection.

Last week, my partner and I typed up around ten pages of updates for the Northern Caminos. Cicerone is working on the second printing right now. It's not a full-fledged second edition (that's a more substantial overhaul that happens after several years or more), but we do hope that it brings the information as up-to-the-moment as possible, while addressing some of the issues that people have raised in email and reviews. Not sure when it will be in circulation, but it sounds like you have some time!

Not sure when the next big round of updates will come for Raju's guide to the Le Puy route. But, Miam Miam Dodo is updated annually. As I wrote on my Le Puy trip report, I think they're complementary, but you could get by with just one of them.

Dave