Would you go back to do "the whole thing"?

[Kiwi-family]

Four kids and I will be walking the Via de la Plata in May/June.
For one section (Merida to Salamanca) my husband, father-in-law and brother-in-law will be joining us. Due to their time constraints (and probably lack-of-ability-to-go-a-long-way-on-one-day constraints) we intend to most probably take a bus from Caceres to Banos de Montemayor.
When they all leave from Salamanca I am thinking of getting a bus back to Caceres and walking the bit we skipped.
An alternative is to walk on from Salamanca, knowing we have missed a portion and then to continue out to Muxia (we have already walked to Fisterra and back once).
Of course, a third option is to simply walk shorter days or have a few days in Santiago at the end.
I know we will wait and see how things go at the time, but I am wondering if anyone has any observations or experiences that might sway our decision.

 

[peregrina2000]

I love how kiwi-mama's questions let me go back and ponder my previous caminos. I think, Rachel, that you have picked the most "missable" section of the Vdlp, which is not to say that I think you should't go back. Here are my takes on those stages, which I last walked in 2010 so it may be out of date.

Between Caceres and the reservoir, the most notable thing, IMO, is the "milario junkyard", a gated off enclosure with all sorts of Roman mile markers in various positions and conditions just sitting there on the side of the camino. The terrain is mostly off road, not beautiful, but good for the soul.

Between the reservoir and Galisteo, I remember a nice hilly forested part, which came down onto a highway and a big X-rated disco, which was kind of a jolt. Canaveral has a few parts with very old adobe houses, but it is fairly down on its luck. Galisteo, a walled town on a hill, was kind of a ghost town when I was there but is unusual in its construction and has a Romanesque church (or parts) that were pretty.

From Galisteo to Banos de Montemayor, the big attraction is definitely the Arc of Caparra and its surrounding ruins, museum, excavations, etc. That's pretty impressive. And from Caparra to Aldeanueva del Camino it's pleasant. From Aldeanueva to Banos, it's alongside a highway on an uphill slog.

I have divided my Vdlp pictures up into groups, and you can see Caceres to Zamora here to give you a pictoral idea:
https://picasaweb.google.com/104105778729242194944/VillaDeLaPlataCaceresToZamora (Yes I know, for some odd reason I wrote Villa de la Plata, sorry)

Maybe my blog adds a bit more trivial detail, but even if you have "missed" some things worth seeing, you may decide to keep heading forward (northward) just because it seems to make more sense. I had a similar doubt on the Levante. We arrived in a town that was supposed to have an albergue but we couldn't find it or anything else resembling a place to sleep. We learned there was a train coming through in a few hours that would take us 21 km ahead to the next town where we knew there was a hostal. I toyed with the idea of taking the train back the next morning and walking those 21 kms, but my walking companions thought I was nuts, especially after seeing the terrain we had avoided, which was flat flat flat and grain grain grain. In some ways, Caceres to Banos is a little like that, but there are some parts that are prettier than that and some parts that are much more interesting than that.

So that's my two cents, buen camino, Laurie

 

[musicman]

Thanks, Laurie

Three of us are walking from Caceres to Zamora, mid- April; your reminiscences are very helpful.

 

[Harington]

Four kids and I will be walking the Via de la Plata in May/June.
For one section (Merida to Salamanca) my husband, father-in-law and brother-in-law will be joining us. Due to their time constraints (and probably lack-of-ability-to-go-a-long-way-on-one-day constraints) we intend to most probably take a bus from Caceres to Banos de Montemayor.
When they all leave from Salamanca I am thinking of getting a bus back to Caceres and walking the bit we skipped.
An alternative is to walk on from Salamanca, knowing we have missed a portion and then to continue out to Muxia (we have already walked to Fisterra and back once).
Of course, a third option is to simply walk shorter days or have a few days in Santiago at the end.
I know we will wait and see how things go at the time, but I am wondering if anyone has any observations or experiences that might sway our decision.

I wouldn't have missed any of the VdlP for the world. If you like to walk in solitude and in (despite what peregrina2000 says, imho) beautiful country then go back and do the bits of the VdlP you have missed. probably better weather than Galicia, too. If you want the whole world with you then go to Muxía. I think the least attractive part of the VdlP is between Salamanca and Zamora, esp between Salamanca and El Cubo.

 

[peregrina2000]

I wouldn't have missed any of the VdlP for the world. If you like to walk in solitude and in (despite what peregrina2000 says, imho) beautiful country then go back and do the bits of the VdlP you have missed. probably better weather than Galicia, too. If you want the whole world with you then go to Muxía. I think the least attractive part of the VdlP is between Salamanca and Zamora, esp between Salamanca and El Cubo.

I don't disagree that walking every step of the Vdlp is an amazing experience. In fact, when I had to stop in Caceres, I was able to return the next year and decided to start again in Sevilla for just that reason. If Rachel had asked about whether to walk the whole way to Santiago from Sevilla or to skip Caceres to Banos, I would have said what you said. But the question is kind of different, I think. She asked whether to walk into Salamanca, take a bus/train back to Caceres to "fill in the gap" of what she has bussed over and then take a bus/train back to Salamanca and carry on. That makes it less of a question about walking the "whole way" and more a question about whether having a segment bookended by trains or buses on both sides and involving backtracking is the way you want to do it. There's a different flow involved there, and it seemed to me that her primary reason for doing it would be to see the attractions or important sites they had missed.

Sirjohnharrington, You should definitely think about the Levante. It is a castle-studded version of that section of the Vdlp!

 

[Kiwi-family]

Thanks guys. Laurie, it sounds like you wouldn't go back, but your descriptions of things along the way are tantalizing!!!!

 

[peregrina2000]

I don't think there's any bad decision here. Don't get me wrong, the next time I walk the Vdlp, it won't even occur to me to skip that section, I will walk it. And I enjoyed it a lot, for many of the reasons sirjohnharrington mentioned. I was just thinking about whether I would want to take the time it will take (one travel day each way) or just keep on walking. My problem is that when I start walking I hate to stop. But you will know what feels right when you get to Salamanca, I'm sure. Aren't we lucky to have these tough choices?