Hello! I came home today from my first Camino, which was fantastic
, so I brought some photos and videos. In the past two weeks, I’ve walked the Primitivo from Oviedo to Santiago, and for the sake of completeness, I walked then first to Muxia and from there to Fisterra.
I had a basic idea beforehand about my stages so did some bookings, but then a series of replannings happened with new bookings and cancellations, and finally lots of spontaneous walkings with huge distances per day due to the albergue saturation, which added extra excitement to my days, bit of a stress and lots of phone calls - Spanish keywords mixed in English where you could only guess what the other person on line was saying due to the lack of language skills. (I don't speak Spanish, they rarely speak English.)
Situations that sometimes seemed really really hopeless were then somehow fortunately always saved by another pilgrim. Camino provides, they say. In the albergues, 30% of the beds are free to use/book, which in practice looks like this: one person gets a bunk bed, typically the lower part, and a full bed is usually left empty between 2 beds. In a desperate situation, if someone asks the albergue to let somebody else sleep in his or her bed (meaning on the top of the bunk bed), they agree. That’s how I got some place to stay twice on my way, and others went the same way. In principle, accommodations are not checked by official institutions, but if there is a covid situation, there is inherently trouble because of not following the 30% rules. I also lost a prebooked accommodation (and won some extra miles) because an albergue had to close completely with immediate effect due to a positive covid test within the staff.
But most importantly, the Primitivo is beautiful!
Especially before Lugo, or to be maybe more precise: in Asturias, so the first half when the way goes between the mountains and we walk over the clouds practically every day with a fantastic views. True rumors are true that this part is not the easiest, a lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of consistent ups and downs, but the environment is worth every step and elevation gain, so I highly recommend it to anyone who loves nature, mountains, hiking, quiet countryside, villages and a it's a definite advantage not to be afraid of cows
The weather was perfect in mid-August (7 - 21 Aug), 16-18 C degrees in the early mornings, over 20 around noon, a very very sunny afternoon with completely no rain in those two weeks. After a major sunburn, I was walking in long leggings and a long-sleeved merino top every day from day five, a sweater as an extra (which is good if windproof) was only needed for a short time in very early departures. I always wear trail runners when hiking, and the terrain here does not necessarily require hiking boots neither, if otherwise the ankles are working fine. Thicker soles, on the other hand, can come in handy because of the often stony terrain. I think hiking sticks here are definitely recommended, they are a big help, and if someone starts before 7:30 in the morning, a headlamp is also useful.
We could have been a little more than a dozen people in one wave moving relatively identically, many Spanish people, many from Italy and ones from other places (Denmark, Slovenia, Belgium, US, Portugal, Germany, Hungary). The majority arrived solo, a small group and a few couples showed up at times, but in any case no one could feel lonely, everyone soon became familiar to one and other, and with whom one exchanged only a word, it was also very good to meet at times. Like me, there were others for whom this was their first Camino, and even more of those for whom it was not even the second Camino including those for whom this Primitivo was already the third Primitivo. Many people walked this way as a variant of the Norte, so we also met those who had been walking for a month. The age range is completely mixed. The "100s", meaning the pilgrims who complete the last 100 km, appeared in Lugo, so the number of people increased, and from Melide, where the Primitivo merges with the Frances, the participants have changed radically including people who walked with a light plastic bag instead of a backpack. Here the atmosphere turned into a bit of a school class trip, and that was when I started walking in the afternoons as well, this is something that only a handful of pilgrims does.
For me, seeing the ocean instead of Santiago gave me the real arrival experience, it was fantastic to face the huge blueness of the water after the lots and lots of green.
Muxía is tiny, charming, calming, Fisterra is bustling and a little crowded, but sitting on the rocks behind the lighthouse is kind of majestic. When two guys behind me gave a live background music to the view, the whole situation became amazingly touching and emotional, especially since I had my farewell over there.
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