Bad Pilgrim
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Yes
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Same.Given some difficulties on the initial stretch till Aguilar de Campoo I'd be interested in comparing notes.
I've no idea how to reply here... I walked in July 2022 (to Villafranca de Biezo), and 2019 (to ponferrada) ... Omicko concise guide was super useful in 2019. In 2022, I was back and over on the train like a blue arsed fly, as had issues with backpack, shoes, heat etc. Went onto Leon, and went back to Bilbao with Isabelle at Vilasante, after 2 days in. Took train to balmaseda to start as it was crazy hot day, and stayed in Nava. Standout stays were Isabel, Los acros, Vegacervaga camping, Bonar camping (amazing lady).. and new albergue in fashgar, the village before fashgar ... Lovely people, congosta soccer pitch and coffee machine pod stay. My first orange juice and coffee on meeting the Frances... My text speak and spelling is brutal, so please ignore errors, which I appreciate can be dangerous in Spain.Wishing you a great end to your Camino! It will be interesting to compare our experiences.
As far as I can tell no one has since walked from Bilbao as I did. Given some difficulties on the initial stretch till Aguilar de Campoo I'd be interested in comparing notes.
If you had read my post beforehand (Day 2: Cervera de Pisuerga - Guardo, 39 kms
I had read reports about a gate that would be difficult/impossible to open. It would appear soon after leaving Cervera de Pisuerga. The thing is: I never found it. I did get to a fence in the morning where a part of it had been torn down. So I thought: "Ok, this is the fence everyone has been talking about, and someone has made a breach in it so people can pass." But on the other side was just a meadow with no visible trail; not that I could see anyway.
The guy in albergue looked at me like I was from Mars when I asked for a stamp. He wouldn't even sign my credencial!I stayed in the albergue in Guardo that recently got things going again with new owners. So new that they don't have a stamp yet! It is 15 euros (if I remember correctly). With the standard of a typical municipal albergue. It was the most "basic" place I stayed in this summer, but still enough to have everything a pilgrim needs. It is at the other side of town, on a hill, so it is a slog to get there after those 39 kms! You need about 20 minutes to reach central Guardo again if you want to visit town or run some errands later.
Boy, the place was hopping! I was all alone in that huge place.There are workers staying in the albergue as well but pilgrims have a dorm of their own. We were four this evening. First a Portuguese couple - who had decided this was their last day on the Olvidado! They started in Bilbao but had grown tired of the lack of services and lodging along the way. To give them perspective, I told them that this part of the Olvidado actually has much better services than the Camino Viejo between Pamplona and Aguilar de Campoo... But they would catch a bus to Ponferrada and walk the Invierno instead. And there was Antonio, a young priest from Madrid, who had also started in Bilbao and would later take the Invierno from Ponferrada. It was my first time meeting other pilgrims in an albergue since the Camino Baztán. I was surprised over how well I coped with it! We had fun conversations; in Portuguese and Spanish, but still understood each other. I gave them advice about the Invierno and examples of hostals and albergues that I like on that camino.
No snoring was involved and I was well rested for Puente Almuhey or Cistierna the following day. I hadn't decided yet where I would stop.
Don't miss next episode!
Boy, the place was hopping! I was all alone in that huge place.
Probably because I told him if he wants pilgrims to stay here that a stamp would be beneficial (I showed him my credencial).For the stamp I was told to go to the tourist office down the street. At least the guy I met had heard of it!
Oh no, you missed the albergue municipal and Sonia the hospitalera in Puente Almuhey! I'm amazed at how this little town has dedicated resources for pilgrims. The albergue has 3 bedrooms and three bathrooms! Sonia WhatsApp'd me the day before to ask what she could buy at the supermarket as I would arrive on a Sunday. She came with a cool box full of salad fixings and a beer. She apologized that there was no fridge but had asked the mayor for one and voilà, I read on the Camino Olvidado Facebook page that it has arrived. Sorry, but I just want pilgrims to stop there. She takes so much time to talk to you and make you feel at home. And...next time you really should walk the B routesDay 3: Guardo - Cistierna, 34 kms
I told myself I had earned a short stage of 13 kms to Puente Almuhey this day, after a couple of long stages. By the way, I could see there were A-routes (short routes) and B-routes (in the mountains) to choose from along the Olvidado... Hmm... As there seemed to be an alarming shortage of wifi, coffee and napolitanas on the B-routes, I stuck to the A-route from Guardo to Puente Almuhey.
That ascent really got my heart pumping! It was also the only time I put on a hat to protect me from the sun. Too bad one can't visit the sanctuary.I got so early to Puente Almuhey that I decided to carry on. I called Hostal Moderno, which was full, and then Hostal El Cruce (40 euros) in Cistierna. I knew it would be a day in the hills, so I geared up with water and a humble pilgrim smile and started walking.
First it was all flat. Then brutally uphill from the sanctuary Virgen de la Velilla. Then the trail meandered down the hills and through the woods. Past the sanctuary, until I reached Cistierna, I didn't meet a living soul.
My understanding is that the owner of Hostal Nisi has a floor dedicated exclusively to rooms for elderly people from the area who have no families to care for them. She subsidizes this floor with the income she gets from us, her paying customers. That surely puts her in the Camino Angel category! I know that others have also commented on and been put off by the other residents of the Nisi, but I’m guessing they don’t know the whole story.price for peregrinos. He later told me that he found the hostal and its costumers "peculiar" and that he had asked for lunch just to be able to sit down and observe the dining area... I understood what he meant. The costumers were exclusively elderly people, and everybody sat alone, at separate tables, without interacting with each other...
You are a noisy kid magnet, BP. Sheesh.I sat down in the shadow on a bench and enjoyed the silence. Then, out of nowhere, forty children with an agitated teacher appeared from behind the corner.
That sounds nice.So a few of them stumbled into my room later, thinking it was theirs.
Back on the CL-626 I passed a Canadian theme park: Rancho Canada. With horses, totem poles and tipis in the garden. Because as we all know, that is what Canada consists of *eye-rolling*.
Wait, what!?? Ok, I was thinking I need to walk the Olvidado again to see our photos but now I definitely need to walk again and do the "A" routes to see a Canadian theme park!? In Spain!? I need to see this! My family and friends back home - in Canada - wouldn't believe me!
Looking forward to hearing what happened next for you!
I was thirsty for coffee, but it looked as if I had to walk right into the patio where families with children were riding horses among the totem poles... Maybe their café is a Tim Hortons
How are Juan Luis's fingers, hopefully nothing broken?
"The Camino takes you on a hike to the Sanctuary of Virgen de la Peña just before Congosto. We didn't want to go all the way up there but suddenly we noticed that was where we were heading... I fished out Google Maps and took us down to Congosto as fast as possible"Day 9: Quintana de Fuseros - Congosto, 27 kms
Juan Luis is 30 years older than me and wakes up one hour later in the morning. Still he catches up with me before the first or second town along the way. I wish I will have his speed when I am his age..!
Today I walked slower than usual. It was flat the first part from Quintana through a couple of small villages. Then a lot of ups-and-downs, an overgrown path, a goat trail so steep downhill I had to hang on to the trunks by my side not to tumble down... Above all, the hill between Noceda del Bierzo (where there is an albergue) and Labaniego was murderous.
Before Losada I met a farmer walking with his three dogs. We were heading in the same direction so we talked for a while. He proposed I stay on the road into Losada because the Camino makes unnecessary detours... If I follow villagers' advice it is not cheating, right? I took it as a permission to walk into Losada on my beloved asphalt.
In Losada the bar at the community swimming pool was open and Juan Luis was already there. The woman in charge was so energetic and chatty that I mistook her for the owner of the bar La Madrileña, who @WestKirsty had told me about and who I would meet further down the Camino. She threw a load of muffins, biscuits and croissants on our table but would only charge the coffee. We stayed a long time talking and laughing with her.
One topic of conversation, that would come up in other bars as well, was the detour we would have to make the next day from Congosto to Cubillos del Sil. It takes 13 kms to do a U-turn around the lake Embalse de Bárcena, while it is only 2-3 kms as the crow flies. Juan Luis wondered why one couldn't just build a bridge over the narrowest part of the lake; the woman shrieked and said she would never step on it as she is afraid of heights. Jokes aside, she said people in the vicinity had already wanted that bridge to be built and now they hoped that the politicians would get their act together and make it come true. It would shorten the next stage with 10 kms...
The Camino takes you on a hike to the Sanctuary of Virgen de la Peña just before Congosto. We didn't want to go all the way up there but suddenly we noticed that was where we were heading... I fished out Google Maps and took us down to Congosto as fast as possible.
Since it was Monday the restaurant where the hospitalera works was closed and it is the only game in town. Through WhatsApp I had ordered dinner that she would prepare for me, and it waited for me when I stepped into the albergue. The albergue consists of three barracks next to the football field that were previously changing rooms and showers. It looks absolutely hideous from the outside, while it is clean and cleverly constructed on the inside: bunkbeds, AC, showers, toilet, and even a small "kitchen" in a corner with a coffee machine, microwave oven, and a box with breakfast for the next day. All donativo. (The dinner I ordered through WhatsApp was 7 euros though.) As I had been the first one to call yesterday I got building number 1 for myself. Had another pilgrim come along he would have had to share one of the other barracks with Juan Luis, according to the the hospitalera's mother and her friend who laid out the rules for us. Apparently, first caller gets the grand suit all to him-/herself.
We thought Antonio would be waiting for us in the albergue. But the ladies told us he had chosen to continue to Ponferrada..! From Igüeña! That must be close to 50 kms!! Unfortunately we wouldn't see him again.
The bar La Peña is right at the other side of the football field and luckily open on Mondays. I mooched their wifi and made several bookings in advance on the Invierno (a Camino that starts in Ponferrada) to be sure I could stay in my favorite places there.
I flipped through the register in the albergue. Almost everyone had come from Igüeña, not Quintana de Fuseros. I saw @WestKirsty's name and, further back, @SaraDhooma... I felt honored to stay in the same place as legendary pilgrims!
I needed a good night's sleep to prepare for the last stage of 34 kms, where I would have to walk nine of them on the Camino Francés to Villafranca del Bierzo. After meeting so few pilgrims on the Baztán, the Viejo and the Olvidado, I knew I was in for a change tomorrow...
Last chapter coming up soon!
"The Camino takes you on a hike to the Sanctuary of Virgen de la Peña just before Congosto. We didn't want to go all the way up there but suddenly we noticed that was where we were heading... I fished out Google Maps and took us down to Congosto as fast as possible"
Can I ask which routes are you following? I have downloaded Enders, peeps you too?
Ender’s tracks do definitely go up to the Sanctuary, from where there is a nice view over the reservoir. I find reservoirs to be pretty depressing places, especially since they so often have buried a few villages as part of the process. But anyway… I did follow the tracks up to the Sanctuary.
If you navigate with his tracks, though, it will be very obvious how to continue on to Congosto without ascending, because the walk up to the Sanctuary goes up and down and rejoins the camino at the place it left it. You can see it on this screen shot.
View attachment 153570
I would still be up in the monte somewhere if it weren't for Cuñarro's (Ender's) Wikiloc tracks. Although they weren't perfect on two or three occasions due to overgrowth and/or confusion they were a lifesaver.I can't navigate with it in the sense that it beeps if I get off track. I usually took screenshots of other Wikilockers' trails and used them as regular maps... Or just relying on the waymarks.
BP, I think you need a wikiloc intervention.I can't navigate with it in the sense that it beeps if I get off track. I usually took screenshots of other Wikilockers' trails and used them as regular maps... Or just relying on the waymarks.
Hee hee.BP, I think you need a wikiloc intervention.
Or OSMand. Or any other map app that you feel at ease using offline. I'm not as fond of Wikiloc as my fellow peregrinas. But I sometimes download tracks from there an use it on the app I like a lot more.would not have happened if you had been using wikiloc.
You had a few experiences this year that diddn’t seem to be particularly enjoyable for you
I flipped through the register in the albergue. Almost everyone had come from Igüeña, not Quintana de Fuseros. I saw @WestKirsty's name and, further back, @SaraDhooma... I felt honored to stay in the same place as legendary pilgrims!
I'm looking forward to reading the last chapter
Any chance you'll be writing about the Invierno too??
Never mind paying for Wikiloc, BP
Just download tracks from there.
OSMand doesn't pester you to pay. Download the free map for (ALL of) Spain, overlay the Wikiloc tracks on it and you're good to go.
You'll find a way, if there is one.From what I have heard, it is not easy to get lost there
Exactly!Thanks for the reminder about that stretch before/after Cervera de Pisuerga. Could someone try to give me an idea of where the confusion about the path is? I have taken a note from someone that I should ignore arrows pointing to a meadow and just continue along the road until a sign on the guardrail?
And just to add a bit more detail from memory (BP and LT correct me if I’m wrong). You are on a road leaving Cervera. Soon after leaving town, the camino arrows will take you off road to the left. Do not take that turn-off but continue straight on the road. A bit further ahead, the arrows will take you off to the right. And that’s where you start to go up to the abandoned coal mine.Thanks for the reminder about that stretch before/after Cervera de Pisuerga. Could someone try to give me an idea of where the confusion about the path is? I have taken a note from someone that I should ignore arrows pointing to a meadow and just continue along the road until a sign on the guardrail?
Sounds right except that I thought the arrows took me up to the right. Either way DON'T go up through the brush and stay on the road. Besides the fact that it's a detour and you can't get through the fence unless between the barbed wires which I did, it takes you to the road where you have to backtrack to find the arrows on the guardrail.And just to add a bit more detail from memory (BP and LT correct me if I’m wrong). You are on a road leaving Cervera. Soon after leaving town, the camino arrows will take you off road to the left. Do not take that turn-off but continue straight on the road. A bit further ahead, the arrows will take you off to the right. And that’s where you start to go up to the abandoned coal mine.
The first time I walked the Olvidado that turnoff wasn’t even there. When I saw it the next time, for some reason I just ignored it, because I knew that all it was going to do was take you off road and bring you back to the turnoff that goes up to the abandoned coal mine. Am I not one who usually ignores the arrows, but it looks like it was a good decision in this case
I also had that problem during the stage before reaching Olea but that's because the "track" took me through thick overgrowth with an invisible path. I had to make my own way keeping as close as I could to the track and ended up having to negotiate another barbed wire fence to do so. Look at my thread for pictures and details. Hopefully you won't have the same problem.And is there, are there other place/ places where barbed wire fences need negotiating?
And @Bad Pilgrim I'll take great interest in hearing about your travails Bilbao - Aguilar de Campoo. I still wonder what went wrong in two particular spots, even using Wikiloc tracks.
And is there, are there other place/ places where barbed wire fences need negotiating?
@Bad Pilgrim what a delightful account of your Olvidado adventures!
Brings back so many memories!
And nightmares - the FLIES!!!!!!!!! Worst flies I've ever encountered in Spain.
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