- Time of past OR future Camino
- Ciudad Real to Medina Del Campo - Sep 2023
I have just got home after completing Salamanca to Santiago along the Sanabres route continuing to Finisterra and I thought I would post some brief thematic thoughts since I don't want to try and duplicate the excellent updates by Syates).
The route - The toughest part ironically was the stretch to Granja which is the flattest. As I wasn't in great shape starting the two long stages to Zamora which I walked alone were quite tough mentally. There aren't many places to stop along the way and if you start as I did on Easter Sunday hen these are closed anyway. The stretch along the motorway up to El Cubo as easily the least pleasant on the whole Camino.
The scenery after Granja was great. especially once in Galicia. The only bit of walking I disliked on the Sanabres was the trek into Ourense.
I would suggest that anyone else starting in Salamanca puts more thought into management of these stages than I did. Luckily after the first week I felt much better and coped well with the longer stages.
I used the Rother Wanderfuhrer German guide and found it extremely accurate regarding the route. On the other hand a guide was not essential most of the time as I found the route itself very well marked in general and the hand painted yellow arrows were a surprising plus of the Camino. I always found it uplifting to see one when I had been walking a while and was beginning to wonder if I was going the right way. I am very grateful to the many people who have gone to the trouble of adding these friendly signs on the Camino.
The one variant I would venture to suggest is an addition to the bad weather options for the stage from Puebla de Sanabria to Lubian. Leaving town we followed the ZA-925 to Pedralba de la Praderia where there is a narrow road which rejoins the road about 1 km before Requejo. This route was quiet and it was a pretty walk with one longish straight climb. The turn off in Pedralba is marked.
Weather - I don't know if this is typical for April but I only had two days of hard rain before Santiago with other days where it was wet but not heavy. There was snow on the way up to the Padornelo pass and it would not have needed to be much colder for this to be a blizzard. On local advice we followed the road over the pass.
The A Canda pass was in bright sunshine but with a lot of mud and running water from the previous days' rain and I would check with the locals before taking this route if there has been persistent bad weather.
Overall I can't complain and the beautiful weather on some of the days walking in Galicia more than made up for the wetter days.
Accommodation - I don't really have much to add. Jose at the Albergue in Tabara was very welcoming and we sat up late talking with him and some visitors from his hometown of Bilbao. It may be more of a struggle if it is just you and him and you don't speak good Spanish. He is very passionate about the Camino.
The authorities in Galicia seem to have invested a lot in the albergues and a big thank you goes to the hospitalera at Xunqueira who opened the second room at the albergue for us after we walked from Laza and there were only top bunks left in the other one. Whoever told them that having movement sensitive lighting in the albergues gets no thanks from me.
Fellow pilgrims - few in number but friendly and helpful. after Granja I saw the same people each day until Laza when the numbers began to increase. I saw more peregrinos in the first 15 minutes in Santiago than I had in the previous 16 days. Having other people to talk over the day's experience with meant a lot and I think you would need a lot of resilience to do it alone in winter. Having a Pre-Santiago dinner in Ponte Ulla with the small group of peregrinos who I shared the Sanabres with was a real high point. On a tangent the friendliness and generosity of the lady who runs Bar Rio by the bridge was phenomenal after what had been a dismal trudge through the rain.
I am sorry I can't add more beyond wholeheartedly recommending this route and the Camino in general.
The route - The toughest part ironically was the stretch to Granja which is the flattest. As I wasn't in great shape starting the two long stages to Zamora which I walked alone were quite tough mentally. There aren't many places to stop along the way and if you start as I did on Easter Sunday hen these are closed anyway. The stretch along the motorway up to El Cubo as easily the least pleasant on the whole Camino.
The scenery after Granja was great. especially once in Galicia. The only bit of walking I disliked on the Sanabres was the trek into Ourense.
I would suggest that anyone else starting in Salamanca puts more thought into management of these stages than I did. Luckily after the first week I felt much better and coped well with the longer stages.
I used the Rother Wanderfuhrer German guide and found it extremely accurate regarding the route. On the other hand a guide was not essential most of the time as I found the route itself very well marked in general and the hand painted yellow arrows were a surprising plus of the Camino. I always found it uplifting to see one when I had been walking a while and was beginning to wonder if I was going the right way. I am very grateful to the many people who have gone to the trouble of adding these friendly signs on the Camino.
The one variant I would venture to suggest is an addition to the bad weather options for the stage from Puebla de Sanabria to Lubian. Leaving town we followed the ZA-925 to Pedralba de la Praderia where there is a narrow road which rejoins the road about 1 km before Requejo. This route was quiet and it was a pretty walk with one longish straight climb. The turn off in Pedralba is marked.
Weather - I don't know if this is typical for April but I only had two days of hard rain before Santiago with other days where it was wet but not heavy. There was snow on the way up to the Padornelo pass and it would not have needed to be much colder for this to be a blizzard. On local advice we followed the road over the pass.
The A Canda pass was in bright sunshine but with a lot of mud and running water from the previous days' rain and I would check with the locals before taking this route if there has been persistent bad weather.
Overall I can't complain and the beautiful weather on some of the days walking in Galicia more than made up for the wetter days.
Accommodation - I don't really have much to add. Jose at the Albergue in Tabara was very welcoming and we sat up late talking with him and some visitors from his hometown of Bilbao. It may be more of a struggle if it is just you and him and you don't speak good Spanish. He is very passionate about the Camino.
The authorities in Galicia seem to have invested a lot in the albergues and a big thank you goes to the hospitalera at Xunqueira who opened the second room at the albergue for us after we walked from Laza and there were only top bunks left in the other one. Whoever told them that having movement sensitive lighting in the albergues gets no thanks from me.
Fellow pilgrims - few in number but friendly and helpful. after Granja I saw the same people each day until Laza when the numbers began to increase. I saw more peregrinos in the first 15 minutes in Santiago than I had in the previous 16 days. Having other people to talk over the day's experience with meant a lot and I think you would need a lot of resilience to do it alone in winter. Having a Pre-Santiago dinner in Ponte Ulla with the small group of peregrinos who I shared the Sanabres with was a real high point. On a tangent the friendliness and generosity of the lady who runs Bar Rio by the bridge was phenomenal after what had been a dismal trudge through the rain.
I am sorry I can't add more beyond wholeheartedly recommending this route and the Camino in general.
