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Camino Primitivo- August 2008

sandranna

New Member
Hello,
My name is Sandra ans I am planning to walk the camino primitivo in august 2008.
I however realise that there are a few days that you have to walk 30 to 40km a day.
I wonder if it is possible to shorten that if needed and to find Albergues in between.
Is anyone planning to do the camino primitivo at the same time?
Thanks,
Sandra
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Hi Sandra,
Perhaps some of these website will help you plan your route.

Although the Xacobeo website starts the Primitivo at Acrivo, you can walk the Primitivo from Oviedo as well. And don't miss the Camara Santa (Holy chamber) in Oviedo that holds the Sudarium - the 2nd most Holy Christian relic after the Shroud of Turin - and a number of other ancient relics.

You could also walk the Camino el Salvador (120kms from León to Oviedo) which is the route taken by medieval pilgrims wanting to visit the Camara Santa in Oviedo. There is an old saying - "Quien va a Santiago y no al Salvador, visita al criado y deja al Señor" (Whoever goes to Saint James and not to the Saviour, visits the servant and misses the Master.”)
http://www.caminosantiagoastur.com/ Assoc. Astur – Leonesa Del Camino with info on Oviedo, the cathedral, the Sudarium, routes and maps.

Here are some links that I have for this route:

http://www.caminosantiagoastur.com/ Assoc. Astur – Leonesa Del Camino with info on Oviedo, the cathedral, the Sudarium (ancient relic) as well as routes and maps.

http://www.caminosantiago.org/cpperegri ... mitivo.asp Large site with stages, maps, albergues etc.

http://www.gawthorpe40.freeserve.co.uk/ Mostly Camino Norte but with a few pages and info on the Primitivo as well.

http://www.concellodelugo.org/ws/cprimi ... o.asp?id=3
http://www.lugo.es/ws/cprimitivo/
Maps etc on the Concello de Lugo website.

http://www.amigosdelcamino.com
High Section - Click on "Ways" and then Primitive Way

http://www.caminotineo.com Oviedo-Alto Section - The Asociación de Amigos
del Camino de Santiago del Interior - includes profiles maps for each stage

http://www.galiciadigital.com/pcd/Camin ... :1&lang=en Excellent pages on the stages, refuges, maps etc.

http://www.xacobeo.es Click on Primitive Way. Also on Publications for a downloadable brochure on the different ways

Last year tthere was a report that the Asturian government was going to repair and refurbish 107 kilometers of the Primitive Camino to make the route more pilgrims-friendly. New Camino signs, potable water fountains, rest spots and sanitation facilities were to be installed in the seven Camino stages from La Espina to El Acebo. The work was expected to be completed by June 2008 as well as the new albergues in Tineo, Aviles and Salas. Also, the construction of a new albergue in Lena was been approved.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Sil, great picasa pictures of the Primitivo. Thanks for finding it for us!

Sandra, I am planning on walking the Primitivo this Sept. If all goes well, I'm going to start in Leon and first walk four or five days to Oviedo on the Camino del Salvador (there are some posts here that deal with this 120 km stretch). Then I'll continue on the Primitivo to Santiago. That's a total of about 400 km, and I'm hoping to find others who might be interested in exploring that little bit of Camino before starting on the Primitivo.

I will start in late Sept., so it looks like I'll be well behind you.

From what I remember hearing from other pilgrims, the first part of the Camino Primitivo has stages that are a bit shorter than many would like (high teens or low 20s) and the last three or four before you join up with the Camino Frances you're really forced to do 30 or more. I think the last day out of Lugo to get to the Frances is particularly long.

I walked the Norte last summer, and we spent our last night before joining the Camino Frances in the monastery albergue in Sobrado dos Monxes. (From there, it's a comfortable day to Arzua). In the monastery, we met several pilgrims from the Primitivo who had cut across from Lugo to Sobrado dos Monxes. Lugo is the "last stop" on the Primitivo before it joins the Camino Frances. These people told us they went from Lugo to Sobrado dos Monxes for two reasons -- to have a shorter stage than the Lugo-Melide or Lugo-Palas do Rei options, and second, to stay off the Frances for a little bit longer. But I think they had to figure this route out for themselves, taking secondary Galician roads rather than following any marked camino.

It looks like a beautiful route! Laurie
 
Hello all the pilgrims who are going to walk the primitivo!

I have just joined this forum as "a member" after reading this for a year. I walked the camino primitivo in May 2007 with two spanish friends of mine, and I found it the most beautiful, the most peaceful and - yes - the most hard camino I´ve done. Simply the best. During the 3 first days we didn´t see any other pilgrims at all.

About the distances: I had the impression that mostly you can do either 15 or 30 kms a day. We did 30, and it was quite a lot becouse of the terrain - like climbing up and down O´Cebreiro all the day :D but me, who had problems with my knees in camino frances, had no pain at all in primitivo, so don´t be afraid of it! The views are just marvellous!

The most important thing I want to tell you, is about the stage Lugo-Melide. From Lugo you walk to San Roman de Retorta (there has been an albergue, but nowadays just a bar with a really kind and helpful owner, he will sure draw you a map about the alternatives from there to CF). From San Roman de Retorta we chose to follow an old roman road to a tiny village called Ferreira or Puente Romano and stayed there in a little casa rural. Just now I don´t remember it´s name, but we called there ahead and reserved the room, the owner did a dinner for us and meanwhile we sat in the kitchen chatting with his local friends and drinking wine and eating local wonderful cheese. From Lugo it was something like 30 kms to Puente Romano, and from there 20 kms to Melide. I remember it was marked with yellow arrows all the time, and really easy to follow. I´ve never found this casa rural being mentioned anywhere but in one spanish guide, so maybe some of you will found it as pleasant alternative as I found - it wasn´t free, but it was worth it, and the distances were not too bad.

Buen camino primitivo! They say it´s the most original, and you can really find something magic out there...

Heloise, from Finland
 
I'm one of the ones planning to walk the Primitivo in Sept/Oct and it's always good to hear from others who walked it recently. So, thanks a lot, Heloise. With your tip on Ferreira and Puente Romano, I did some googling around and found a blog (in Spanish) that details the stages of the Primitivo, it has elevation maps, lots of beautiful pictures, and recommendations about places to stay. If anyone else wants to see it, it's at

http://micaminodesantiagodelnorte.blogs ... paada.html

The author of the blog also stayed in the Casa da Ponte, but he noted that he missed the Roman Road that Heloise walked on and had to walk on the main road instead. So that might be something to pay attention to.

I found a turgalicia listing of the B&B (Casa Rural) that Heloise stayed in, and it has phone numbers in case Sandra or anyone else wants to book it from the road.

http://www.turgalicia.es/sit/ficha_dato ... 041&cidi=I

Heloise, I have one question for you -- did you take the Hospitales alternative after Borres, or did you "stay low" and go through Pola de Allande?

Laurie
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Laurie, you found the information of Casa da Ponte, thank you. The calzada romana is marked with yellow arrows from San Roman de Retorta, and the roadway is marked with the "mojones", the high stones with the shells. The roman way is not paved with the stones as they are somewhere else, but it is a beautiful peaceful road&path along the forest and countryside. I warmly recommend it.

I didn´t take Hospitales-way in the mountains, and I didn´t meet anyone else (of those 16 pilgrims I met!) who did, either. It is supposed to be very beautiful, but dangerous in bad weather. If you will take it, let us here about it!
 
Thank you all for all the replies I just discovered!
I m making my road map!
I ll make sure to share it with u, especially those of u going in sept/oct.
Thanks a lot!
 

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