Ungawawa
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2017-20: Francés, Norte, Francés, Portuguese Lisbon Coastal, Portuguese central
Thought people here might be interested in my attempts to do these caminos together, with a tent in my pack for emergencies. I was especially anticipating needing it on the Salvador which has many municipal albergues still closed.
La Robla looked from the start a bad bet. The situation where all the guest houses were booked up from local power station workers is continuing. The albergue was also closed but next to a park, which looked like it would potentially be available to put a tent, however no part of the park was within the confines of the albergue, so I wondered if I would be allowed to camp here. In the end skipped this stage by train, but did meet out of La Robla a Brit who had managed to find a spot to sleep directed by locals in a bar, which he described as “like something from Franco’s times” for 20€.
The next stage actually had a municipal albergue open, the only one I found on this route.
Day three was a very long hike but fortunately ended in a nice private albergue in Llanos de Somerón.
Day four to Mieres, I had a hope that there might be some albergue garden to camp in, but it turned out to not be so, with the municipal being just a floor in a concrete administrative building. All guest houses and hotels apart from the most expensive one were not responding to calls or doorbells. I scouted around for a place I might camp but had to leave town a couple of kilometres until there were fields again. The location was unpleasant though, being half way between the damp river and a loud motorway. Determined to use my tent at least once, I camped from dusk to dawn, out of sight by the river, and had a rather restless night. I wasn’t disturbed though and the traffic went quiet after midnight.
Once on the Primitivo, no albergues were closed, but a couple of times towns were at or very close to capacity. In Seixas I asked at the xunta albergue if I could camp in the garden, but the hospitalera told me there were building works there.
In Ribadiso I tried again, hoping their nice large gardens would provide the perfect spot, but this time was told that they couldn’t exceed quotas, which didn’t make a lot of sense as they weren’t at capacity and the facilities were outside anyway. I figure the employees of the xunta albergues are just administrative workers following rules, and don’t often join in the camino spirit I’ve found elsewhere. It wasn’t a problem anyway, as I happily paid for a warm bed instead.
So from more than two weeks of hiking, my tent has seen only one night of use! Not a resounding success, but it was interesting to find these things out first hand.
Jerry’s Final Thought: remember, wild camping is sometimes trespassing. Always get permission for where you intend to camp!
La Robla looked from the start a bad bet. The situation where all the guest houses were booked up from local power station workers is continuing. The albergue was also closed but next to a park, which looked like it would potentially be available to put a tent, however no part of the park was within the confines of the albergue, so I wondered if I would be allowed to camp here. In the end skipped this stage by train, but did meet out of La Robla a Brit who had managed to find a spot to sleep directed by locals in a bar, which he described as “like something from Franco’s times” for 20€.
The next stage actually had a municipal albergue open, the only one I found on this route.
Day three was a very long hike but fortunately ended in a nice private albergue in Llanos de Somerón.
Day four to Mieres, I had a hope that there might be some albergue garden to camp in, but it turned out to not be so, with the municipal being just a floor in a concrete administrative building. All guest houses and hotels apart from the most expensive one were not responding to calls or doorbells. I scouted around for a place I might camp but had to leave town a couple of kilometres until there were fields again. The location was unpleasant though, being half way between the damp river and a loud motorway. Determined to use my tent at least once, I camped from dusk to dawn, out of sight by the river, and had a rather restless night. I wasn’t disturbed though and the traffic went quiet after midnight.
Once on the Primitivo, no albergues were closed, but a couple of times towns were at or very close to capacity. In Seixas I asked at the xunta albergue if I could camp in the garden, but the hospitalera told me there were building works there.
In Ribadiso I tried again, hoping their nice large gardens would provide the perfect spot, but this time was told that they couldn’t exceed quotas, which didn’t make a lot of sense as they weren’t at capacity and the facilities were outside anyway. I figure the employees of the xunta albergues are just administrative workers following rules, and don’t often join in the camino spirit I’ve found elsewhere. It wasn’t a problem anyway, as I happily paid for a warm bed instead.
So from more than two weeks of hiking, my tent has seen only one night of use! Not a resounding success, but it was interesting to find these things out first hand.
Jerry’s Final Thought: remember, wild camping is sometimes trespassing. Always get permission for where you intend to camp!
