Lessons learned

[dbier]

I have started walking the Primitivo, and I've learned many things already. I don't intend to create another travelogue when so many excellent writers have already done it, but for those new to this Camino...

1. There's a fair amount of *no-shoulder* road walking. I stayed on the left unless it was a blind turn for oncoming cars - then I went right.

2. Slippery when wet. Nuff said. And I broke out the poles by mile 3.

3. I carried my mochilla today...and in the middle of the day at Escamplero, I turned on my phone, pulled up Buen Camino, made a booking reservation for tomorrow night in Salas (8 km shy of where I'd hoped to go), and grabbed a TaXicamino envelope at my reserved destination and WhatsApp'd called them to ship the mochilla. I expect I'll be doing this most of the rest of the way. I was not ready for this.

4. I've met at least two small groups that are booked through to Santiago with luggage transport. Plus about 20 others today, singly or in pairs.

5. Weather was rainy this AM, up to about 77 F in the afternoon, and humid all day.

6. I like Wise Pilgrim for descriptions on how to go through towns, and am running Buen Camino 's offline maps in airplane mode. Sadly, they don't vibrate for me.

7. Oh, and most of the small cafés I frequent take "effectivo" solamente. No credit cards.

Buen Camino to all

 

[Mishbish]

I have started walking the Primitivo, and I've learned many things already. I don't intend to create another travelogue when so many excellent writers have already done it, but for those new to this Camino...

1. There's a fair amount of *no-shoulder* road walking. I stayed on the left unless it was a blind turn for oncoming cars - then I went right.

2. Slippery when wet. Nuff said. And I broke out the poles by mile 3.

3. I carried my mochilla today...and in the middle of the day at Escamplero, I turned on my phone, pulled up Buen Camino, made a booking reservation for tomorrow night in Salas (8 km shy of where I'd hoped to go), and grabbed a TaXicamino envelope at my reserved destination and WhatsApp'd called them to ship the mochilla. I expect I'll be doing this most of the rest of the way. I was not ready for this.

4. I've met at least two small groups that are booked through to Santiago with luggage transport. Plus about 20 others today, singly or in pairs.

5. Weather was rainy this AM, up to about 77 F in the afternoon, and humid all day.

6. I like Wise Pilgrim for descriptions on how to go through towns, and am running Buen Camino 's offline maps in airplane mode. Sadly, they don't vibrate for me.

7. Oh, and most of the small cafés I frequent take "effectivo" solamente. No credit cards.

Buen Camino to all

This is good to know , as I’m a day or two away from starting but can’t decide between ingles and primitivo - some good info , thanks

 

[trecile]

and am running Buen Camino 's offline maps in airplane mode. Sadly, they don't vibrate for me.

It doesn't vibrate for anyone (As far as I know). That's not a feature of the Buen Camino app. Other map apps like Wikilocs and Google Maps will vibrate when you get off track.

 

[Kirkie]

I have started walking the Primitivo, and I've learned many things already. I don't intend to create another travelogue when so many excellent writers have already done it, but for those new to this Camino...

1. There's a fair amount of *no-shoulder* road walking. I stayed on the left unless it was a blind turn for oncoming cars - then I went right.

2. Slippery when wet. Nuff said. And I broke out the poles by mile 3.

3. I carried my mochilla today...and in the middle of the day at Escamplero, I turned on my phone, pulled up Buen Camino, made a booking reservation for tomorrow night in Salas (8 km shy of where I'd hoped to go), and grabbed a TaXicamino envelope at my reserved destination and WhatsApp'd called them to ship the mochilla. I expect I'll be doing this most of the rest of the way. I was not ready for this.

4. I've met at least two small groups that are booked through to Santiago with luggage transport. Plus about 20 others today, singly or in pairs.

5. Weather was rainy this AM, up to about 77 F in the afternoon, and humid all day.

6. I like Wise Pilgrim for descriptions on how to go through towns, and am running Buen Camino 's offline maps in airplane mode. Sadly, they don't vibrate for me.

7. Oh, and most of the small cafés I frequent take "effectivo" solamente. No credit cards.

Buen Camino to all

Good to get your post, and you are absolutely right to take your executive decisions to enable a camino on your terms. Keep posting!

 

[dbier]

Not a trick question, but I don't know. I'm in La Espina, outside the cemetery, looking perhaps northwest...what is this body of water?

 

[David Tallan]

According to Google Maps, the Arroyo de San Martín is northwest of La Espina in Asturias.

 

[dbier]

Thank you. My excited fellow Danish pilgrims told me it was the Mar Cantibrico. I didn't think so.

And I made it over Hospitales today. Outstanding weather, if a little hot. Still shipping the pack...my old back injury requires frequent aspirina and balme de Tigre. And I had 2.5 liters of liquid today, still rationed it, and promptly drank 3 radlers and half a glass of water upon arrival at the albergue. Many places here are full...people are taxiing to Le Mesa and elsewhere. But I'm so slow that I still pretty much walk alone, which I prefer.

 

[peregrino_tom]

dbier - looks fantastic! that's the kind of September weather we all hope for, but don't always get. I like the way this thread is sort if informally slipping into a 'live from the camino' mode
EDIT: No pressure!

PS The La Espina just after Bodenya and 8km after Salas in only 15km from the Atlantic. It looks from your (slightly hazy?) pic as if that is a sea-like body of water in the distance, so I think it is indeed the Mar Cantabrico, although I don't remember noticing it myself all those years ago.
Hoping the weather keeps behaving itself..

 

[dbier]

I stand corrected, then. i thought that i could see a far shore....but it was pretty cloudy.

Don't worry...Im only responding when i think i have a relevant observation. There's a lot of pressure on me, but I'm not taking that on...

So far, weather remains good, although i guess it gets bad tomorrow. Given the descents today (not to mention the concrete climb out of Berducedo), that was a good thing. Testing out my GeoBlue insurance policy is not high on my list of things I want to accomplish this Camino.

Holing up in Embalse de Salime tonight, rather than pushing to Grandes (I wasn't sure how i would recover from Hospitales). Gonna make the next stage pretty hard, assuming I find a place to stay and ship my bag. My back still complains mightily about my day pack...

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

@dbier , it's great you were so lucky with the weather while going over the Hospitales. I had mist pretty much the entire day so didn't get those wonderful views. It did make for comfortable walking temperatures though.
Clearly I need to go back again....
Hope you get to stay at least relatively dry over the next few days!

 

[dbier]

I think the Lord had pity on fools and little children the last two days...no prizes if you don't immediately recognize which category I fall in. ;/ But it rains all day tomorrow, so the " leg breaker" section after A Fonsagrada should be in full swing.

A note from lunch today- I was talking with a gent who struggled through the Pola route. He made the (ironic) comment that he was really enjoying his vacation. I looked him dead in the eye and said, "Dude, we are sick (not in the currently "cool" sense of the word) if we think *this* is a vacation." The table slumped over laughing, mostly because they were too tired to disagree.

This is probably the most beautiful thing that I will *never* do again.

 

[dbier]

Managed to struggle into A Fonsagrada last night (30 km from Embalse de Salime). I did learn/confirm two additional observations in between the cold rain.

1. When the daily walk is as hard as it is for me ( even with a daypack), there is no FOMO (fear of missing out) that i see in so many questioners to these boards. 300 meters off trail to "name your site?" Don't care, don't have the extra energy.

2. As I previously suspected, when I'm tired, I really don't seek out deep interactions with people. it drains me further. I'm happy to be an anonymous Camino angel, but let's not make a relationship out of it, O.K.?

 

[dbier]

In O Cádavo now. More cold rain. I hit the mental challenge full on today, when I started wondering if the stage was just designed for maximum views. So. Many. Hills.

In between the rain and wind...

 

[David with new Kit!]

Great posts, thank you. I'm thinking about my next Camino, this one sounds interesting.

Plz keep posting

 

[peregrino_tom]

when I started wondering if the stage was just designed for maximum views.

those colours beside the wet path are just magical! well worth the hills IMHO...

 

[dbier]

:::she said, dryly::: I'll happily leave that calculus to you all. This entire Camino has become "The most beautiful thing I will never...ever...do again."

Made it to Lugo. Barely. Today was an upset stomach, which, with the upper back pain, has kept me from proper hydration and fueling. I can't tell you all how frustrated I am that, rather than getting stronger, I seem to be breaking down. And I'm not losing any weight, either.

But I, like nearly everyone else I have met, am taking a rest day in Lugo. So that's something.

The ends of stage are still pretty crowded, but, as you all know, there's not a lot of choices on the Primitivo to go off stage without doing some days in the 30km range...and my body definitely doesn't like 30km without a long lunch stop. Which also is hard to come by in places.

OTOH, the Camino Angel was out in Gondar with his picnic tables, shade umbrellas, water, home grown and store bought fruit, and his sello. Thank God. I really, truly, wouldn't have made it without that.

But you're here for pics, anyway, so let me get to it. We're fully out of the mountains now, so emphasis is on bucolic...

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Step by step….
Loved Lugo, enjoy! Hope your stomach improves overnight, and your back enjoys the rest day….

 

[dbier]

::::chuckle:::: These guys get around...

 

[dbier]

After a day of rest, and getting further into Galicia, today was a good day...though I am developing an axiom to wit:

Regardless of the etapa on the Primitivo, you'll start and end the day uphill.

 

[dbier]

Made progress today...but I have to say, if you're having to ship a backpack and make reservations on the Frances right now, you're pretty much out of luck. I'm in Boente now, and am only going 16 km tomorrow, because that was the only place I could find before Amenal. Leaving me a 30km walk into Santiago the next day. Since I'm too slow carrying a backpack, this is all I've got, and 30km days just wreck me. And accommodations inside Santiago over the weekend are scarce and expensive...and yes, I'm checking directly.

Gotta say it's frustrating. Mostly because I really wanted to walk to Muxia...and I just won't have the time before leaving Santiago on the 2nd.

Sigh. But here's pics.

 

[brothersamuel]

Thanks for this thread - and all the best for the remainder of your journey! I do hope the places will become less crowded, as we start following your footsteps the day after tomorrow…

 

[dbier]

Honestly, I think it will be better when you get here (by which i mean, more availability). This being the end of September, I've seen tour groups ( kinda), school groups ( definitely), and I think I'm catching the front wave of those who starred the CF at the beginning of September. Hard to tell, but looks like it. Sometimes there's lots on the trail, but today, I walked with one lady from Arzúa to nearly A Calle de Ferreiros with no one ( or maybe 1-2) in sight. But, pics...

 

[dbier]

Done. In typical Galician drizzle. A 31km day, beginning at 0630 with lights on, stopping at the tortoise sello, and lumbering past the piper (yes, I tipped him) at about 1620. And I bawled like a baby. Then I limped to the Pilgrims Office (have your QR code ahead of time by creating that " group", kiddies), wrote down the In Vicarie Pro text I wanted, and the volunteer added it to my Compostela ( which had my English name preprinted... ). Limped upstairs to the English companions room, bawled again all over the British and Irish female volunteers. They fed me tea and biscuits, we had a laugh or two, and finally I limped to my hotel for tonight.


The pics I could get of interest to you in between the rain...

 

[peregrino_tom]

Well done @dbier - it sounds like it was a tough one, but you did have some amazing weather! Thanks for taking the time to keep us all posted along the way. Buen camino, tom

 

[dbier]

One final lesson learned, I guess.

After a flurry of flight cancellations/rebookings, I flew home on Tuesday, 3 Oct with Tap Portugal through Lisbon.

On Thursday night, I started noticing a mild sore throat.

On Friday, I had an intermittent cough. Not heavy, not productive, not frequent. That was joined by a mildly runny nose on Friday evening.

On Saturday morning, I self tested positive for Covid. I'd been fully immunized AND had had one mild case of Covid as of Nov 2022. This means that I'm missing singing at someone's wedding today, and will miss two days of work next week.

Covid, however mild, is still out there. Not that it's applicable to me, but make sure your travel and/ or health insurance is good, in case you catch it while still on Camino.

 

[trecile]

Covid, however mild, is still out there. Not that it's applicable to me, but make sure your travel and/ or health insurance is good, in case you catch it while still on Camino

Covid isn't the only reason the make sure that you have health insurance while on the Camino - you can have another illness or injury. And don't think that young healthy people can't get sick or injured!

 

[dbier]

Oh, believe me, I was carrying a Cadillac plan with me. Just didn't have to use it. This time.