If you’ve walked from Santander on, what was it like?
I’m so sorry it wasn’t enjoyable for you but glad you switched and found a different way. I walked as far as Oviedo in April and it was lluvia lluvia and more lluvia but I enjoyed it. Everything was beautiful water and forests, hard for me to judge hills, more than the Frances but I thought ok. I understand some Spanish but have a terrible accent. I did however learn a few pleasantries in Euskera (yes no please thank you good morning good bye etc) before I left, and picked up a few more along the way (slow, lost, father, tick
) and I think that made up for me being totally unintelligible. I also took to writing the name of the town I was aiming for on my hand just in case. One of my blog entries was “there’s two Z’s in Zarautz!”
I think this forum sometimes makes it seem like a “camino family” instantly appears, but the camino doesn’t make anyone more outgoing or less shy and it’s likely the luck of the draw if there are gregarious fellow pilgrims or not. I purposely walked a less popular time and route to avoid people and I think the Norte could be tough to find a sweet spot: if you walk off season there are less pilgrims, if you walk high season it’s expensive and tough to find a bed sometimes.
It could take extending beyond a comfort zone but I think the most straightforward way of getting a walking partner is asking in the albergue if it’s ok to join someone the next day. Or at dinnertime ask to join some for dinner/invite them to join you (I read there’s a good place to eat, want to join me) then over dinner discuss walking plans
I used the confraternity of st James guides and was lost more than once, cursing them in the woods above Markina that “turn at the two beech trees” is ridiculous instructions for a beach girl walking in bare trees in the rain. I also love Gronze.com, it can be easily translated to English
I also bought a tourist book about northern Spain and read up on the areas on the coast. I made notes from several sources then sent them as PDFs to myself on my kindle app.
edit: of course with covid who knows what the way will be like and ppl may be hesitant to join with strangers. Let’s hope things improve. Re: roads there was road walking I’m sure but I tend not to notice unless cars are trying to kill me. Fwiw I considered my time on the Norte the second easiest to get lost (exceeded only by the one stage I walked of Cami Jaume) and I think what made both situations so memorable is a lot of locals had no idea what Camino I was seeking. Not an essential part of their infrastructure (hence name of town on hand). Least likely to get lost in my book is the Primitivo