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Hi Roman
That's a very confusing area (322, 323, 232 etc) and I think that (after I walked over the railway bridge to Mogro station and on to Mogro) I did exactly what you are suggesting - not turning north to Miengo, but continuing on the 325 for about 400m to the junction with the 322 and then turning right towards Mar. If you look in the Cicerone guide to the northern caminos, it is suggested that you follow the 322 all the way from close to Mogro station, ignoring the signs that take you to Mogro village. What you have to remember is that Cantabria has some of the most bonkers way-marking of any camino and you shouldn't try and apply logic to it. If you have a guide with a detailed map like the cicerone one you can sometimes get the better of it and achieve a small victory. But most of the time it's best to just follow the arrows, shrug and say 'es Cantabria'
cheers, tom
I stopped at the little independent alberge at Benzanes about 10km past Santander. The hospitallero gave us detailed directions for how to proceed the next day, including how to use the rail bridge, as this route took about 8km of uneventful walking off the days hike. It was a great place to stay, and made sense of the next days walking. We just followed her directions, and coupled with the yellow arrows had no problems finding our way. There was a lot of road walking that day, and it would be easy to see why different guides take you different routes.
Point well taken, thank you Valeria. I haven't heard about the police clamping down on this, so this is good to know. I understand this is ultimately my responsibility to accept if I decide to cross the bridge on foot. But just out of curiosity and to gauge the risks - if you know, of course - what do they do? Do they give out tickets? Arrest people and throw them in jail? From what I've been able to find out, it's been technically illegal to cross since the beginning of time - the "Prohibido el paso" sign can be seen on almost all pictures that people take of that bridge. Neither the pilgrims nor the locals have seemed to careThe police and the rail company have clamped down on crossing the bridge in the past year. It is considered dangerous and is apparently also illegal. They suggest taking the train between the 2 stations to cross the river, or else follow the arrows round to the bridge.
I don't know if there is an on-the -spot fine, or anything - sorry - just that they had stopped folk going over (locals as well as pilgrims). Rumour had it that they were allowing people to use the train between Boo and Mogro for free with their credencial and it only cost about 1€ anyway. I realise that you might not want to use public transprt once you start walking but there are 3 possibilities that you might want to consider, apart from crossing the bridge. (It is actually given as 900mts on the tracks with half-hourly trains both ways plus freight trains.)Point well taken, thank you Valeria. I haven't heard about the police clamping down on this, so this is good to know. I understand this is ultimately my responsibility to accept if I decide to cross the bridge on foot. But just out of curiosity and to gauge the risks - if you know, of course - what do they do? Do they give out tickets? Arrest people and throw them in jail? From what I've been able to find out, it's been technically illegal to cross since the beginning of time - the "Prohibido el paso" sign can be seen on almost all pictures that people take of that bridge. Neither the pilgrims nor the locals have seemed to care
Roman
I don't know if there is an on-the -spot fine, or anything - sorry - just that they had stopped folk going over (locals as well as pilgrims). Rumour had it that they were allowing people to use the train between Boo and Mogro for free with their credencial and it only cost about 1€ anyway. I realise that you might not want to use public transprt once you start walking but there are 3 possibilities that you might want to consider, apart from crossing the bridge. (It is actually given as 900mts on the tracks with half-hourly trains both ways plus freight trains.)
1) Take the train in Boo to Mogro - the 'cercanias' run every half hour I believe.
2) Take the train from Santander to Mogro, missing the bridge and a walk through the industrial area too. It also makes the first day less daunting.
3) Walk to Boo and then the route to near Puente Arce following the arrows. Follow the arrows back towards Mogro and where the official route crosses the C-322 turn left along the road (once waymarked as the Camino) and continue to Mar where the arrows re-aapear and continue into Requejada where you rejoin the official route This looks as though it is the same distance as crossing the bridge and taking the official route from Mogro.
Buen Camino
Santander to Santillana is a long walk, although I have seen people do it. They just didn't get out of the bed the next day ;0)
And you will miss two good albergues: Santa Cruz de la Bezana (communal) as well as the super comfortable, impecable and well located Boo algergue (they even give you towels for your shower, on top of the well made bed), which is 10 meters from the train station. Spend the night there, jump on the 1st train in the morning, get off in Morgo and keep going.
Yep, absolutely. That makes total sense. I'm keeping track of all albergues at around the midpoint of every stage - precisely for that reason!Don't want to discourage you in anyway, but one of the best bits of advice I got was not to overdo it in the first days of walking. Its tempting to push on ahead, but the aches pains and blisters can really low you down a few days later... Have a contingency plan so you can slow down or stop if you feel tired.
Could not agree more: my guide clocks the distance at 44.07km - 33.27km if taking the train to go over the bridge. Plus it's a day of asphalt, asphalt and then more asphalt. There is another suggested variation, not official Camino, and it shaves of 3.8km: by road without passing through Morgo, Miengo and Cudon.Don't want to discourage you in anyway, but one of the best bits of advice I got was not to overdo it in the first days of walking. Its tempting to push on ahead, but the aches pains and blisters can really low you down a few days later... Have a contingency plan so you can slow down or stop if you feel tired.
Could not agree more: my guide clocks the distance at 44.07km - 33.27km if taking the train to go over the bridge. Plus it's a day of asphalt, asphalt and then more asphalt. There is another suggested variation, not official Camino, and it shaves of 3.8km: by road without passing through Morgo, Miengo and Cudon.
Plus it's a day of asphalt, asphalt and then more asphalt.
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