Hi everyone,
I just made it back to the US after two months of Camino-ing. I started in Le Puy, followed the GR 65 to St. Jean, then turned right and followed the GR 10 to Irun. Once there, I was joined by a group of my students and we followed the Camino del Norte until transitioning to the Primitivo. After Santiago, we continued on to Muxia and Finisterre.
We were on the Primitivo from July 31 to August 12. Some observations follow...
Albergue Stuff:
- The Primitivo has a number of new/newish albergues which are quite outstanding. Pola de Siero has great facilities and three very eager hospitaleros. Grandas de Salime is similar, as is As Seixas. Castroverde's new albergue is even spiffier than Cadavo's (though it risks feeling impersonal and perhaps too slick). La Espina's hospitalera runs the supermarket downstairs; she opened it to pilgrims staying there on a Sunday.
- In the summer, La Mesa has two hospitaleros who also run a small shop out of the storage closet.
- Speaking of La Mesa, that (along with Berducedo) proved to be the most problematic part of the Primitivo for beds. On that day, you had a lot of people walking from Pola de Allande, and a lot of others walking from Campiello/Borres along the Hospitales route. If I were walking here again in the summer, I'd definitely reserve a bed in Berducedo's private albergue and take it easy. Otherwise, the pilgrim crowds (at their peak in August) were absorbed effectively pretty much everywhere. Grandas and Fonsagrada have both added a lot of overflow space
- We stayed in Borres. The albergue there is much criticized for its neglect. It was pretty bad when we arrived--you couldn't even sign in to the pilgrim book because of the swarming flies. That may sound like hyperbole, but there were a lot of flies! We ended up returning to Campiello where the store across from Casa Herminia has a lot of fly-killing supplies. We bought fly swatters and fly-strips and returned to Borres with a vengeance. In that moment, Santiago Matamosca was born. An hour of killing and cleaning later, it was very pleasant! I'd encourage others in the future to do the same--factor it into your donativo!
- We stayed in the private albergue Villa Cecilia in Oviedo. It was worth every penny to be able to check in when we arrived, instead of waiting until 5pm!
Route Stuff:
- There have been no meaningful route changes since the book was published. People have tried to make entry into Fonsagrada more confusing (the arrows split over and over again), but no matter which option you take, you'll end up in the same spot.
- The last place to suffer from some route changes (between Grado and Cornellana) has stabilized. Well marked and very pleasant.
- More and more people are taking the Hospitales variant now. It really is outstanding.
While we met some people on the Norte who weren't totally thrilled with the route, it was striking how upbeat and happy people on the Primitivo were. It's a demanding walk, but I think some people are unnecessarily scared away from it. As they say in Spain, vale la pena.
We are preparing a list of updates for the Northern Caminos this week, in support of the second printing. Have you used the book? If so, we'd love to get your feedback. Just message me here.
Regards,
Dave