So I realize I kinda went into day 1 of the blog without giving some context to this camino. We are doing the Camino Ingles aka the English way. Essentially back in the day the Brits used to get off the boat at Ferrol and walk the remaining days to Santiago. As it is outside the critical 100km mark this meant they got their compostella and as such their blessings.
So we started by walking from the top of the steps at the Barbour in Ferrol much like many people before us. The route is about 117km and most people do this over 4-6 days but on average 5. This is not a hugly busy route with numbers annually under 4k. However to our discovery there is limited accommodation and the albergues as tiny. After reading a few blogs this did not seem to be a problem as people seemed to find beds with no issue however on our Camino we have found we are in a wave of at a punt 40-50 pilgrims so capactity for beds even in pensions and hotels. With this said genius of booking.com that I am we figured a way around some of this at least with a slightly modified route but still over the required 100km. Anyway back to the show!
This morning we woke up at 7 knowing today should be a fairly short day. Around 20-21k. After overestimating the size of the pizza last night we tried to eat cold pizza but this resulted in scrunched up faces and the pizza staying in its box. We didn’t walk long when we faced a very steep uphill section that certainly warmed us up and woke us up. Today we were warned it was an up and down affair and it did not let up all day. Lauren’s bruised foot seems to be ok when walking but certainly giving her pain when we stop and in the afternoon. But with ibuprofen she seems to be doing ok and isn’t even on the Spanish ibuprofen yet so seems to be ok for walking at least. The pain just started with no rhyme or reason but is the location of a previous incident with a steel base plate about 10 years ago and that seems to be the blame and something about this walking has awoken the injury but was not to be seen in training walks. Today’s walk although strenuous up and down hills was super pretty from vista’s to wee small villages it was a very pretty walk. Today the sun is back out and blessed us with a final hour of profuse sweating and heat. Today’s shorter walk gives us a 30km walk tomorrow to Bruma which we already know we will be screwed for accommodation but if we taxigrino from there to a town off Camino called Ordes we have a hotel booked this will mean the following day we will be off Camino for 13km while we walk south to meet the Camino. The Camino runs parrallel but the motor way separates us with no option to cross. By the time we get back on the Camino there will only be 17km to Santiago so if all is well we will go for the finish. Returning us back to our 4 day plan. We both agree this is not ideal and we certainly missed some of the experience not being in albergues but we are unable to control things and we really don’t want to get into a bed rush or take a bed from someone on tight budget when truth be told we can afford hotels without worry.
But aside from the foot issue and the capacity issue we are still enjoying the Camino for what it is and spending time with each other on this experience. This includes the introductions to Cheetos which are like wotsits used to be like before they had to change the formula because of the E numbers and my love affair with Aquarius lemon. The food so far was been great and coffee remains really good and today we even got proper toast so my Spanish is still doing ok.
So far my impressions of the Camino are very good as far as route goes but the limited facilities and lack of beds and pensions and hotels really have made it tricky and I would only advise this route out of peak season at this point.
Combined pics from the day:
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