We set our alarms early and were on the road by 8:30. Danny left his sunglasses behind but otherwise it was a good start.
Our continual conundrum is where to stop for food. Since we started early we stopped at the first roadside cafe/general store where we saw lots of other pilgrims.
When Danny ordered sandwiches the lady brought the whole giant loaf/ring of bread to ask how much we wanted.
This is a style of service I could get used to.
God knows how she works out a price for this.
She made us take lots of photos – of her with us but also of her with other pilgrims.
She had a box of little flags and things and even found me a tiny clippy koala.
We also spoke to an American man from Kansas who was in Spain for a couple of months and was on his fourth Camino of the trip. He started on the primitivo Camino but wildfires blocked the path so he changed and had been doing bits of several.
Eventually it was time to hit the road. Today is a 17km walk and by lunch we had done 12km. The afternoon was a lot of hot walking in the sun. I employed my festival survival hack and socked my cotton scarf in water. At one point I saved my giant ice cubes from a cafe and wrapped them up for my neck, which worked well.
A transfer station is an inspiring reminder of man’s ability to generate electricity. Also I know I look sunburned but it’s not as bad as it seems and I am wearing a hat and sunscreen all day. A pilgrim bath that was the first we’d seen that actually looked clean enough to put your feet in, even though we didn’t. Resting in the shade.Unexpected dinosaur.Authentically Spanish afternoon snack;-) So much road, so little shade. Sitting in a dirty bus stop watching trucks go past.
My hip pain came back a bit in the afternoon but only in short spurts. We had our worst walking right before our hotel in Ordes, right beside a highway with only a narrow strip and heaps of trucks. It was pretty grim but the trucks very kindly moved over as far as they could, probably cursing us all the while.
When we got into the town we stopped at a pharmacy to buy ibuprofen and more foot plasters.
The towns seems to have some interesting street art.
Our hotel with generic tortured trees. Why do they cut all the branches off?? It looks awful and there’s no shade.
We arrived about 4:30 and decided to relax and shower before seeing where to eat this evening and do some laundry. Exciting stuff!
Action shot of our pilgrim passports being stamped. I don’t think I’ve mentioned them before. You have to get at least two stamps a day to prove you’ve done at least 100 for a certificate at the cathedral. We keep changing our minds about whether we want the certificate or not. My room has a bit of a weird smell but whatever.
We went out to do laundry and have dinner.
An entire meal of salad was very exciting. I took a photo of this bin truck outside the restaurant where we had dinner to remind myself of all the trucks they drive through Ordes constantly. I’ve never seen so many trucks in a small town.
A note regarding yesterday’s post, we discovered the tiny sheds on stilts were actually for storing corn.
Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler and we are going to set off around 8am as the hotel breakfast is at 7:30. it’s another day that’s just under 20km. It’s worked out well they we arrive at our destination in time to shower, rest, then enjoy the evening somewhat. I can well imagine that doing this for weeks on end would result in much improved fitness. Im not sure I’ll see any benefit but it’s nice knowing we are succeeding at something that seemed quite daunting initially.
I awoke this morning with some trepidation. I had woken up a few times during the night and in the morning my feet were a bit swollen. I rarely get blisters and my shoes were very well worn in so I don’t know why I had developed so many. On the plus side, they weren’t hurting much and I had plenty of plasters.
I spent quite a while stretching and then putting plasters on the tender parts of my feet. Everything seemed to be mostly ok.
After a breakfast of crushed tomatoes and olive oil on toast (just for something different) we sorted out our belongings then set off.
The Camino Ingles has two possible starting points that eventually join – like a ‘Y’ shape. We had started on the right fork of the route but, due to a lack of accommodation on that path, were planning on crossing early from one side to the other, before the two parts officially joined.
The route out of Betanzos was uphill for a couple of kilometres. I had contemplated catching a taxi to the top because of my hip pain but the stretching and sleep has possibly made a difference because up to the halfway point everything seemed to be ok.
The countryside was still very green and the undulations made it very scenic. I haven’t mentioned it before but from arriving in Ferrol we continually heard very loud booming sporadically during the day. It was still audible close to Betanzos so if anyone knows what it might be please comment!
Another feature of the walk has been these raised boxes/sheds. What are they for? I thought they might be pigeon cotes but some have crosses on them so I’m not sure.
We saw only a few other pairs and groups of people in the morning but stopped for lunch at a roadside bar.
We sat outside and had drinks then a family-looking group turned up, pulled out a guitar and started playing to the tables of people outside.
Danny was particularly loving the situation – in Ireland casual musical performances are very common and this part of Spain is very closely related to Ireland, being part of the Gaelic world. Locals we have met have been very pleased to meet Danny and find out he’s Irish. A couple of old men even took photos with us yesterday.
We decided to order food since the bar was so nice. The food took forever but the sandwiches were amazing when they arrived.
Being a public holiday most of the shops were shut and we had no idea what we would find for meals so being somewhere that was open was worth stopping for.
Everyone was loving it and then they stopped for lunch and another group of people came along with a piano accordion and did some more singing.
The lady with the accordion came over to talk to us and asked if there were any tunes we knew. Obviously at that point neither of us could think of the name of a single song so she said ‘Beatles!’ and played some Obla di obla da (is that what the song is called? You know the only I mean!).
The whole thing was a very quintessential Spanish experience but also felt like a pub session in Ireland. One of the old men asked Danny where we were from and when he said Ireland the man said ‘same same!’
I’m not sure, if I lived somewhere that had a constant stream of sweaty tourists, that I’d be quite as welcoming and friendly, but we’ve had a number of very charming interactions with locals and it’s really been the highlight of the walk so far. Well, that and the food and the scenery.
We sat for about two hours and had a delicious tortilla sandwich before moving on.
The parts of Galicia we walked through on this day were definitely more affluent than yesterday. The houses were in more subtle colours and everything looked neat and either historically old or new and fancy.
Most of today’s walk was along roadsides but, being a holiday, the roads were pretty quiet and it wasn’t too traumatic.
The last bit of walking was through a eucalyptus forest that felt like it was never going to end.
Eventually we made it to our accommodation, which turned out to be a stunning eco retreat cabin by a very popular dam and recreation area. Walking out of the forest to discover it was almost a religious experience.
It was really a cut above our previous, somewhat utilitarian, hotel in Betanzos.
The view from the front of the cabin is of the dam and people having picnics. Beside the cabin is a bar and restaurant but they closed at 5pm (not very Spanish hours but it is a public holiday) but I managed to snag a bottle of wine before they closed.
The wine was beautiful and local, there was also a bottle of red left for us in the cabin and Danny prefers red so that worked out well!
We had bought croissants and apples in Betanzos, knowing we might not see another open shop, so wine and croissants were our dinner.
Tomorrow is supposed to be 27 degrees so we plan to leave early and get most of our 17km done before lunch.
So far we have done over 70km, which is really good for us! I know some people manage much further in shorter times but we have stopped a lot, eaten great food and had great chats with people along the way.
I am not sure I’ll have a lot to write about today because I am completely exhausted but here’s today’s walk in brief.
First, it’s Sunday, so Pontedueme was pretty quiet. We had tomato on bread for breakfast but with ham this time.
The main square of Pontedueme
The path out of Pontedueme, starting from our breakfast table, went up, up, UP.
Still, we consoled ourselves with the amazing views as we sweated through our clothes. Or as I sweated and Danny lightly dampened his clothes. It turns out Danny doesn’t sweat much, which somehow seemed quite unfair.
One the first day of our walk we had discovered pilgrim fountains everywhere. They have running water and foot baths with a bench around. On this day we saw a few but nowhere near as many. I would be interested to know if they are a feature on other routes.
During the first half of the day we walked through forest and along some very pretty trails. Thankfully not all the forests were eucalypts.
We saw a lot of grape vines on trellises. This was probably the most impressive.
The roadside verges were full of flowers and there were many lovely scents along the way.
The path took us through very varied scenery, including beneath massive pillars that held highways above wetlands.
We saw beaches and waterways.
For lunch we stopped at a very pilgrim-themed place to have a bite. There was a cute and very tiny dog.
The lady running the stop was lovely and very welcoming. We left after having a very restful sit and picking some wild strawberries from their garden.
Just a short way down the track we saw a huge mural featuring the woman from the pilgrim stop. If only we’d had a photo with her!
I bought an apple in the next little town and we came across a large group of women pilgrims walking so slowly that they ended up being the first (and probably last) people we would overtake. Sure, they overtook us later on but it did feel nice to not be the slowest for a short while.
The path continued to be very hilly.
Towards the end I was really struggling. My right hip was hurting, particularly on the uphills, which was doubly annoying because on the downhills the soles of my feet really stung. Across the day I took 5 ibuprofen tablets and I’m not sure they helped much.
This is a photo Danny took of me struggling;-).
The second half of the day was through countryside that felt almost deserted and was also lacking the plentiful benches of the morning so we stopped and sat in a gutter at one point to eat our snack nuts (snuts) and biscuits.
Classy!
The sandals I bought in England were a nice change for my feet in the middle of the afternoon as we climbed the last hill. A lady pulled over as we were halfway to the top and told us it wasn’t much further. At the tip we found her with her husband manning a little pilgrim stop with cold drinks and a donation box. They asked where we were from and then pointed to all the eucalyptus trees, telling me they were from Australia. Yes, I had noticed that half of Spain looks exactly like the trees around my house, thanks.
We got a stamp and then sat down for a rest. A Dutch fellow came along and sat down for a chat. He had done many Camino trails and usually came with his family.
The couple at the stop took a photo of Danny and I together before we left.
Eventually we made it to Betanzos. The hotel was nice, we had Japanese for dinner and used the laundromat. My feet were pretty swollen and my blisters worse than I’ve ever had in my life! We’ll see how tomorrow goes!
I woke to a perfectly clear, blue sky and checked out of the West View somewhat regretfully. it would’ve been an amazing day to walk but never mind.
Amazingly blue but either that’s snow on the distant peaks or the thickest frost I’ve ever seen. It was -2 overnight.
last night I ended up going to see ‘Air’ at the cute little cinema a couple of blocks from the B&B. It was entertaining and I always like going to tiny local cinemas. So tiny the tickets were hand-written!
The bathroom decor was almost more exciting than the movie.
After I left the West View I headed to the shops. I bought the last couple of things I needed for the Camino, including some compeed plasters, which multiple people have assured me have magical blister-healing properties. I also got some more familiar but less magical elastoplast tape. With two treatments for blisters I’m hoping Murphy’s Law will ensure I get none.
All the buses leave from outside Booths supermarket. There was no one waiting when I first got there so I went into the supermarket to look at weird chip flavours.
Score!
When I came out there were approximately a billion people waiting for the same bus as me. I glumly joined the end of the line but, due to one bus parking in the wrong spot, my bus ended up stopping on the wrong spot, closer to my end of the queue. Well, the tension was palpable as all the orderly elderly people realised what was happening. One single couple walked from what was now the back to the front and just kind of shoved in (quelle horreur!) but otherwise we all just got on in the new order.
I went up the top and found tables! I’d never seen tables on an English bus before. I ended up sitting at a table with three locals, who said it was definitely a brand new bus.
(I took the photo after everyone got off)
It has USB charging points but also wireless charging too, where you just sit your phone on the disc on the table. Fancy!
I talked to the people at my table for the whole trip to Windermere, where they were getting off to walk to Orrest Head. This is the first time I’ve been to the lakes and not walked up Orrest Head. It’s a tiny hill right near Windermere station and Alfred Wainwright’s first walk – and mine! Maybe we’ll be able to fit in in next time.
The views became less rocky and more green towards Kendal. I’d bought my train ticket tomorrow from Oxenholme, which is just south of Kendal. There are buses that go direct from Oxenholme to Ambleside but not all the way to Keswick so I thought I’d walk from Kendal to the station. It was only about 3km.
Kendal is a lovely town but more like Penrith and Carlisle than Keswick, which are larger, less touristy towns that sit around the edge of the Lake District.
I walked around a bit and stopped for a lunch of Thai pea soup at the oldest pub in Kendal, Ye Olde Fleece Inn.
The soup was lovely but the wallpaper was something else!
Passionfruit flowers!
It was a very nice place to sit, so I sat for a while.
The walk to Oxenholme was neither pretty nor quiet, being along a busy road, but there were a few nice views.
The tree was magnificent but could not entirely cover the stalag-esque community centre behind it.
The most noteworthy thing I saw was this school.
My brain did a little hiccup and initially thought it had been doing scholarships etc since 3:25 in the afternoon. No wait, they’re celebrating their 500th anniversary in 2 years.
Eventually, after a climb up a steep hill, I reached my accommodation.
And the enormous room!
Now I’ve had cheese and mushrooms on toast for dinner and I’m listening to the Somehow Related podcast.
An early night – I don’t feel like I’ve done much but I’ll be happy to get into bed.
To finish, here’s a lovely picture from my new favourite account on instagram – a magnificent cat who likes to go walking in the Lake District!
Today I took a bus to Dubwath, which is on the west side of Bassenthwaite Lake, thinking I would do some walking around there. I’d seen the gently-rounded hills from the bus on my trip to Cockermouth.
The bus stop I alighted at was over the road from the train station cafe that I had booked for Luke, Pete, Lea, Sue, Mark and I in May. I’d seen it online and booked it but had no idea what it was like so it seemed like a good idea to go have a look and see if I’d made a terrible mistake.
I had not made a terrible mistake.
I had coffee at the cafe, in one of their railway cars.
I used their bathroom, outside of which was a bookshelf and I think one of the books was about me!
I’ve been practicing my banter so much I think I’m definitely at an advanced level now.
Then I took a walk around the nature reserve over the road. It was a boardwalk over boggy ground. I took another photo to add to my collection of terrible quality photos of birds. I think it’s a wren but I’m happy to be corrected.
I know it was a bird, but this photo is so bad it could be a weird potato.
I had a look in the bird hide, where there was a whiteboard to record wildlife sightings.
Exciting stuff! I then had a chat to a man who told me about the African swallows (unladen) that had just started arriving and described their call to me and just as he did, one of them did their call. It was very fortuitous.
Then I took a walk up the nearest fell. It was a stunning day and the views were tremendous. The walk wasn’t super difficult but from the top I could see all the way to Scotland, the Isle of Man and I think I could see Northern Ireland too. I’m not going to post many photos because I think it would be an ideal walk to do with everyone before our tea at the train (weather permitting). Some of the walk was a corpse road, an ancient track along which people would carry bodies to the local church.
The amazing weather made it less creepy.
There were a few people around as the walk was very accessible. It’s the first walk I’ve been on where I’ve seen quite small children.
The way there and back from the bus stop passes the Pheasant Inn.
My favourite bird, as you may well know by now. I went in and had some lunch in their back garden area.
Roast beef roll and some cider.
A very tame little robin joined me.
I can now start a collection of high quality photos of birds. Finally!
After a long rest and soak in the sun, I took a photo of the hedge then returned down the road to the bus shelter.
High quality photo, poor quality bird.
The bus shelter was of a much higher standard than most, and a nice place to wait out of the rain.
I felt like I’d had a medium-effort day but my watch said I’d climbed 59 storeys. There certainly were a lot of ups and downs and I could feel it in my calves.
I got back to the B&B to find all my washing done – my hosts had asked if there was anything they could do to make up for the lock incident. The only thing I really wanted was clean clothes, so that was easy!
All my clothes are pictured except for the set I was wearing. I have attained my badge in ultralight packing!
I’ve also done a book swap with one of the owners here, since I finished the Matt Haig novel last night and there’s no reason to hold onto it. It’s the first book I’ve finished on the trip. I think writing the blog and listening to podcasts has been my main entertainment. Luke asked me what I do in the evenings and, aside from washing my pair of socks and underwear from that day, that’s about it.
I’ve been having trouble replying to people’s messages on the blog but thank you to everyone who has left comments and kind words, I’ve really appreciated them! Deb asked what I think of walking poles. As I was on the bus home I tried to think of ten reasons why I recommend them.
1. Better balance (four legs are better than two!)
2. They help me hoist myself up higher more easily.
3. They help me let myself down easier from high steps – they are great for relieving pressure on joints.
4. I can prod damp patches to see if they are deep or shallow and get across wide puddles more easily.
5. They are good for lifting spiky plants away from my legs.
6. They give me peace of mind. Charmaine broke her ankle and couldn’t come, she said if she’d had her poles she probably would’ve been more stable and not fallen. I’m not taking any risks I can easily avoid!
7. Numerous times I’ve gone out without them and regretted it but never regretted taking them!
8. I’ve had a couple of people say to me over the years that they think poles are for elderly people, so I like to use them because I’m not, so I’m normalising them for middle-aged people;-).
9. They do take weight off your legs so you get more of a workout for your arms and can walk further in comfort.
10. This is one of the things I notice almost immediately if I don’t use them; my hands feel slightly swollen when I walk briskly with them hanging by my side so I have to hold my backpack straps to alleviate the sensation. With poles, my hands are elevated enough to avoid this sensation.
I don’t use them on city streets or anything, but out in the countryside, particularly going places I haven’t been before, they make it possible for me to go further, faster and more confidently. So I say grab yourself a pair!
Here Comes The Planet 