Camino Ingles Day 5: Ordes to Segueiro

by Miss Penny Black

Most pilgrims stay in Bruma but we had missed out on accommodation so we had walked off trail to Ordes. I don’t know if I really spent enough time in my last post emphasising precisely how many trucks were driving through the main street of Ordes, where our hotel was. It was like a truck convention had come to town.

It was pretty much a constant stream of loud traffic. The town had a strange vibe, with half the businesses clearly closed down but also a lot of fancy cars and richly dressed pedestrians. All the buildings were soot stained… basically we weren’t sorry to leave. If Pontedueme was 4/5, this was 1/5.

I cannot complain about the staff at our hotel, who were so so friendly and helpful and apologised all the time for their English (this is so embarrassing for me and my ten words of Spanish). Breakfast was … tomato on toast!

Plus a special treat.

Mum, I know exactly what you’ll say when you see this photo! Coco pops was my special treat cereal as a kid.

Hotel decor was a bit dramatic for breakfast.

As we left the hotel I noticed something significant – a pile of bags with tags. This meant the bag transfer service was available! I got out my little backpack, we put all of Danny’s heavy stuff in my big bag and left it for pick up. Having an AirTag on my bag made it easy to check when it reached its destination and helped us navigate to the right place.

Walking out of town was a pleasure and quickly took us away from the grotty part of town and into the countryside. Along the way was some great graffiti.

Five kilometres out of town was an excellent little cafe with an owner who spoke not only perfect English but with a West Sussex accent despite being clearly Spanish. she has been born in England then moved back to Spain with her Spanish parents to look after her grandmother.

We asked her if pilgrims were annoying and she said ‘only the Spanish ones’ and when we asked how they were annoying she said ‘in every way’ and the gist of it seemed to be that they were very entitled and acted like they were doing her a favour and didn’t realise her business was mainly supported by locals, pilgrims were ‘holiday money’. It was really interesting to be able to talk to someone about the local side of living on such a popular route.

People had left pilgrims messages so I left the orange one in the middle letting people know that the little boxes on stilts were for corn. Later on we met some British girls who had also been wondering. It wasn’t just us who was mystified!

The lady in the cafe had said the walk from then on was easy and she wasn’t wrong. Either that or Deb had been right about day five and onwards being easier… or the cooler weather made a difference. Maybe it was all these aspects combined?

Most of the walking was by fields, through trees and on roads.

There were definitely more people on the trail today as both routes had properly joined. We kept leap-frogging groups and saying hello … well, hola! When everyone says hola it’s really hard to work out who speaks English.

We had a nice chat with some Spanish men who spoke English at a rest stop by the second last pilgrim bath of the day.

The last part of the day was beside a highway but behind a hedge, thankfully. Also it was a gentle downhill for once.

Then through industrial estates but they seemed quite new and busy.

Apart from Danny’s epic blisters we both agreed that it was by far the easiest day. Most of the other pilgrims had walked further than us though as we had stayed at a town that wasn’t exactly on the trail. We had wondered if towns not on the official route would still give us stamps but it turned out to be fine no matter where we went.

Walking into Sigueira was lovely with a nice park and an open cafe.

As we sat with a snack under some lovely wisteria, too early to book into our accommodation, the weather turned a bit.

Danny was not happy about getting out his raincoat.

My bag had been taken to a different hotel so we had to pick it up before our accommodation. The AirTag was a super handy way to find my bag. The lady at the hotel was very annoyed that my bag had been sent there when we weren’t actually staying at her hotel and she said ‘maybe it was there, maybe not’ but a nicer member of staff went to look and found it immediately. If I hadn’t been able to track my bag with my phone I would’ve had a proper panic!

Our apartment was on the third floor so after we lugged our bags up we went out for food – delicious arepas at a bar that was playing almost nonstop Adele videos.

I will admit this photo doesn’t look great but it was actually one of the best things I’ve eaten so far on this trip.

We highly recommend this bar, not just for the food but the staff were lovely.

We bought some wine and snacks and by 7pm we were on the couch watching Drag Race.

Danny’s feet had been hurting so much that we decided to book another night in Sigueiro. It turned out to be a great decision as it started raining during the night and hasn’t really stopped since!

2May2023

Camino Ingles Day 4: Beche to Ordes

by Miss Penny Black

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.

Authentically Spanish afternoon snack;-)

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.

2May2023

Camino Ingles Day 3: Betanzos to Beche

by Miss Penny Black

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.

1May2023

Camino Ingles Day 2: Pontedueme to Betanzos

by Miss Penny Black

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 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!

28Apr2023

Stansted to Spain

by Miss Penny Black

I got to London from Sheffield an hour late due to terrible traffic. The driver was very apologetic and good humoured, which made the trip more bearable.

This photo is awful but it’s the only one from the bus.

I got off at Victoria feeling like I was starving and ducked out of the rain into a pizza place that promised real Neapolitan pizza.

Delivered! It was fantastic.

Also check out these fancy taps in the bathroom. Futuristic!

Feeling more at peace with myself and the world, I caught the jam-packed tube and then the Stansted Express and then taxi to the end. By the time I reached my quarters I did not feel particularly at peace with the world, more like a sardine that had spent too long in a can.

My accommodation for last night was pretty weird. I booked a place through booking.com that was in Takeley, a village very close to Stansted airport. It definitely didn’t look like a hotel and when I arrived it seemed to be a house made entirely of bedrooms. My room opened directly onto the back patio area, which had all the charm of a prison exercise yard.

‘Princess Rules’ is a pretty strange bit of decor in a room that’s probably most used by backpackers and low level business people.

In the morning I caught a local bus the one mile to the airport and met Danny, who had flown from Belfast. We haven’t seen each other in five years, although we talk many times a week over messenger. We both got married last year so I’m going to enjoy telling people about it and implying it was to each other, just to annoy him.

We quickly set about getting into trouble.

Well, Danny did. Then we had a glass of Prosecco at a bar while we waited for access to a lounge that Danny booked, where we could drink more Prosecco.

At the haunted bar, where a glass leapt off the bench and smashed for no reason because no one was anywhere near it.

A terrible photo (post Prosecco) of the Escape Lounge, where we had three complimentary Prosecco and breakfast.

The Ryanair terminal had its own special charm. I shouldn’t complain though, this was probably the best experience I’ve had with Ryanair… although it might’ve been all the Prosecco. Lesson learned! Ryanair plus four glasses of wine equals a tolerable experience.

The final glass of Prosecco was accompanied by a large coffee on the flight.

We landed and saw our first shell, the symbol and marker of the Camino.

We caught the bus into Santiago de Compostella then bought a bag of strawberries to eat on the train. Danny smokes so he stocked up.

Next was the high speed train to A Coruna, where we were staying the night. It was a 30 minute walk across town to the apartment Danny had booked and we were very grateful to grab some bread, ham and tomatoes (to go along with some pilfered cheese from the airport lounge) and have a picnic at the coffee table before bed. we can head all the cafes and bars below are packed with people but we are so very tired!