How to Become a Pilgrim in Spain, Part 1

This week we started an adventure that has been on our list since we started planning this year of travel, the Camino de Santiago! The last few months we had been trying to add longer walks to prepare ourselves for the mileage. We also convinced our parents to take some extra items back with them so we could reduce some weight in our packs. We went from filling out 55L at an estimated 40 pounds (18kg), down to less than 30 pounds (14kg) and just about fitting everything into our 40L packs (except my day bag!). Even then I think it might have been too heavy, certainly heavier than I would have needed if the Camino was the only part of the trip!

Camino de Santiago

The Camino de Santiago is a Pilgrimage to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela in Northwestern Spain, and is currently one of two UNESCO world heritage walks. It is the current burial site of Saint James the Apostle. He had been moved a few times before arriving in Santiago by order of the King, in a time many religious places were wanting relics to encourage Pilgrims to their site. Construction of the Cathedral began in 1078. The safest route at that time was what is now known as the Camino Primativo, thought to be the first official Route, as the King encouraged people to live along the route and many small towns were established, giving Pilgrims, or Peregrinos, a place to stay or eat along the route.

Today there are several routes of the Camino, most of them from various points across Spain but one that goes across Portugal and a few that start in other countries. You could even try to walk from Rome all the way to Santiago!

To get credit for the pilgrimage, you are required to walk the last 100km (or bike the last 200km), and get sellos, or stamps, from various establishments or churches along the route into your passport. You can pick up the passport, or credential, from churches in the starting towns, police or tourism offices, or order it from a Camino organization in your home country before you go. We ordered ours from the UK since the church would not be open once we got into Oviedo or before we left in the morning. The most popular route is the Camino Frances, starting with a few days in France before crossing the border and takes about 35 days to complete. About 300,000 pilgrims complete the Camino each year, with only about 5% of them walking the Primitivo route.

We decided to do the Primitivo because it is generally shorter, around 11-16 days, and we had to manage the days we had left in the Schengen region of the EU. To us it was a good practice for how we might like a through hike, although with modern amenities such as showers, beds, and restaurants!

The Beginning

After just one rest day in Cardiff we had an early bus departing from the same park our bike adventure finished! The bus took us directly to Bristol airport, where we had a quick 90 minute flight to Bilbao, Spain. We then found the right city bus that took us to the Bilbao bus terminal. The bus was really nice, it was 2-1 configuration so the seats were really spacious and they even had movies and TV shows, although there wasn’t any English, even with shows that were originally in English, they only had Spanish dubbing available.

Three and a half hours later we arrived in Oviedo. We had about a half mile walk to our hotel where we dropped our bags quick before venturing out for dinner. We decided to walk to the church that officially starts the Primitivo route to get some pictures before getting food.

Then we found a pizza spot and had our first taste of something I really love about Spain, that tapas! When you order a drink, most places will give you some sort of snack and here that was a small slice of pizza. We also got a giant plate of fried potatoes to go with our big pizza we shared, which was perfect carb loading for the miles we had to tackle in the morning.

We turned in early to get some sleep and so we could get going early in the morning.

Day 1: The First Day

When checking out of our hotel we got our first sello of the trip! We had an app to help us navigate, but once you get onto the trail it was really easy to follow. In town there were small brass shells in the parking lot. It took me a few to recognize that what I thought was the arrow is actually backwards. The shell represents the Camino as each of the lines are all the various routes coming together in the same spot, Santiago!

By the time we got to the edge of town, there were more road signs or these cement pillars that are the official markers of the route. Sometimes there isn’t a cement pillar, the tile is actually placed on a building, on the edge of a house or business and you have to pay attention to which way it is pointing. Occasionally there is just a yellow arrow painted on the back of a sign, on the ground, or on a fence.

The trail can be on a small gravel or paved road, sometimes its on the shoulder of a larger highway, but often it is on a trail or farm road between fields or fences. Early on we had several bikes pass us, many you could hear the whir of the electric engines.

We had a few obstacles today, played limbo a few times and one that was very low but thankfully had a trail that went around it. The first cute little church we found was our next sello. We met a hiker from Canada that had done the Camino Frances last year and enjoyed it so much he wanted to do the Primitivo this time. We walked on ahead of him and soon found a little cafe where we got some tea and coffee and I could use their bathroom. Soon our Canadian friend caught up with us and we got to chat a bit more.

Our next stop for a break we found another church where we could get a sello and we broke into our snacks, but they really didn’t last me long and soon I was getting pretty hungry. We kept thinking there’d be food at these towns according to the app but most of them were closed. Finally we found one and we each had a toast with cheese, ham and olive oil that really hit the spot! And of course some Fanta for a bit of sugar. We once again met up with our Canadian friend who ended up walking with us the rest of the day since we started walking a bit slower. I could feel a few blisters starting and my feet were not feeling the greatest.

Our new friend wasn’t getting much service and was trying to get in contact with his friend he met on the Frances last year that was already at the end of today’s walk, so we helped him with a hot spot so he could get a message through. They invited us for a beer and found a North German couple that they met in the morning and we all enjoyed a beer and snacks together. It was fun learning more about the Frances from them and about Germany.

We walked the last little bit to our albergue to drop bags and take a shower. If you want to hike the Camino on a budget, there are municipal albergues that you cannot book ahead and is usually set up like a hostel with bunk beds and shared bathrooms that only costs about 8-15 Euros per night. The down side is they are first come first serve and we heard about places in this first town that had already turned people away by the time we arrived. I am so glad we booked all of our spots ahead of time in private albergues so we had a guaranteed bed and we got a bit more luxury by having our own room, although sometimes the bathrooms were still shared. We found a grocery store nearby to just get some snacks as we didn’t want to wait for the late dinner time, and managed to hit up a pharmacy for some blister bandages. It was time for sleep to rest up for the next day!

Day 2: The Rainy Day

Our albergue had breakfast included so we enjoyed plenty of toast and jam with fruit.

We started out today with a little rain. We didn’t have bag covers so Mr. Wander had the idea to use our rain coats on the packs to protect the bags. While we do have most of our clothes in a compression sack that is water resistant we still had computers, battery packs and other things that should not really get wet. Plus our rain coats are pretty warm and we were already sweating, so we’d be wet either way.

After an hour or two in the rain we found a cafe to get some nice warm tea and coffee, and they gave us a few candies on the side for a little dose of energy. The rain seemed to have subsided so we removed the coats to hang off the bags to help things dry a bit. It didn’t take long, though, for the rain to start up again, so we had to stop and recover the bags. It was nice that we mostly had good tree cover so when it started to really rain we weren’t getting too wet.

Today was full of pretty tree paths, a tunnel, a few snails, and some beautiful views once we got to the top of the taller hill for the day. I did start to struggle again at the end of the day with my feet hurting, mostly from blisters but a little just from the fact our shoes were getting old! We have worn our same pair of shoes since a few months before leaving Minnesota at the end of last year. Mr. Wander put a challenge on his Garmin app, using our everyday steps the app estimated we had walked 1700 miles in these shoes since the beginning of the year, crazy!

We never managed to find somewhere to eat on the way, and I had been getting pretty low on energy by the end. We decided to do another grocery store lunch and dinner and got some extra snacks to help us on the trail when we cannot find places to eat! We attempted to dry things out in our room as best as we could and went to bed.

Day 3: The Muddy One

Today was a gorgeous sunny day, which was nice so our bags could dry out a bit after yesterday’s rain. We were able to start on some nice paths with rock walls and pretty trees.

It wasn’t too long before we got a taste of what the day would be full of: mud! The trail wound between fields, along gullies, and on farm roads.

It was definitely challenging trying not to get our feet too wet, even though the shoes were still a bit damp from the day before. There was one really bad puddle towards the end that stretched from one side to the other, I was trying to hang onto trees and fences on the side to be on the high ground but at some points you just couldn’t help it and you had to step in the mud. at least there were a few fun sign, and several giant slugs to keep us entertained.

The last bit coming into Tineo was mostly up and thankfully less muddy, but once we got there it was one of my favorite views of the whole Camino. I could have stared at this view for a long time!

The app we were following had the stage end in Tineo, however we weren’t able to reserve anything in the city, so we ended up finding something a few miles away but I don’t think we realized how far off the trail it would be as well. By the time we got to Tineo we had already walked 13 miles. It was a beautiful trail along the cliff and the trail did take us into the old part of town a little but in general we stayed above the main highway. We had a few snacks and a rest on a bench to get the energy to finish the day. To get to the hotel we had to go another 3 miles on the trail, before turning off and venturing down some farm roads down a big hill for nearly 2 more miles. I was really starting to run out of energy, but I did have an extra boost to get to the hotel today, we have two special guests joining us for the next week of the Camino, and we were meeting them there!

It was so lovely to walk up to the hotel and out comes our friends to greet us with a hug! And of course once we got checked in, a couple of beers. I forgot to take a picture of us this first night so I’ll introduce them tomorrow. We sat around the table for awhile chatting and catching up and then we each ordered an appetizer to share for dinner. There were potato croquettes, a steak that came with fries and a salad, tasty pork arepa type things with a cheese sauce, and a salmon dish I forgot to take a picture of, we must have been hungry! The last two pictures with the spoons and jar was a dessert that was so tasty, like a caramel pudding!

Back when we were still in Cardiff, we had planned to order another pair of our shoes we had been wearing since before we left last December. However, the UK site for the shoes we like didn’t have any of our sizes, and I couldn’t find them through any other retailer. We could have bought another style and that was our backup plan, but we asked our friends if they’d be willing to bring them in their suitcase, so we bought them online from the US and had it shipped to their house. Thanks again you two! It was perfect timing as our old shoes got pretty muddy!

I was quite thankful to not have to try and wash those old shoes and to be able to immediately have dry shoes, as these were still damp from the last two days of rain and puddles. I was excited to see how the feet liked the new shoes and hoped to be done with all the blisters! We turned in not long after dinner since we were tired from all the walking and they were dealing with a bit of jet lag after an overnight flight and a long day of travel.

Day 4: When Two Paths Diverge

Today we decided to take a taxi back to the trail, just a few miles after we got off the trail at the next spot the road crosses.. This way our friends didn’t have to start with a steep uphill climb that actually backtracked a bit before we’d reach the trail. I think they were thankful, but so were my feet! It was a nice sunny day and the trail was pretty empty since most people starting out were several miles behind us back in Tineo. 

Not too far down the trail we came upon what is for most people a decision point, to take the Hospitales route, or the Pola route. Since we had booked all our hotels we were already decided on the Pola route, which means it had downhill today with a big up hill the next day, but is also the “normal” route. The Hospitales route I have read can be more difficult, but more beautiful-if the weather holds. Not wanting to rely on perfect fall weather we decided the Pola route. 

We got to see some great examples of the store house I talked about before in that model, but here is a picture of a real one. You can even see the gap of the stairs that is too big for a mouse or something to jump up and reach. 

Today we had ourselves a bit of a boost from blackberries along the trail that were quite delicious, and spotted a cat soaking up the sun on the rooftop. 

At a bit over halfway we were all getting a bit hungry and saw this little cafe sitting out by itself at this intersection, so we stopped. We each ordered a ham and cheese sandwich and it came on these massive slices of bread! I was so hungry though that it wasn’t too hard for me to finish, the hiker hunger had really set in by this point!

We all enjoyed washing it down with a beer and got our first group photo together. My friend, Mr. S, was a co-worker of mine and we worked in the same group for about 6 years before he retired, but mostly we had a group for weekly happy hours on Fridays at various breweries and golfing in the warmer weather. While I had met his wife a few times, this was my first chance to get to know her really well. Before they came I knew she had done the Camino Frances about 15 years before, but what I didn’t realize was that she used to be a Spanish Teacher and had studied in Spain for a semester!

Not only was it a huge asset in communicating for taxis and hotels, but I think my Spanish improved quite a bit because I could ask her what she was saying, or confirm what I’m supposed to say to give me the confidence to try more. Coming into this year, Spanish was probably my best language from taking 2 years in high school but that was a long time ago! She was also able to give us more insight into things happening around us, such as when another peregrino stopped for lunch at this cafe, Mrs. S overheard them say they had run out of bread and we took the last of it, we had no idea! A little surprising that it was noon on a Saturday that they had run out already.

While waiting we did see a few families herding different groups of cattle, likely from one pasture to another, but they took them right on the highway and a few cars had to stop for them to go by.

We had plenty of shade in the afternoon walking through the trees, until we had our last stretch of downhill as we made our way into Pola de Allande. The views overlooking the city were lovely, but I was ready to be done. While the new shoes helped a ton, I think my feet were already pretty wrecked from the previous few days and they were just starting to make themselves heard in the last mile or so.

As we approached the town, we were rewarded with our first major marker of the trip, showing 100km completed of the 313km Camino Primativo! We each checked into our separate hotel since there wasn’t any space in the one we had reserved, and got cleaned up with a shower while washing a few items.  Mrs. S decided to rest off some jet lag while we joined Mr. S for a beer on their hotel’s back patio. 

There was a cool river flowing through the center of town, with this patio built right over top. We watched as some people were showing off their Renault cars, and noticed that several of the cars parked on the nearby street were all older Renaults like some sort of mini car show. Then we walked around a bit to find a good place for dinner and find a market that might have snacks as ours was getting depleated. I found a tiny one with a massive 300g Milka chocolate bar that was filled with shortbread and marshmallow, their version of a s’more.

We hit up another place for a few beers until we heard from Mrs. S and she was awake and ready for dinner. We got dinner at our hotel’s cafe, and we ordered “sufficient bread” for the table, the waiters get a kick out of that request. Mr. S’s tomato salad was literally tuna and cheese on top a bed of sliced tomatoes, no lettuce in sight! I had to go for my new favorite croquettes, and Mr. Wander and Mrs. S had eggs with bacon. We also had some tiramisu and flan for dessert.

Day 5: The Great Climb

When we were back at our lodging outside Tineo, the bartender/receptionist that had helped us all afternoon had given an overview using a map they had of the camino. The elevation map was quite intense right around Pola, and she said if you can make the ascent on that day, you can do anything, as that would be the hardest stretch of the Primativo, I think other than our 18 mile day of mud, she was right!

Due to the huge hill, Mr. and Mrs. S decided to meet us at the town just after we get to the top, so we started out by ourselves through the fog. We were walking along farms and hearing lovely streams flowing over rocks. Unfortunately this meant I had to find a bush since there wasn’t any towns with a cafe for many miles, but sometimes that’s what you have to do when you are hiking. Thankfully there were not too many people on the trail yet! We did however find this cow outside its fence going after the tasty leaves on this tree!

Soon the climb started to get steep, but we were well into the trees at first so we couldn’t see much, but we could start to hear the sound of cars driving on a road above to our right, and then the trail brought us along the road for a little bit, then we crossed and really started to go up steeply! We were out of the trees so we had some lovely views, along with some steep switchbacks.

There was a couple of women that we ended up leap frogging as we took breaks at different spots, but they didn’t speak too much English and my Spanish is still very minimal. After several more switchbacks and a few stretches through some pine trees we finally made it to the top! We sat down on one of the picnic benches and enjoyed some of the chocolate for an energy boost and celebration.We didn’t stay long however, becuase it was really windy and we were pretty sweaty so it was making us cold at the higher elevation, we were at about 4000ft by the time we made it to the top!

Throughout the last hour or so we had been trying to get service to let our friends know our estimated time but thankfully they decided to leave without hearing from us because we couldn’t get a message out until we got to the top. We still had a mile downhill to get to the next town, the first bit was one of the scariest of the whole trail. It was a steep rock ditch that was straight, and it felt like if you hit the wrong spot it could be very easily slippery.

It flattened out a bit just as we were coming into the town of Montefurado. The trail was only about 30 feet from the road and ran parallel, but there were houses, or ruins of houses with fences that made it difficult to find a spot to actually get to the road. It was perfect timing though, we had reached the end of town just as I got a message from them saying they were dropped off and trying to find a way up onto the trail. A minute later I could see them walking on the road and then they found a fence gate they could get through. We could not have planned that timing better!

We sat for a bit enjoying snacks where it wasn’t as windy and then continued on through some farm yards. There were some great views as we descended back down towards 3000ft where we hovered around the rest of the day. The best part was getting to the pine forest, the pine needles were so soft and the shade felt nice with the hot sun on us all day.

We didn’t find any towns with food along the way this time, so I was getting pretty hungry and my feet were struggling by the time we made it to Berducedo. This would normally have been the end of the stage from Pola, but once again we couldn’t find places to reserve so we still had another 2.5 miles to go.

We stopped to get a pizza just off the trail and we found our friends from North Germany we had met the first day! The woman of the couple had started feeling sick though, and she wasn’t walking anymore and instead took the shuttle between towns, but she recognized my friends and realized they had actually taken the shuttle together until they were dropped off to meet up with us! It is funny how small the trail feels sometimes!

After the restorative pizza, beer, and a really good painkiller from Mrs. S for my feet I was feeling great to continue on. It was easy road walking to La Mesa and we met a couple of pastors that live in ND but are originally from Minnesota! We also saw several trucks with small enclosed trailers with cages for hunting dogs, and a few had a boar strapped to the top! It was apparently hunting season, I wish I would have gotten a picture of these trucks since they all came at once curving through this small town but I wasn’t expecting them.

We made it to our albergue in La Mesa where we all stopped hiking for the day and enjoyed a few beers until their taxi arrived. They were not able to get a room here either and were several miles down the trail from us. After their taxi left we went inside and asked about the dinner. They only had a pilgrim menu which had few options. Mr. Wander wasn’t interested in it and said he would eat snacks so just I ordered the three course menu. It was awesome, for just 15 euros I got a salad, a plate of roasted pork on the bone with rice, and blueberry cheesecake for dessert. I also took the option of wine to drink and she just set a full bottle of wine down, just for me! In my odd sense of “getting my money’s worth” I definitely drank too many glasses, whoops! It went down really easy though, but I thankfully still left like half the bottle.

We went upstairs to our “penthouse” and got to sleep early, since we wanted to get going just after sunrise the next day. Many people seem to start around 8 or 9am after it is light most days although some people start out with headlamps an hour before if they are trying to make it to the municipal albergues! 

Day 6: The Switchbacks

We had breakfast included the next morning which was toast with butter and  blueberry jam, blueberry juice, and some coffee/tea. Then we headed out and made good time uphill along the road for the first mile and we got a wonderful view of a foggy valley! There is a reservoir below where you can see the fog nestled in the hills, and that was our bottom point for the day. 

The one cool part near the top is you could hear the windmills going, we actually got pretty close to them! The trail was gravel switchbacks for the next 6 miles, the last bit being in the trees until we got to the dam that created the reservoir. We started early enough that the sun hadn’t risen over the hill once we started the descent so it stayed pretty cool all morning. Just as we reached the level of the fog, the sun also hit it and it’s like it lifted immediately. After descending about 2600ft we finally reached the dam and we stopped at this view point. Little did we know we were inside the “Wales mouth”! From the dam we could see the hotel our friends were waiting for us at and it was another mile back uphill along the road until we reached them.

We stopped for a second breakfast of cake with tea and coffee, but I was pretty jealous of their tortilla y patatas, also known as a Spanish omelette. The best equivalent is a quiche filled only with cut potatoes, but I understand from Mrs. S that it’s difficult to get the right consistency and to pre-cook the potatoes enough so when the egg is just cooked everything is soft and fluffy. I must not have taken a picture of this one, but fear not, I must keep a reputation as a food blog according to Mr. Wander, and I got to have one later in the day.

We set out together and had quite a bit of walking on the shoulder of this road that curved in and out, hugging the hillside as it slowly ascended. It was crazy when we could get a good look at the trail we were on that morning from across the lake! 

Just as the trail was going off the road we met these two hikers, one was from Florida and the other from the UK. I asked where in the UK he was from and he said Leicester, when I told him we were headed there in October, I got the most shocked look from him, and then he goes “WHY?!?!?”. Leicester is not a town that is often on tourist’s lists for visiting in the UK, but I have a comedian I want to see and that was the best option to find a date that worked while we would be in the UK, since it didn’t work out either of the other two times we had been there already. He felt less weirded out when I told him the reason but it was entertaining. 

The trail got a bit steeper here but it wasn’t too much farther into Grandas de Salime, or “Grand Salami” we kept calling it when we couldn’t quite remember the pronunciation. I was pretty hungry once we got into town, so after we dropped our bags and showered I ventured to a grocery store for some more snacks and a pharmacy to stock up on some more blister bandages as well as contact solution since I was getting low. Then I met everyone at the restaurant for our hotel and got beers, tortilla y patatas, and some candies. Told you there would be a picture!

Mrs. S decided to go rest again so the three of us went around to several of the bars in town to find one that might have food for dinnertime. Finally we found one that looked good so we got a beer while we waited. After finishing the first round she was ready to meet up with us again so we went inside and ordered.

Mr. Wander and I got to try Arepas for the first time and boy where they AMAZING. The fried cornbread “bun” was my favorite, but the pork was very delicious. I also got some croquettes and Mr. & Mrs. S got a full tray of different meats but I didn’t remember to take a picture. We shared a table with a guy from Venezuela that was hiking on his own but seemed to have started back near the French border, and seemed very proud of the fact he was doing more than “just the Primativo.” He left when we were still halfway through our meal, but we didn’t stay long and went back to the room to sleep.

Day 7: A Day of Rest

It is fitting that on the Camino, which is a religious pilgrimage, on the 7th day we decided to rest. I was struggling with so much pain in my feet once we got over 8 miles each day that I was taking regular doses of ibuprofen to manage it. We had also just been getting tired and probably not eating enough throughout the day with so few options for stops to get food in between start and end points. 

We enjoyed sleeping in and having a late breakfast. The woman that served the breakfast was very helpful in getting us a taxi to take us to the next town, but we had them get us at noon so we would have a chance to visit the museum in town before we left. It was closed the day before and didn’t open until 11am, although now we realize how expansive it is we probably should have delayed our taxi until at least 1 to give us enough time to explore. It also happened to be the free day so it didn’t cost anything to visit! It was an Ethnographic museum filled with thousands of pieces from all different time periods, showing how life used to look.

They had different rooms set up to look like a barbershop, a doctors office, tailors shop, a cobbler, a bar, and even what looked like a bottling and perhaps distilling for various spirits and malt beverages.  Some of the buildings were of really cool construction like it was a very old dwelling you would believe had been there for hundreds of years, before power or modern appliances. They had an oven built into a wall and the smokehouse smelled really good like there was actually meat being smoked there.

The people working there seemed disappointed that we had to leave so quickly but one guy did run ahead and set up a station that was run using a mill powered by running water, an old school automation with bellows and hammers for an automated blacksmith shop, but we didn’t have time for them to set up the mill for us to see. I would definitely go back to see that museum if I were in the area, and even if it isn’t the free day it’s only a few euros to visit, and well worth it!

We got our taxi and were able to check into our hotel right away. I took some time to try and pop some of my blisters in the hope they had time to dry since they’d have more than 12 hours outside of shoes. The worst was a big one on my heel that had started int he old shoes but kept getting bugged enough in the new shoes since it was so big, larger than a quarter or 2 euro coin! Then we went out and did a bit of bar hopping ending with getting some burgers for a late lunch. 

We tried getting reservations at this spot for a 7pm dinner but when we got there it looked closed with a sign that said 8pm. We went back at 8pm and that door was for just a bar part, and he sent us upstairs for the restaurant. Once we got there it looked like people had been there for awhile, several other peregrinos that we recognized. I realized later there was a separate entrance just for the restaurant that was down an alleyway, but not easy to see from the outside and the bar had the same name! Confusing! We still got a table and ordered the pilgrim menu.

There were 2 courses with 3 options each and between us 4 we managed to try everything. This time there was so much food though, I got the salad and Mr. Wander got the spaghetti and that could have been enough for the full meal. Mrs. S got the third option which was a traditional soup for the area but I forget what kind, she did say it was good though. For her dinner she had the tuna, I had the beef roast with french fries, and Mr. Wander had something like a schnitzel with a blue cheese sauce on top. We shared a few bottles of wine and sparkling water and got ice cream for dessert.

Next Time

We had a few more days with our friends before they got a car and headed closer to Madrid to explore before flying home. Things became more hectic at the end as we met up with some of the other Camino Routes in the last three stages. By that time, it was such a boost to see one of our fellow Primitivo friends as we were few and far between! Stay tuned to hear about the rest of our hiking adventure. Adios!