Day 4: Bruma to Sigueiro

Marion
Very misty this morning lovely to walk whilst it was so cool. For the first 6k´s it was a long straight road, I thought it would never come to an end. At long last we entered a forest it had a few ups and downs then through farm lands, almost like small holdings. The farms in this area are very basic and simple.
We did walk through a couple of very small villages, everything was closed - so no morning coffee to be had anywhere. The last few k´s before reaching Sigueiro were again on a long straight road. Although it was a shorter walk than yesterday it seemed a lot longer, I suppose because it was mostly flat not much variation.
I look to find the good things whilst we were walking to take my mind off the long flat road, like the quietness, the birds singing etc. as I have to make the most of it as my walk is nearly over, only tomorrow for the last 17k to Santaigo.
Whatever village we have walked through in Spain is very noticeable that everyone has a vegetable patch - but what is amazing is that the amount of cabbages that everyone grows, I wonder who can ever eat that amount of cabbages! They also grow a lot of potatoes besides other vegetables.
In Galicia most of the dogs are all on a chain. So sad!!!

Sil
It was so quiet in the albergue that we both had a wonderful sleep. Hospital de Bruma is one of those tiny hamlets where you first come across a couple of animal barns, then a few houses on either side of the road, most that have their own barns as well, then a small stream, a tiny church and then you walk out the other side. 20 buildings all-in-all, if that.
We had a breakfast and then started walking to Sigueiro. We saw a woman cutting down cabbages. Almost every farmer grows tall, spindly cabbages which Marion thinks are used to make walking sticks.

One map said 22km to Sigueiro, the CSJ Guide says ±24km and Benino said 26km. No importante, we have to walk there no matter what the distance. The CSJ guide says, á pretty straightforward day´and they are not kidding. It was really heavy going with long, straight, tarred or gravelled roads through endless forests. It reminded me of walking through les Landes on the Via Turonensis route.

There were a few hamlets to pass through but nothing opens until around mid-day so we didn´t have a coffee opportunity. By the 15km mark my feet were starting to hurt underneath, something I´ve not had before. We stopped at a bus shelter at the 18km mark and I took off my boots to air my feet. I had red, hot spots under a few toes as well as the insteps and heels. This is a problem when walking on flat, tarred or gravel roads with boots. I added a bit of sheep wool and a small foam padding to the worst spot and hobbled on for another 8km. Long, long, flat, straight roads through endless forests with hardly a bird to be seen or heard and no other living thing for miles. At one time it started raining and we put on our raincoats but half an hour later it got hot again and we stopped to take them off.

At the approach to Siguerio the guide takes you down a waymarked path to the local swimming pool. ´´Turn left around the swimming pool, see the final marker pointing the way over waste ground´it says. We battled to find a marker as the whole area is under construction and had been graded and cleared with construction fences and the beginnings of buildings under way.

We found our way to the Hostal Miras, Downstairs was a cheerful bar which seemed to be run by a family of women: mother, daughters and grandchildren – a 15 month little girl who was well at home with the customers, and a new 6 day old baby, who may have been a boy, judging by the blue blanket. Upstairs the rooms are basic but adequate.an old but graceful hostal above a bar, and were taken upstairs to a room. I cooled my poor feet down with Alcohol Romeo and massaged them with Arnica. Then I hobbled to the bathroom and hey presto! there actually was a bath! I scuttled back to the room, collected my universal plug, and was soon soaking in a hot-tub with Arnica and the last of my shampoo. Bliss. We had a coffee at the Hostal Bar and found this internet Cafe in a bar down the road.
We will arrive in Santiago a day early and will have 2 nights there instead of one. I will be checking out the route into the city as it might have changed.

Camino Ingles Day 2: 22nd June to Bestanzos

Marion
We started today off with a bang!! Straight up through the village to the top a very steep climb, then through a wooded forest also climbing. I must definitely be getting fitter as although I am quite slow going up steep hills I am no longer tired when we reach the top.
Today we walked through forests, sometimes through grassy fields, on sand paths, narrow tar roads passing small farms and again mostly uphill. After a couple of hours we walked down a steep hill into Mina where we stopped at a cafe bar for coffee and hot choclate and a baguette with jam, we did not eat the whole baguette so took the rest with us. The rest of our walk today was again on the same terrain. We were again fortunate to walk mostly in shade. We have a very comfortable room above a cafe bar. When we arrived at our accomodation we did the usual ,bathed and did our washing. We had a late lunch in our room, I had the rest of my baguette and the last tin or paté that I had been carrying for days and a orange for desseert - delicious! Syl had her baguette, cheese and a nectarine.

We had a walk around and as usual mostly everything is closed. We were lucky and found a supermarket open so bought a few provisions for the road tomorrow and a salad which we can have for dinner in our room. I bought myself a pack of wine (3 little boxes each 200ml) I will have one tonight and carry the other two for another time. A lovely end to a fabulous day.

Sil

I woke before the alarm. My fingers looked like sausages but they weren´t throbbing anymore. I had to put Band-Aids on three cuts on my left hand and strap the two middle fingers on my right hand. I´ve found it really difficult to pack the backpack and tie shoe laces using just a thumb and a forefinger!

The path out of Pontedeume goes straight up, and up, and up for about 15 minutes. Once we left the confines of the town some of the paths were very overgrown and my trousers and spats were soon quite wet with morning dew. It was a lovely walk today. This is walking as opposed to hiking. The paths are either gravel, small tarred village roads, double tracks through fields or leafy trails through the forests. There are many up hill sections so it is more strenuous than I expected it to be but no mountains, just steep short climbs and some equally steep descents. The landscape is similar to walking from Sarria to Santiago with eucalyptus gums, fir trees, small plots of vegetables and many different fruit trees - figs, apples, pears, cherries and nuts. None ready for picking but should be a bumper crop this year. We stopped at Mino for a coffee and bread and jam. Everynow and then we got glimpses of the river estuary.

When we reached Betanzos at about 1:30pm most of the bars in the square were closing. We visited the tourist office for a sello and directions to the Cheino Bar for a room. On Johnnie´s guide it is 15€ each but she charged us 20€ each for a small room with a bathroom down at the end of the passage. We found an internet cafe but had to wait until 4:30pm for it to open. We found a supermecado and bought a made salad, some olives, cheese and a bottle of wine for Marion and had a feast in our room.

Camino Ingles - Day 1: 21st June Ferrol to Pontedeume

MarionI missed Val´s alarm clock this morning - Syl had set hers but for some reason it did not go off, we didn't really oversleep, were up at 6.15 and at the bus stop long before our bus was due. We went into the cafe to get something to eat and drink.
It was a 2hr bus ride to A Coruna and then another 1 1/2hrs bus ride to Ferrol, by the time we reached Ferrol it was already 12.30 so we dicided it was already quite late to begin walking 25k´s so caught a taxi 1ok´s to Neda. Although the train and bus ride were very scenic it was great to get back on the road, was a bit tired of sitting for so long. The secenery is very different here in Galicia, today we will be walking on the coast. We started off walking at 1.30pm and very soon we were on a secondary road climbing up and down (mostly up) with splendid views of the River Estuary. We walked through a few villages as one ended so another started. We walked through a couple of wooded forests, sometimes on grassy paths with grass almost as tall as us, some sand and rocky paths and some gravel and tar roads. All our walking today has been mostly in shade and it seemed mostly uphill. Always with pretty flowers alsonside of us and lots of wild cherry trees.
All of a sudden coming down a slope we could see a large beach full of people. The beach is in the village Cabanes 1k from Pontedenme where we stayed the night. We walked down to the beach and then along the promenade to our village. The guide book suggested that we go to Bar Louis as they have rooms to let, we found Bar Louis quite easily and have a very comfortable room.

This part of the camino doesn´t have many albergues so we will mostly stay in rooms or hostals. We settled in and both of us were hungry so went out to find something to eat. As usual most places were closed and would only open for dinner at 9.00pm far to late for us. It was 6.00pm and we really did not want to wait until 9.00pm. We walked around for a bit and luckily found a cafeteria adjoined to a hotel that was open and had a delicious salad and large plate of chips.


SilWe left the Hotel early and made our way around the ancient Lugo wall to the bus station. Two years ago, Marion, Finn, Anneliese and I walked the circumference of the wall along the walk way at the top and I still have a certificate on my wall at home that I received in 2004 after giving a donation to help preserve the wall. This time we kept to the lower pavements on our way to the station.
Depressing places stations. Especially over a weekend when there are few people and nothing is open. We discovered that there were no buses to Ferrol until 4pm so we opted on taking a bus to A Coruna and another from there to Ferrol.

We got the 8h10 bus to A Coruna, a 2 hour trip north to Betanzos and then veering west to A Coruna. We just missed the 10am bus to Ferrol and to wait an hour for the next one which was a slow bus and would take 1.45 hour to get there. We headed south to Betanzos again and then veered east towards Ferrol arriving there at about

12h40.
When we got there we had to decide what to do. Start walking to Neda 10 kms away and spend a night there: start walking the 25kms to Pontedeume (our original plan) which could take us ± 7 hours depending on the terrain. That would mean getting there at 8pm - too late for us.
Third option was to get a taxi 10km to Neda and start walking the rest of the 15km from there. We opted for plan 3 and took a taxi to the church of Santa Maria in Neda and started walking at about 1h30pm. The distance would still qualify Marion for a Compostela .
At first it was confusing following the arrows - some psychedelic yellow or green, others blue, some road paint yellow. Once we got used to the different signs we were fine.
The camino Ingles is very well marked with arrows and stele with shells. We hardly ever had to check Johnnie Walker´s notes but did so whenever there were confusing signs. It must´ve been a nightmare planning this route through forests, away from main roads, around little hamlets, industrial estates, across fields and through small hamlets past subsistence farms and alleys behind people´s houses.
Eventually we arrived at Cabanas at about 4:30pm to find thousands of people crammed onto the beaches and under the trees with cars jamming the little road we had to walk on to cross the river Eume into Pontedeume. We followed Johnnie´s directions, found the road San Augustin and Bar Louis (with the help of a kindly gentleman at a nearby bar) and were soon ensconced in a comfortable room with a modern en suite bathroom, all for 24€ for the room. Excellent value. Once washed and sorted we went out looking for food. Nearly every bar was closed to diners but we found the cafeteria at the Hotel across the road and a woman took pity on us starving pilgrims and made us a large salad and plate of chips with bread and vino. We scoffed the lot and returned to our room.
It was hot in the room so I tried to lift the metal, sliding window. It slipped and fell straight down, jamming the fingers on both hands between the bottom frame and the window. EEEEish!! It was like a guillotine and I lost my breath before shouting at Marion to open the window. The middle three fingers on my left hand were bleeding on top with deep purple blood blisters on the soft fleshy underneath parts. The right hand was more painful as they had been caught on the knuckles and were swelling fast. I ran to the bathroom and put them under a running tap. Marion went across the road to the cafeteria and told them she needed ice by pointing at someone´s drink. We put the ice in my facecloth glove and I held the cloth in both hands. If the window had been any wider open it might have chopped my fingers off! All I could think of was "How am I going to work at the albergue in Corcubion with broken fingers??"
I took two anti-inflamatories and, unused to drugs, they knocked me out. I was fast asleep, hands on my chest like a mummy in pose for the rest of the night.