An interesting day. Accommodation hell if you will…

First the etapa…

Today was to be just under 30km along the east and north side of a reservoir and then along a river. Sort of…

Today was 29.5km of shadeless asphalt/concrete and hard packed farm track. I started out an hour early after getting a refreshing down day in Aguilar. Headed towards the dam and then up and over, not to cross it. Then through pastures, pastures, more pastures. 18km to the first pit stop – only drinks, no food. Good thing I brought some pinchos I bought to go the day before…. The Camino only took me next to the resevoir for about 2km, and then a forest was between the trail and the resevoir, so viewing opportunities were limited.

At about 5km in, the trail veered towards a necropolis and more tombs, all facing east to see the sun rise.

At 18km, after a pit stop and a KAZLimon, the trail crossed a river and generally followed it for 12km to Cervera. This river has a very healthy population of trout. I saw probably a hundred or so varying in size from 12”-18”. Made me wish I had a pole.

I was hoping for some shade on those sections but that was not to be. The trail went through pastures and towns and some birch forests, but the leaves were thin and the shade they created did not fall on the trail when I passed through. I think my arms and neck are a bit red, although I wouldn’t say burned.

Once I got to Cervera at about 1430hrs, I started looking for a pace to stay. There are about a half dozen or so places to stay – and they were all shuttered during the hora de siesta. So I headed to the town square and had a beer.

I took this opportunity to try and figure out why my phone stopped working – alas – it still doesn’t work. My OrangeES and AT&T SIMs don’t work at all, only my eSIM works. Apple wants to point the finger at OrangeES, but with two different SIM cards not working, it’s likely the phone – of which I won’t be able to resolve until I get home. In the diagnostic process, I had to reset my phone so everything is all messed up on it.

Once people finished their siestas, they started to come back to the bar. I started calling around for lodging in Cervera. ALL of the hotels were full and the Albergue didn’t answer the door nor phone calls, nor WhatsApp messages.

By this time, it was about 1800hrs and with no lodging, I started looking at how to get to the next stage: either Guardo – 40km or Tarilonte – 20km. Neither of them had lodging. Something is up – the whole area was booked for the entire week. The nearest lodging I could get was in Cistierna – a whole four etapas and 77km away. The train was at 1900hrs and 3km away – no way I was going to rush there with a pack on and two beers. So I called a cab…

I should say that the bartender called the cab and he told her that I needed to go to Aguilar!!! That’s back 30km the way I came. D’Oh! Well, I went for a ride. Good thing it was a shared cab and we made it to the correct station with plenty of time.

The summary is that there were beautiful parts to todays Camino but I wish there was more shade and I wonder what’s going on that there was no lodging available for 77km…. I’m disappointed I will miss several etapas, but there really was no way around it without lodging. This will however allow me more flexibility on the end – I will now have plenty of time to extend the Camino from Santiago to Finesterre/Muxia. I’ve been to both places before, but I haven’t walked them. We will see – that’s still a good 3-4 weeks from now and things might change.

Now for some pics…

Many people have asked me over the years how I train for the Camino. The reality is that you can’t really train for it. Sure you can train by taking hikes and ramping them up to 30km – you can even do it with a 10kg pack on. You can even do that consecutive days on the weekend.

But the Camino is 20-40km EVERY DAY. The only training for the camino is.. the Camino.

There are many nuances to the Camino which makes it challenging – even a personal emotional/physical pilgrimage or challenge of sorts. Are you accustomed to the life of a Spaniard? Food is not always available at the time you might need it. Things don’t run on the Camino Clock if you will. So sometimes you go without a meal or two unless you keep it in your pack – and then you have to think about the weight of the food…

I love the Camino for a variety of reasons – but one reason that’s near the top of the list is the people that you meet. On most Caminos, this refers to the other pilgrims. On the Camino Olvidado, this means the people who live near the Camino and are part of the service industry.

Last night for example, while yesterday was a short hike, I was sore and slow and I wasn’t going to make it to my rural hotel in a decent hour. The taxi driver who took me from Arroyo to Olea was a great conversationalist and was very animated about the human condition. We had a great talk that lasted only 30 min.

I got to the casa rural exhausted from the day and I took a nap. The proprietors asked me about food but I had already eaten lunch and hadn’t thought about it – so I deferred any action.

After my nap I asked about food – the nearest place to eat was 1km away and the kitchen was closed. I was concerned for about 30 seconds. She called her husband – who happened to be watching tenis at the restaurant. She relayed that I was hungry and he came down to pick me up and take me back to the restaurant. They let me look at the menu and gave me options on what I could take back to my room to heat up as the kitchen was closed. He then brought me back. I didn’t have to go without a meal.

These people are genuine. They really want to help out however they can and they don’t expect anything in return. These are good people that you encounter on the Camino.

So today… Olea —> Campoo. I didn’t want to get out of bed today. I was warm, comfortable and tired. But, being in a small town without services, I needed to get my feet moving.

The walk is a pretty easy shadeless 25km and mostly flat walk. It wanders through two different valleys with fields of green and distant snow capped mountains. About half of the trail is on asphalt and the other half on hard packed farm track (read no cow muck here). I was tankful for that.

There are a couple of Romanesque churches (both named after Santa Maria – although they do have different names, I just can’t remember them) and a Romanesque bridge.

I saw a couple more snakes today, one nonvenomous and one… perhaps. It could be the same Iberian Adder that I saw previously but it was different enough in appearance and attitude that makes me pause with that identification.

The most exciting moment of the day was walking up to and through Campoo. I could see the hermit’s castle on the hill, several Romanesque churches, the city wall and gate…. Lots to explore.

Unfortunately, the training or lack thereof has caught up with me. I am exhausted and my feet are still throbbing two hours after arrival, a shower and short nap. Exploring will have to wait until tonight and tomorrow.

Due to an error on the hotel booking site, it charged me for two reservations on the same day. When I got the single confirmation charging me double, I knew I needed to talk with them about it. Coming down after my nap, I’d forgotten about it and decided that I needed a down day. So I asked them if they could extend my reservation one more day. They then mentioned the error and fixed it – so tomorrow I get to sleep in. WooT!!!

I will wander around a little bit, there are two nice plazas and a creek walk outside the city walls. I’m sure I will have more to comment on about Campoo but for now, let’s see some pics.

Oh… my ankle. After topical anti inflammatory cream and two 1200mg dosis of ibuprofen, it felt great all day today. After my nap, it’s a bit stiff but doesn’t hurt. I’m sure tomorrow will be fine after tomorrows rest.

Today was scheduled to be a 34km walk. Much of it on asphalt. Asphalt is not easy walking on, really the only advantage is that you don’t have to look down at your feet and you can look all around and take in the scenery. Asphalt cooks the feet. It’s unforgiving with the impact of each step. Your feet take a beating.

Today that happened to me. The last couple of days I’ve had a pain in my shin. Today it got to the point of me not being able to flex my foot. Ends up being most likely extensor tendinitis. Basic inflammation of the tendons at the top of my foot to my shin.

I was making such slow progress that it would have been a 12-14 hour day for 34km. Not ideal and I didn’t leave early enough to make it to a bed on time.

So what does this mean? Rest and ibuprofen. I got alternate transport the remaining 24km from Arroyo to Olea. Now I’ll rest some more and see what happens tomorrow.

Tomorrow is only 24km and Aguilar de Campoo is a large enough town to have many services I would need if I need and extended rest.

So… about today and the Camino. While I was able to “abrir la boca” and enjoy the countryside, I feel that I missed out on the choice part of today’s travels by alternate transport. There was no lodging available – I looked.

The snow capped mountains and the Embalse de Ebro made for some nice scenic views. But I missed out on the birch forests and Roman architecture hidden in the mountains between the embalse and Olea.

I’m staying at a Casa Rural and the owners are very accommodating and nice people.

My plans as of the moment are to head out early in the morning and make it to Aguilar de Campoo where I can make another assessment of the ankle.

This is not a setback for me, rather just part of the camino and accepting what it has to offer. Spain is a beautiful country with many wonderful people. I have nothing but gratitude for my time here.

Now for some pics…

Woke up this morning after a good nights rest. But that doesn’t mean I wanted to get out of bed. I did anyway – the pilgrims life is early to bed, early to rise.

I went to a Meson around 1900hrs last night in hopes to get a bite to eat. No such luck, the kitchen was closed until 2100hrs and I was hungry and tired. I got a pincho and beer instead and wandered back towards the Engaño. The bar/cafe on the way was also out of food. At least I had stuff in my pack.

Out the door at 0800, I was hoping for the cafe to be open – alas, it was not. So no breakfast until later.

This morning was cold and foggy, the sun broke out as I cleared the 2-300m climb just outside of Santelices. I ended up stoping in Soncillo and had breakfast. I also found a bottle of IPA from a brewery 30km from my house in California. WooT! Too bad it was not quite 10am.

The first part of this mornings hike was quite nice – green everywhere, farm tracks, rushing water. The best thing was that there was very little cow muck to dodge making navigating the farm track much nicer.

Getting to Montejo I stoped again and had a poncho and a KAZLimon. From here, the next 12-13km were windy and mostly on a rural country road.

This is where I found the snakes. I don’t know what type they are but they appear to be poisonous due to the triangular head. They also had serious attitude and anger issues. Even though they were only 12”/30cm, the struck out like they were much larger – kinda like chihuahuas.

Arriving in the Camping Playa Arija, I found out that the proprietor has had problems with pilgrims before and no longer will accept them. But since his son took my call last night, he would let me stay. He then gave me a ride to the local cafe. Seems like a nice enough guy, I don’t know what transpired previously, but it’s too bad he won’t be accepting pilgrims any longer.

Observations:

Overall a nice walk today. Cold and foggy in the morning. A bit windy in the afternoon. The trails were well marked and I missed one marker and took another (not wrong) route into town. It added maybe 500m to the walk.

With the campground closed to pilgrims, that leaves only 2-3 hotels in town. This is a blow to the Camino.

Today was a fairly unremarkable day (in comparison to previous days). I had a couple of stops, one at the Casa de Ojo Guareña – an interpretive site for the Ojo. The information contained is a good starting place to plan your visit to the OdeG. It’s also a good refresher if you have already been. I recommend a 30-45min stop there.

In Quisicedo, I think I saw another pilgrim. But he disappeared and I didn’t see which way he was headed. He might have been just a hiker on the local trails.

The second stop was at the Tumbas Antropomorficos. A series of tombs carved out of rock already in the ground. It’s thought to be of the first Christian’s to settle Castilla in the 12c.

In the first half of the trail, you will find plants with thorns overgrowing the trail. Wear long pants as they will get you. If you have trekking poles, use them to keep the thorns away from your legs.

For much of the trail, you will go through what I think is a live oak forest. In May, the buds are just starting to come out so it’s pretty grey. June/July would be fantastic with the new growth on the oaks.

After a climb to Alto de ??, the trail heads down towards Pedrosa. It’s a nice forest but it’s steep, narrow, rocky, muddy (slippery cow pies too) and wet. Trekking poles would help out a lot in this section. Trying to avoid getting wet and muddy, I slipped and pulled a muscle in my ankle/shin which slowed me down a lot. Now it’s just stiff, nothing a bit of ibuprofen won’t help.

Observations:

While this etapa was only 24km, the trail was quite technical due to the water and mud, and was tiring.

In May, the forest was unremarkable as the trees were still grey as they were just starting to bud.

It was a beautiful day to hike in Spain.

A short day on the trail but a full day walking. The trail was unremarkable, farm roads and asphalt through villages. I took a short day today for two reasons.

1. The slogging through mud and high grass yesterday wore my legs out and I felt the could do without a long day carrying a pack.

2. I heard of a few things in Espinosa to see and do and wanted extra time to do them.

Left around 0815 and got into Espinosa around 1000hrs completing etapa 3.

There’s an albergue in town – well 1.8km from in town. I decided not to stay there as there were things in town I needed to do. Ends up it would have been fine. I ended up at Hostal Sancho Garcia which is central to what I needed.

I grabbed a late breakfast in town and looked for the parish office to get my credential stamped – I’ll go back tonight when the priest is there – hopefully.

Then I looked for a cab – the taxi stand was just outside and there were two there before breakfast and none there after. So I called. After a few back and forth on the phone and WhatsApp, I got one to come in and hour to take me to Ojo Guareña – an elaborate system of limestone caves about 12km from town – on the way to Santelices.

I was really hoping to spend several hours there but due to schedules, etc only the Ermite de San Bernabé was open and only by tour – one that lasted 45min. This could easily have been seduced if the information online was easy to find. If I knew that, I would have included it the etapa to Santelices.

The other bit of things I needed to do was my laundry. I asked around and the common answer was in La Colada – 19km away. Food think my clothes are merino wool and don’t get smelly…

So while I walked around just under 15km in tidal, I spend much of the day sitting around and taking a nap.

Observations:

Really the only one I have is: go see Ojo Guareña on etapa 4. It will only be about two hours of time – get there on the hour so you don’t have to wait around for the tour. If you want to see Cueva Palmera, call ahead several days – if not a week – and book it. There are two tours 3 and 4 hours. I would recommend staying in Espinosa and taking a cab there and back or walking there and back without a pack.

Now for some pics…

I was going to go to Espinosa de Los Monteros but the walk today was tough on my feet. It’s only 7-8 more but it’s a good break and I wanted to spend a day in Espinosa anyway.

A drizzly day started late at 0900 from the Hospedaría Foramonranos. Comfortable bed allowed me to sleep in. Had a bite to eat at Cafeteria Royal Plaza.

Right out of town following the GPX track as there is little to no signage, I was routed to little used farm tracks – unmaintained, overgrown grass, mud pits and beautiful scenery. It has rained overnight and was sprinkling in the morning. The tall grasses were heavy with rain and they took every opportunity to transfer that water to me – waist high. It felt like I was walking through a river. Of the first section, until 3B met up with 3A, there was no signage and about 10km were like this.

I started out in the weeds and mud tenderly picking my path as to stay dry with a sure footing. That lasted about 5km when I realized I was making only 3km an hour and I was getting really tired. I must say however that this was some of the most scenic and beautiful parts of this Camino so far and I thoroughly enjoyed the treck – until I got to a part where I should have brought a machete to take out the overgrowth. It stopped being fun at that point.

Once I met up with 3A, all of the camino markings came back to life – a really well marked trail.

I got to a place called Hoz de Mena. It reminded me of my friend and his story about family coming from “Mena”. Hoz sounds like house – probably doesn’t mean that. But anyway, I thought of my friend and imagined his family coming from Hoz.

Arriving in a tiny hamlet – well, can’t even call it that – a group of houses with a medieval church called Arceo, I found myself on a well maintained trail that took me along a river and what I imagine an old Roman road. This trail is 2.5km between Arceo and Irús. It’s basically a trail that takes you through a vibrant emerald canopy tunnel while constantly being serenaded by rushing water and birds. Then the waterfalls appeared. What an amazing little gem of a community trail.

Rolling into Bercedo – cumulating a 750m climb out of the Mena Valley, was very disappointing. There was supposed to be a cafe/bar there and I had already run through my supply of food and was rather hungry and tired with sore feet. The bar/cafe was shuttered and by the looks of it has been for some time. The one redeeming attribute is that there was a comfortable chair which I sat in for a while. Then onwards.

About 7km shy of my destination I see multiple conflicting arrows – so I stopped looked harder and one set indicated an albergue. There were no documented albergues here in Villasante!!! So I called the number listed. Isabel the proprietor answered her mobile and was apologetic for not being able to attend to me as she was in Bilbao. We talked briefly and then she gave me the combination to the lockbox and instructions to get into the albergue. The albergue is called Albergue Casa Luisa Villasante. It has five/six beds, a kitchen, bathroom, TV and other amenities. It is very clean and it is run on a donativo basis.

Villasante also has at least one cafe (Pulpería Mariscera) a farmacia, and grocery store (fruits).

I had planned on staying two nights in Espinosa as there are some things I want to see here. An albergue 7km from Espinosa will allow me to take a leisurely walk there in the morning and go see the sights, and then check into the albergue there. A win-win.

I walked today about 15km with wet feet. I would have gone through one pair per km if I had changed enough times. As it ended up, I changed in Bercedo. This was a bit problematic. The only two bad thing is that the blister I had has now been peeled. So I have to stop off at the pharmacy to get some gasa (I’m currently using a paper napkin and tape).

Today was a good but tiring day. There could be some improvements on trail condition and signage, but a really nice surprise to see a new albergue that’s worth stopping at.

Note that in the guide books, going through Villasana is marked as days 2B and 3B. Below are some observations – subjective of course regarding what I will call 2/3B – this is from the point the route deviates in Santecilla and rejoins 3A in Ordejón de Mena. Perhaps about 18km.

This 18km had to be some of the most scenic of the route to date – granted it’s only one day of 20 but it really is beautiful.

There was ONE marker somewhere in between. There wasn’t even a marker in Santecilla and I took the wrong way, only to have to back track. A GPX track is imperative on this section.

The trails were overgrown – to the point of being impassible. I had to back track and hop through barbed wire and go through a pasture. With the rain the previous night, this made going through this section slow, laborious, wet and muddy.

With the holiday, Villasana was closed – the hotels, and many bars/cafes were closed, they opened late this morning, etc. The 2/3B route is certainly worthy of visiting, but you must be prepared with food and sleeping accommodations are very limited, and while very accommodating, they fall outside of the typical pilgrim budget.

So far – even with the challenges, this was a worthy route with beautiful scenery and the chance to meet good people willing to help out.

The guide I have all need to be updated to reflect the challenges and changes:

Buen Camino

CaminOlvidado – iOS app and website PDF

The Wise Pilgrim – Olvidado

Guide to the Camino Olvidado – JOSE ANTONIO CUÑARRO

There’s a story about today, but first some background…

Typically, pilgrims stay in albergues – similar to hostels but more basic. They are mostly run by the church, municipalities or private individuals. They provide the basics of a dry bed/bunk bed (doesn’t have to be comfortable), a shower (most are hot) and a stamp in your credential. To stay in one you have to have a pilgrims credential and you typically can’t stay in one more than one night. They kick you out by 0900 to move you on your way and usually don’t accept people until 1400hrs. There are variances but that’s the gist. The private ones have more amenities such as they offer food and beverages, hot showers, wash machine, and other things (one had a pool). They usually cost anywhere from donation to a prix fix from 7.50€-20€, most being around 10€.

Each Camino has etapas or stages. Usually between 18-40km depending of the services available. Important services are lodging, food, beer, ATM machine, pharmacy, public transport, etc. Ideally you want to be between 20-30km.

This Camino I’m walking now is… different. It’s the Camino Olvidado or as I have been calling it, the Camino Solitario. It runs from Bilbao for 550ish KM To Villafranca where it joins the Camino Frances and then goes for another 180 Km for a total of 730ish KM.

The first day was 24km from Bilbao to Güeñes – a good number of KM. Güeñes has all of the service you would want – except albergues. I paid 58€ for a hotel room – way out of budget. 12km further up the road – there are TWO albergues. But 36km is really tough for the first day of the camino. So I paid for the hotel.

*this is a much longer post that I had intended

Last night when I was planning for today, I realized that there was no albergues in my destination. I called the hotels and no answer or bad numbers (maybe I don’t know how to call locally here in Spain). I like to know where I’m going and fretted about the possibility of no place to stay. So I chatted with a friend of mine who is more intense than I am about planning and just talking to him allowed me to think of other options. I’d just go and figure it out when I get there. And if there’s no where to stay, then I would just take the train/bus/taxi to my next destination which had albergues. Good to go…

Today I was headed another 24km or so to Villasana de Mena (FB wants me to tag my friend de Mena…) probably no relation.

I got the 12km to the place with an albergue, had a beer around noon and the bar didn’t have any food so I dug into my emergency supply I got at another bar this morning (cafes). Whenever I stop I take my shoes and socks off, check them out and let them dry. I might or might not change my socks. I got a blister!!! I then contemplated staying in this town for the night but at only 12km, that would make for 35km the next day. So I went to the pharmacy and bought a gel pad for the blister and headed out.

About 4km from Balmaceda, there’s a split in the Camino with different places to stay that night. I followed the signage and just before I crossed the highway, I realized it was the wrong trail. I took out the map to verify and yup – wrong trail. How far back – only 1km – not too bad. So I headed back to the right trail.

This was my favorite part of the trail today – let’s just consolidate and say: Roman jeep trail, lots of mud, closed gates, no signage, crawled through barbed wire (really new sharp stuff) and a river crossing where I promptly fell in (not really but I did get my feet wet) – not all in this order.

Wet feet and blisters don’t go well so I changed my socks and put my sandals on and what a relief. But the delays mentioned above meant that if I did need to take a train to the next town, I wouldn’t make the train. So I just shrugged and continued on. The Camino will provide…

I finally got to Villasana at 1630hrs and the first hotel was shuttered with a sign saying they were closed this week from Monday-Thursday. Ok they were the expensive one anyway. I continued into town and got to the second hotel. To a sign that said… Closed Monday and Tuesday.

So what do I do? I go to the central square and ask a little old lady with a walker if she knows anywhere I can find accommodations. She wanted to walk me all around town to find a place. I felt kinda bad about that so I bid her farewell and continued on to… the police station which was… closed. Joder!!! What is up with this town…

So.. I missed the train. The next bus was… tomorrow and all of the taxis I called were either disconnected numbers or in the wrong province (state)

I went to the park and the church was closed up. Then after sitting charging batteries for a few minutes I think I hear the word “Albergue” coming from the church. So I walk over and see the priest…. I wait my turn and explain my situation. He was very helpful. He blessed me, stamped my credential then told me to go to the bar – they might have space – alas they were full. So I ordered a caña and the bartender called the owner of the hotel:

Bartender: hey you open? There’s this guy

Hotel owner: who knows what they said

Bartender to me: when can you be there?

Me: after I finish my pint that you just gave me

Bartender: relayed the messsge to hotel owner

Bartender to me: they will be there in five minutes

Me: haven’t drank a pint of beer that fast in many many years.

Needless to say, I’m the only guest in the hotel and there is no staff…

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it, but I’m sure I will embellish each time I tell it.

Pics attached with captions

El Camino de Santiago. This is my fourth Camino. From Bilbao to Santiago is about 700km.

This Camino is called the Camino Olvidado or Camino Viejo – or forgotten way. There is an economy around the caminos and the businesses around each one try to make theirs special to bring in money to the rural communities. This one is really… forgotten. Many people have only heard of it and thought that is was just an old route that wasn’t active today. Well – that’s half true.

Many places on this route don’t have albergues/hostels and there are some very long stretches without towns big enough to have a bar – and that says something as in Spain the Bar/Cafe is many times the social center of towns. Because of the sparse pilgrim accommodations, it’s not well traveled. In fact they should rename this Camino to “Camino Solitario”. I saw one other pilgrim in Bilbao this morning but he was headed out on another route. I saw no one else – apart from the locals, bicyclists and fauna- including cows and goats.

Today was ~24km from Bilbao to Güeñez (weigh-nyez).

Here are some pics…

Tomorrow I will embark on my fourth Camino. Various walking routes to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.

Each route is unique in experience, geography, culture, etc. In past years I have walked the Camino Frances from Saint Jean Pied-de-Port (800km), Camino Norte/Primitivo from San Sebastián and Oviedo (750km) and the Camino Portuguese from Lisboa (700km). This year I will be walking the Camino Olvidado from Bilbao – about 750km.

Each route I have taken takes about 30 days plus or minus and I walk between 20-40km per day – 4-8 hours of walking. This year I might have some extra time so if I like a place, I might stay a day or two.

The Camino started out as a catholic pilgrimage to visit the tomb of Saint James the Appstle. In modern times there are as many varied reasons to walk as there are pilgrims. Some religious, some spiritual, some tourism, each with varied reasons. My reasons are personal but what I can share is it’s mainly introspective, physical health, and my love for hiking, food and culture.

For those interested, I will be posting fairly often about each day’s journey and my experiences. For those that are not, scroll on by.

Buen Camino – see you on the other side.