Camino del Norte Day 20: San Vicente to Colombres

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We awoke early this morning and had a small breakfast at the albergue. The hospitalero made a speech explaining how to follow the Camino today, but he began by telling us to cross the bridge and walk on the highway. Our book has a completely different route on the map, so we asked him about it. He barely looked at us and just said, “This book is bad.” He wouldn’t answer our question about whether the highway route he suggested was marked. We were getting frustrated that such an “expert” on the Camino couldn’t simply answer our question.

Based on his information, we decided to split up. I would walk the highway route that he suggested and Dave would walk the route outlined in other guidebooks. I ended up on a busy road with trucks flying past me. While the view down to the estuary area below was nice, it was hard to enjoy with the traffic. Also, the route was not marked at all, so I would never recommend that pilgrims take this route over the marked path, which is much safer and goes through picturesque towns and villages.

We arrived in Colombres, which has a private albergue on the way into town, but we had also heard that the polideportive in Colombres in available for pilgrims to sleep in. Most towns in Spain have a polideportivo, basically a rec center run by the local government. Colombres has a nice little gym with a basketball court, nice hot showers, bathrooms and a lofted weigh room area. The person attending to us, Sergio, was amazingly nice and helpful. There was a pile of thick gym mats as well as various army cots for us to use. We could spread out and set our mats wherever we wanted. The cost was €3. There is even a pool next door that we could use for €2.

Dave and I explored the town and were getting quite hungry around 5:30pm. We checked out the three local restaurants and were disappointed to hear that none of them started serving food until 8:30pm, so we settled for another grocery store dinner. We had a nice quiet night in the albergue, except my sickness was definitely getting worse and I awoke around 4am when my body decided to reject all the food I had eaten for dinner… I was at least glad I did not have a top bunk to climb down from for my frequent trips to the bathroom.

Camino del Norte Day 19: Comillas to San Vicente

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This was a short day so we decided to sleep in a bit and do some email and work in a café before beginning our 12 kilometer journey. The albergue in San Vicente has 44 beds so we didn’t feel in any rush to get there. The weather was cloudy and cool. I woke up feeling somewhat sick to my stomach and felt tired and draggy in spite of the short distance to walk.

The albergue in San Vicente supposedly opened at noon, but when we arrived around 1:30, it was still closed. Some of people who were waiting said they called and were informed that the albergue would open late at 1:30pm because of a local celebration, but the hospitalero didn’t show up until well after 2pm. We were a bit leery of this place because the entrance was very cluttered and the rooms, essentially in a basement, seemed rather damp and mildewed. The kicker was when Dave went to take a shower and encountered a stinky dog in the bathroom!

We should have trusted our intuition and found a different place to sleep. The online albergue information says this albergue costs €6 so we were surprised when they requested €13 each. Apparently the communal dinner and breakfast used to be on a donation basis, but now they were charging a flat fee for bed and meals.  As I was still feeling sick, I took a nap and then joined Dave in the common room. I was shocked to hear the daughter of the hospitaleros, who was in the corner loudly saying rude things about the pilgrims (who did not speak Spanish so did not understand her). She was saying “Why aren’t you helping? What kind of pilgrims are you? Didn’t you read your pilgrim passport? Read it, it’s right there, a pilgrim doesn’t demand, a pilgrim accepts. Help him, go help!” A few people did volunteer to help with meal preparation, but it would have been nice if up front they would have asked for volunteers. Usually when we pay for a dinner somewhere, we aren’t conscripted to help prepare it… The attitude of the daughter was very awkward and just set a bad tone.

Apparently the hospitaleros have been involved with the Camino for a long time and very active in the marking of the trail in this area. However, it seemed apparent to us that they may be suffering from “burn out” as they no longer seem to take joy in working with pilgrims and seemed to resent our presence. It probably doesn’t help that they seem to live in the same building in the room just next to the dormitory. I’m sure I would get tired of an endless stream of pilgrims with all their needs, smells, and idiosyncrasies! This seems to be why volunteer hospitaleros, who serve for a few weeks at a time, are so important to keep the positive energy flowing.

The dinner was tasty but not very filling, with pasta salad, sandwich meat, fish soup and an unflavored yogurt for dessert. After the meal, the hospitalero basically said, “I’m going to bed, you all clean up!” I continued to feel sick through the night and slept very poorly. I had a top bunk that was very rickety and difficult to get in and out.  If I’m ever in San Vicente again, I think I’ll get a hotel!

Camino del Norte Day 18: Santiallana del Mar to Comillas

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A nice day of walking today, sunny and rural with some impressive churches. The Camino is not marked through Santillana, as is true of many towns and cities. Luckily, we have the track on our GPS, but it is frustrating when those reassuring yellow arrows disappear.

Just outside town the arrows reappeared as we passed a campground and walked out into the fields and hills. We re-emerged to coastal views just outside of Comillas, a popular beach town. This was a short day, and we arrived in Comillas quite early with several hours to wait before the 3pm albergue opening time. The Comillas albergue is housed in the historic jail and is surprisingly nice. Most of the beds are in the attic and are regular beds, not bunks. There are lockers and a small kitchen with microwaves.

The 20 beds of the albergue filled rather quickly, and several people had to be turned away to get rooms in hotels. We seem to be meeting more “turigrinos” (tourist pilgrim) along this stretch, with some people walking only 10km a day and mostly wanting a beach vacation. One women we met told us she just wanted a cheap beach vacation. She had neglected to pack a sleeping bag or any kind of sheet, but had room to bring high heeled shoes for the evening!

Not surprisingly, she left the Camino to just stay at a youth hostel on the beach. Some even came to Comillas by bus, so it seemed rather unfair that they got an albergue bed when later walkers were denied. We enjoyed exploring Comillas, which has a Gaudí building and a lot of interesting architecture. The beach was also a short walk away and we caught a nice sunset.

In line for the albergue, we met two young French guys. Tattooed and smoking, they didn’t look like typical Camino hikers. One of them was very friendly and spoke good English and Spanish. We later learned that he is a social worker, and walking the camino with the other guy as part of a program for troubled teens. We met some Belgian social workers on the Francés route last year doing the same thing. It’s neat to the see the Camino used in such a positive way and I can imagine that the walk inspires a sense of pride and accomplishment in these teens.

Camino del Norte Day 17: Bóo de Piélagos to Santillana del Mar

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Today was a medium length day, disappointingly still primarily on paved roads. We started the day with a 2-minute train ride from Bóo to Mogro. The alternative to this small “cheat” is to walk over 7km in a big loop in order to cross the river at pedestrian bridge (rather than the train bridge). Guidebooks used to recommend that pilgrims walk the tracks across the train bridge and just try to time it that no trains are coming! Along with being dangerous, this is also illegal, so most pilgrims take the 2-minute train.

The weather has been quite hot the past few days and we are beginning to miss those cloudy, cool days. Most of this morning was on pleasant country lanes with nice views. In the afternoon we passed a huge industrial chemical factory, which was definitely not the highlight of the day. We arrived in Santillana del Mar around 2:30pm and were happy to see our German friend, Stefan, in the main square.

Santillana del Mar is also called the city of the three lies: “No es santo” (It isn’t holy), “No es llano” (It isn’t flat), and “No es del mar” (It’s not on the sea). However, it is a beautiful Medieval city with many historic buildings. The streets are full of tourists and there are many shops selling local dairy products, ceramics, homemade jams, and other products from the area.

Santillana is also only about 3 km from the Caves of Altamira, famous for their cave paintings from prehistoric times. After we checked into the albergue, we made the walk up to visit the museum and recreation of the main cave (the real cave is closed to the public after the paintings began to deteriorate from so much contact.) It was really interesting and even worth the extra walk in the hot afternoon sunny. We were lucky and were able to get a ride back to town with one of the museum staff.

The Santillana albergue is quite small with only 16 beds, and very simple without much space, but it has a great location by the main square of the old city. We were afraid it would fill up quickly but there are still some empty beds. Crowds on the Norte route seem to arise and dissipate very quickly. As we get farther into September it seems like there will be fewer hiker as vacation time is over.

We’re excited to be back on the coast tomorrow as we make our way to Comillas. We’re feeling pretty good, though Dave has a painful crack in his foot and the pavement continues to cause foot pain. We are really hoping for some sections of dirt path soon!

Camino Del Norte Day 16: Santander to Boo de Piélagos, 14 km

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We were still tired and recovering this morning, so we slept in a bit in our private room in a pension. We utilized the wifi to finish catching up on emails and other research, then had a late breakfast at a nearby café (café con leche and a big hunk of potato tortilla with bread for €2.20, delicious and filling).

We set out quite late, around 1pm. Most guidebooks have Santander to Santillana del Mar as their next stage, a whopping 40 km. Luckily, we learned that there is a new albergue along the way in Bóo de Piélagos. Walking through Santander was pleasant, and we had perfect weather today. Leaving the city there was some more unpleasant industrial areas, but then the trail weaves in and out of small villages and becomes more rural with lush green farms. We also saw a lot of evidence of Spain’s housing market crash, as there are many half-finished housing developments, or finished developments that appear as ghost towns with a “for sale” sign on every door.

Bóo is a sweet little town surrounded by farm land, which is also on the commuter trainline to Santander. The new albergue here is exquisite! Highly recommended. It is run by a very sweet family in several apartments above their house, with 28 beds.  Each apartment has its own kitchen and there is even a washing machine that can be used for free. There’s also a little sunny terrace with washlines for drying clothes. The beds have clean sheets, the bathroom has shampoo and conditioner and clean towels, there’s milk in the fridge and tea and coffee available — these are the little luxuries that mean so much to someone on the road. The owner, Piedad, is so nice and also offers to prepare dinner for pilgrims for very reasonable prices.

The price of the albergue, €12 per person (about $15) is a little more than many albergues (which are often supported by organizations or local governments), but the facilities are so much nicer and it includes breakfast.  I hope more albergues like this open and are able to be sustained, as they are so pleasant for pilgrims and ideally can provide a decent income for the owners.  Some people are concerned that the Camino becomes too “commercial” with businesses catering to pilgrims, but I think it is so important that the Camino benefits local people and businesses!

The best part of the albergue (for us at least) is that we are the only ones staying here. I guess since it is so new many people do not know about it yet. We are enjoying the luxury of having it to ourselves, but we hope for the sake of the very nice owners that the place becomes better known and full every night! There is a little shop up the street, so we just came back from getting pasta, meat, vegetables, and fruit for dinner as well as some bacon and eggs for breakfast (yes, breakfast is provided, but Dave likes to eat bacon and eggs every possible chance).

Camino del Norte Day 15, Rest day for Dave, Laredo to Castilla on inland route for Anna

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I caught the 7:30am bus to Laredo this morning to walk the inland route until it intersects the coastal route before Güemes. The day was grey and cloudy. It was nice to walk with a light pack, with my heavy things left with Dave in Santander in our pension room.

However, the inland path was really not enjoyable to walk. The first few kilometers were along a highway past a huge strip mall. The trail alternated between walking along the highway (with very little shoulder) and then off onto smaller country lanes. The lanes are of course more enjoyable, but I have found them just as stressful because of the many barking and snarling dogs in the villages. Along the Francés route, this was rare as I guess the dogs are more accustomed to pilgrim traffic. 99% of the dogs are chained or fenced in, but it still gives me a heart attack when I hear a dog growling and lunging toward me when I can’t tell if they are chained or not, and they are often chained very close to the road. A few smaller dogs did come running at me, so I yelled at them and waved my hiking poles. I’m not sure why the dogs seem so unfriendly here, I guess they are trained as guard dogs or just wary of strangers. German shepherds seem to be popular, along with some kind of larger breed that I can’t identify.

I finally got back to the place the alternative trails meet. Dave had checked online and found that there was one bus to Santander from this town (one per day). I got there around 3:10pm, hoping to make the 3:20pm bus to Santander. The bus flew by without stopping 🙁 so I waited another hour to get a bus back to Laredo and from Laredo back to Santander. I got back around 6:30pm exhausted. I felt better after a hot shower and dinner. It was really a treat to have a private room and just have a quiet relaxing evening.

We’re a bit sad that we have lost track of the two Americans from California that we saw almost every day. We last saw the in Laredo, where they were taking a rest day due to injury and also because they had lost their camera and were hoping it might be turned in to Tourist Info or the police station. We haven’t heard if they recovered it, but hope to cross paths with them soon.

Camino del Norte Day 14 Güemes to Santander

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Today was a short day, much -needed after our long day yesterday. There are several options to get to Somo, where the ferry takes us to Santander. Dave took the coastal route, with amazing cliff and sea views. I took the road route, which was a bike lane along a two-lane road. We met at the ferry station in Somo and took the 30-min journey to Santander.

We went to the albergue, which was open and the hospitalera invited us to leave our bags and come back at opening time (wait! I thought that was hopelessly against the rules!) 🙂 We were so hungry, so we stopped by a grocery store and had a picnic in front of the cathedral. After checking into the albergue, we walked around town, visiting the cathedral and the port, and had a very filling dinner of pizza.

The Santander albergue was extremely crowded, with 38 beds all in one room with little ventilation. There is also no common space, just a large dorm and two toilets/showers. The worst part we discovered at lights out time, when everyone crawled into their beds, that these are the world’s creakiest beds. Every movement elicits a loud creak. Dave was also placed next to rather loud snorer so he got almost no sleep. If you’re planning to stay in Santander, I recommend finding a private room! The hospitalero was very kind, and the facilities were in good shape, but would be more adequate to 20 people rather than almost twice that.

We’re taking a rest day tomorrow! Well, Dave gets a full rest day, while I go back to Laredo and walk the ‘inland route.’ This is a route to Güemes that can be used when the ferry between Laredo and Santoña is not running in winter. The coastal route was so nice that I can’t imagine who would choose to walk inland, but we need the GPS track to at least show the option and amenities in the book.

Camino del Norte Day 13 Laredo to Guëmes

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The weather forecast for today was rain, rain, rain so we were thinking of taking a rest day. We slept so so well in the quiet, uncrowded albergue and didn’t wake up until 7am (that is sleeping in on the Camino!) We did some more work using the wifi, then saw that there were a lot of patches of blue in the sky amongst the threatening clouds, so we decided to go ahead and walk until the weather got bad.

The walk along Laredo’s 7-km beachfront was lovely. We continued to the very point of the town to take the ferry to Santoña. The “ferry” is just a little tugboat that comes up to the beach and lets down a ladder. The ride is only a few minutes, but the views of the bay and surrounding hills was mesmerizing.

We continued through Santoña and Berria beach, which had a great section of footpath through tight undergrowth, which gaves views of beaches and rugged hills. We continued across the sandy beach to Noja. From Noja, the trail cuts inland through a series of small villages on quiet country lanes. We arrived quite exhausted around 6pm to Guëmes, which has a rather famous albergue.

The albergue is huge, with room for up to 70 pilgrims (we were about 30 this night). It was built by Padre Ernesto and volunteers, and includes his historic family home. He is a priest who traveled the world on several sabbaticals and wanted to bring what he had learned back with him by creating a place of encounter. He originally intended the building to be used as a retreat center and place for workshops and discussions, as the modern Camino del Norte had not been revived yet. Now it is a place for pilgrim encounters. Padre Ernesto speaks to the group about his experiences with other cultures and invites pilgrims to consider the Camino their teacher and to look for the deeper meaning in the journey, not being distracted by the day-to-day challenges of where to sleep, what to eat, etc.

The albergue provided a wonderful dinner of soup, paella, wine and fruit, as well as breakfast. The albergue is supported entirely by private donations and volunteer labor (no organization funds its work).

Ironically, the man who yelled at me the other day was staying at this same albergue and was even translating Padre Ernesto’s words for the French-speaking pilgrims. He did say ‘good morning’ to me in the morning, so I hope I just caught him on an off day and the Camino is working its mysterious way as “teacher” to all of us.

Camino del Norte Day 12 Islares to Laredo

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This was another day with a road option and a longer option (actually both options were almost entirely on pavement). The scenery on my road route was nice, so I was disappointed that there wasn’t a dirt track through the surrounding forest that we could use.

My feet are really hurting from all the pavement, but I am feeling stronger every day and I am used to the weight of my heavy pack.

Laredo is a popular beach town, so accommodations are more expensive. We were hoping to get a private room but they were all out of our price range, so we stayed at Albergue El Buen Pastor, run by a group of nuns. It is a rather strange place, with a lot of religious statues in the rooms, and also a lot of floral fabrics everywhere. It kind of felt like staying at grandma’s house, or perhaps the setting of an Agatha Christie mystery…

We had a nice big room with only four beds in it (not bunks!) which we shared with two German pilgrims. They had wifi and a kitchen, so we were able to get work done but unfortunately as it was Sunday, we couldn’t buy groceries to utilize the kitchen. Luckily, tortilla de patata is very filling and only about €1.20 for a big hunk of it with bread.

Camino del Norte Day 11 Pobeña to Castro-Urdiales, then to Islares!

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Today Dave and I split up to walk two different route options. Dave took the longer marked path and I took the road option, which is more popular because it is about 8 km shorter. The road walking was not very exciting, at least there was little traffic, but it was hard to see any views over the crash barriers.

Luckily, the last few kilometers are marked off-road and I finally got to walk a dirt path. This one went up and over the hills between Mioño and Castro-Urdiales, with spectacular sea views. Castro-Urdiales is a beautiful town with a remarkable church and castle towering over the old city.

However, at the Castro-Urdiales albergue, I had one of the strangest and worst experiences I have ever had on a Camino walk. I arrived to the albergue around 11:30am, and it did not open until 3pm. I was the first pilgrim to arrive, and the door was open. I poked my head in the door and said “hola?” hoping that the hospitalero was there and would let me leave my bag so I wouldn’t have to wait there until 3pm.

No one was there, so I went back outside to wait until he came back. There were some neighbor women sitting on the benches outside and I asked them if they thought it would be alright for me to leave my bag inside. They said, oh yes, sure, I’m sure that would be fine. Usually when the albergues are locked, pilgrims just line up their packs outside the albergue, but since it was unlocked I went on in and left my bag in one of the lockers provided. I also left a note letting the hospitalero know that I had left my bag and I hoped that was ok.

So I went back to Castro (2 km backtracking). On my way back I passed a pack of about 10 pilgrims, and waved at those that I knew and told them there was space in the albergue. I walked around town, visited the church and castle, and took some pictures of a food festival that was going on.

I met Dave in town (as he had walked farther) and we returned to the albergue. By this time there was a line outside of about 20 people (the albergue has 16 beds but some tents in the yard for overflow), even though the albergue did not open for another 1.5 hr. I was regretting putting my bag inside as there was another albergue in only 7 km and we could keep on moving and free up more beds at this crowded albergue.

So a little before 3pm I was hanging out near the door in order to talk to the hospitalero about how my bag was already inside. An older “pilgrim” man who was one or two places behind me in line starting YELLING at me, telling me how he could not believe that I would just leave my bag and go have fun while everyone was waiting in line for hours. He said, “Is this your first Camino? Because I have done SIX Caminos and this is absolutely against the rules!” He went on and on about how selfish and rude and against the rules this was, like he was absolutely disgusted by the very thought of leaving a bag.

He made it sound like I was some kind of cold, calculating manipulator who wanted to steal beds out from under tired older people. I tried to explain to him that I couldn’t care less about being “first” and having first pick of the beds, and that since my husband arrived later from walking farther, he would not get a bed either so I would camp outside with him or go to the next town anyway. This man would not listen to me and when Dave tried to defend me, the man walked toward him in such a threatening way I was afraid he was going to hit Dave. I kept saying, I’m not even going to take a bed here, and I would always gladly give my bed to someone that needed it, but he would not hear me.

(It is not against the rules, some of his group and I had done the same thing the night before in Pobeña, and many albergues encourage people to leave their bags so they don’t waste hours sitting outside).

By this time, everyone in the line was listening to this man dress me down, and several people decided to keep walking to the next town because of the uneasy negative mood this man was creating. The hospitalero finally came at 3pm, so I explained to him my situation and that I just wanted to get my bag and go to the next town. At this point I was crying and very distraught. The hospitalero didn’t care at all that I had left my bag inside and was prepared to give me first pick of the beds. He asked me why I wasn’t planning to stay, so I told him about the man who yelled at me and told me I was cheating. The hospitalero was so so kind and said “Nobody can tell you you can’t sleep here, give me your credential, you are sleeping here!”

In spite of his kindness, I just couldn’t stand to be around this man and his hurtful, untrue words and inability to listen to me explain. I took my bag and left, and as I went out the door, the other pilgrims in line gave me sympathetic looks and said “buen camino.”

I was so angry and hurt that the 7 km to Islares went very quickly and actually the afternoon sun was really beautiful along the coast. The next albergue had enough beds so everything worked out fine in the end. I have met a few inconsiderate people on the Camino from time to time, but I have never been personally attacked so viciously.

Author Sil Nilsen, or “amawalker” on the Camino forums, has an interesting piece about “Camino fundamentalists,” a phenomenon among some Camino walkers where they believe there is only one way to walk the Camino: their way. Some scoff at those who use luggage transport for their bags or stay in hotels, as they believe “real” pilgrims have to carry their bag and stay in the cheap dorms. I think it’s important to walk with an open mind and a generous spirit since we don’t know the circumstances of those around us. For example, on the Francés route, I met a Croation man who was recovering from a terrible motorcycle accident that almost claimed his leg. He was using luggage transport and walking very short days and sometimes taking the bus, but had more determination and love for the experience than so many able-bodied pilgrims I had met.

I wish there were a way to make the albergue system more fair, as it is mostly strickly first-come, first-serve. On the Francés route there are so many albergues that it doesn’t matter as much, but they are fewer and farther between on the Norte. The pilgrims who get there first are often the strongest, and those who have walked the shortest days (in other words, those who need a bed and a good nights sleep the least). Those who are tired or injured arrive later and perhaps do not get a bed or have to keep walking for a bed. We like to do longer days (more like 30km instead of the 15 that some people average) but we can’t hope to arrive before those that are doing shorter days.