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.

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.

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.

Today was another rainy day, though we did some blue skies in the afternoon. There are two alternate ways to walk form Bilbao to Portugalete, so Dave and I split up for the day. I took a bus down to the city center to take some more photos and to go to the Guggenheim Museum before taking the river route, an all-pavement option that follows along the river.

It was difficult to get any good photos in the thick morning fog. I really enjoyed visiting the Guggenheim Museum and seeing a series of installations by different artists with a lot of variety; paintings, photographs, mixed media, videos and just the architectural design of the whole space. I especially enjoyed a landscape series by David Hockney, which included some works that he composed on an iPad featuring scenes from Yosemite National Park. After being hungry, tried and dirty along the trail, there was something about a peaceful stroll through a museum that helped me feel human again.

However, the “river route” to Portugalete was not a pleasant walk. I thought it might meander past waterfront cafes and parks, but instead the path went through derelict graffiti-ridden industrial parks. The hard pavement was hurting my feet and I couldn’t find a place to get lunch so I was getting hungry.

The bright spot in the day was arriving to Portugalete. This charming town appeared sparkling across the river in the sunshine which had finally arrived. And the fun part was crossing the river on a 100-year-old hanging bridge, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. You buy a ticket for €0.35 and ride a little car hanging from the bridge. Dave met me on the far side of the bridge and we checked into the albergue, which is quite nice. I had a little trouble locating the shower, but found that there is only one and it is located in the men’s bathroom.

So far, only one of the albergues has had a kitchen, but most have a microwave. We decided to have a microwavable dinner, so I went out to buy some frozen lasagna and some groceries tomorrow since the town we will stay in is very small. Now we are relaxing and getting ready to sleep. We haven’t slept very well the last few nights so hope we can catch up tonight. We have another short day tomorrow to Pobeña, then will resume some longer days. We’re looking forward to being back on the coast tomorrow!

Today was another short day in order to spend more time in Bilbao tomorrow. The sun was blazing and we were feeling pretty scorched by the time we arrived. The day was mostly on pleasant forest trails and small country roads. We’ve left the coast for a few days, so are missing the beaches and sea views.

Lezama is a little village just over the mountain (about 10km) from Bilbao. The albergue here is very friendly and well-equipped but a bit small. We were able to do our laundry in a washing machine, which was exciting, though the clean-ness never seems to last very long. We went out to a local cafe for dinner and had a “menú” (fixed menu) for €6, our choice of meat with rice, pasta, french fries, salad, zucchini, fried egg, bread, bottled water and flan for dessert. The forecast is calling for rain, so we are hoping to stay somewhat dry the next few days.