El Peregrino

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El Camino de Jaime

“Destiny guides our fortunes more favorably than we could have expected. Look there, Sancho Panza, my friend, and see those thirty or so wild giants, with whom I intend to do battle and kill each and all of them, so with their stolen booty we can begin to enrich ourselves. This is noble, righteous warfare, for it is wonderfully useful to God to have such an evil race wiped from the face of the earth.”
“What giants?” Asked Sancho Panza.
“The ones you can see over there,” answered his master, “with the huge arms, some of which are very nearly two leagues long.”
“Now look, your grace,” said Sancho, “what you see over there aren’t giants, but windmills, and what seems to be arms are just their sails, that go around in the wind and turn the millstone.”
“Obviously,” replied Don Quijote, “you don’t know much about adventures.”
Miguel Cervantes

Ha completado su travesía.
Recuéstese, cierre los ojos y descanse su cuerpo rendido.
Deje que su espíritu se despliegue.
Recuerde las alegrías y las penas,
los altibajos de un mundo que se aleja.
Recuéstese y descanse.
Si este es el destino final, suelte las ataduras que lo confinan.
Y si el andar continúa,
que su espíritu navegue el Camino.
Descanse, Caminante.

Oviedo

It is finished.

The last stage of the ruta San Salvador reflected the mixed nature of my hybrid Camino. Part social interaction, part self-reflection and part satisfaction of accomplishment, glued together with a little sadness. I have been suspended in a timeless sphere, with the world passing me by as though I were stationary. The natural beauty, the tough climbs and descents, the fellow pilgrims: all visions whose memories I try to retain. Yet now, the arrow of time has gathered me up and I am again tripping along in this beguiling life which has showered such gifts upon me.

The pilgrim’s blessing after mass last night was a reminder of the dual nature of the Camino: it is both a physical and a spiritual journey and one must respect them both. For in essence, they are one and the same. All of us share in this mystery called Life, in which space and time co-exist within an infinite and eternal universe.

At least, that is what I believe.

Just before Oviedo came into view I passed this horreo. They are a common site in the campo in Asturias and Galicia. They were originally used to store the harvest, built upon stilts to prevent rats and other rodents from scavenging the year’s hard efforts. Many date back to 300 or so years ago; most are in disrepair. This one had been transformed into a garden, with flowers and vegetables growing and presumably gardening tool storage.

This is Juan, to whom this particular horreo belonged. I had a long conversation with him. He was sorry his petunias were no longer in blossom, but he was quite proud of a squash he had grown. We discussed how he liked living in the countryside, how long his family had owned the property and his footwear.

These clog-like wooden shoes are called madreñas. On wet and muddy days, he wears them to keep his feet unsoiled. As I was leaving, he pointed to his cherry tomatoes, most of which had past their prime and were for *las gallinas.* He found some good ones though and offered them to me. They were sweet and juicy, like the ones Paula grows.

No one was in a hurry to end this final day’s walk, but eventually we arrived in Oviedo. Except for Liliana, of course, who arrived last, but was a reminder that we all have our own rhythm and it does not advantage one to change it.

Last evening, the core familia met up for a final gathering on Calle Gascony, the “sidreria” street. We laughed til late at night, recalling our adventures, discussing our favorite and least favorite day, the morning we met in La Robla searching for coffee, the spooky lady who appeared out of nowhere in Pajares and took us to the haunted house where we spent the night (just ask Leonel and Xenya, who saw the ghost), the swarms of gnats on the first day out of Leon, the superstrong soap that Xenya washed my shirt with that repelled the bugs (and some people) later, our fellow pilgrims, some going home, some going onto the Primitivo, and a hundred other crazy things.

We all grew on this trek, physically if not spiritually!

I could not leave Oviedo without a bowl of Fabada Asturiana. White beans slow cooked with morcilla, chorizo and pork belly.

May everyday be a buen camino for you, Caminante!

Mieres

Today was a short walk, about 8 miles on flat paths, although we did get caught in the rain in a village called Uxo, about halfway to Mieres. We were in a coffee shop at the time so no damage was inflicted except for the additional caffeine ingested.

This will be a short post because the familia celebrated all along the way and I just returned from our supper at 11 pm. However, tomorrow is the last day of the Salvador and I think we all realize we will soon be going our own way.

This was typical of today’s walk

Leonel, Liliana, Amparo, Xenya, Remy and Jaime. This was just after the downpour. Only Liliana was caught out in the rain, but managed to get her poncho on before she got soaked. Liliana travels at her own pace, each step guided by God, as she says. She is always last to arrive but has the sweetest disposition and is an inspiration to the rest of us.

Tomorrow, Oviedo!

Pola de Lena

The general consensus at dinner last night was that today would be a long day but not a real tough day, because it would be primarily a downhill trek. Well, we were maybe a bit too complacent. The Salvador still had a few surprises for us

The elevation profile from Pajares to La Pola shows a descending trend. We should have paid more attention to the uphill climbs in between. Some were among the most challenging of the entire route. That little section called Chamos de Someron was especially tough!

Tomorrow should be fairly flat and it will be a shorter trek to Mieres. The final stage the following day into Oviedo will have some more climbing. But we are down from the high mountains, and it is sad to leave them behind. They offered spectacular views and a variety of trails.

The last few days I have used a transport service to send my backpack ahead to the day’s destination. I carry a day bag with a jacket, some food and my water bottle. This bag is on it third Camino and last leg, or strap, if you will. The straps were a bit of a problem: they kept slipping off my shoulder and I had to continuously adjust them, much like a woman’s bra strap that is too loose or whose cup runneth over. The lower end of the
straps came loose from the bag so now I tuck the ends into a couple belt loops. They act as a suspender and do not slip off my shoulders.

Nap time: Eating all day can be exhausting.

Yesterday’s fire must have re-ignited but we are moving ever further away from it. We have had wonderful hiking weather although tonight in Pola we had a heavy rain, which hopefully dumped some water on the blaze.

Pajares

I was on the road about 7:45 this morning – not quite early enough because all the coffee at the hotel was gone by the time I got started – but early enough to catch the sun rising over Poladura de las Tercias.

I started out on a brisk morning: 55 degrees.

It was pretty much straight up to the Cruz de San Salvador, then a further ascent followed by a generally downhill walk, some on good paths, others rocky and steep and slippery. My balance was tested by a couple of stream crossings.

The Cruz de San Salvador (top) was not the highest point on the trail this morning. This cross was even higher, but I don’t recall the name given to it. It is the highest point reached on the San Salvador (5160’), about 1250’ above Poladura.

When I arrived in Pajares, the village was celebrating San Miguel day with a procession of the saint to the sounds of the gaita and tambor and songs of praise.

The procession greeted me as I entered Pajares, then turned and returned to the church for mass.

I went inside for mass and when I came out, there were the peregrinos celebrating. Buy a drink and get all the tapas you want!

After the fiesta, we all gathered for dinner.

There was a fire a few valleys away but it was under control by evening. We will check it out before heading off tomorrow.

A couple more more peregrinos I happened to walk with today: Steven and Ridza from South Africa.

Can you hear the cow bell choir? I hear it every day, e going through the valleys.

The Posada Real where I stayed in Pajares has a swimming pool. After a shower, I went for a dip and as I sat waist deep in the pool, cold water soothing my legs and knees and ankles, I thought what a lucky person I was.

Poladura de los Tercios

It is funny how a “Camino family” comes together. This morning I packed up and went in search of a coffee bar, of which I had heard there was one nearby. I found it, had a coffee, which was was not that great, and a rather dry tortilla. Then I headed off. I saw what I thought were locals and asked them if there was a better coffee place. They turned out to be fellow peregrinos who were also searching for a coffee. I accompanied them back to the place I had just been and joined them for my second coffee, this time with a torta instead of the tortilla. There was Leonel and his wife from Costa Rica and Amparo and Remy, two Valencianas. Then we all set off at our own pace.

The Bersnega river never seems far away.

As we hiked, we kept gaining elevation climbing up through the wooded limestone mountains.

The highest point of today’s hike was the Forcadas de San Anton, about 1450 meters (not the mountain in the distance, which I will save for another trip). The net elevation gain is about 500 m and total elevation, with all the ups and downs was 750 m (2500 feet). Most of the elevation gained was in the 3 mile stretch between Buiza and the Forcadas, followed by a gentle descent into Poladura.

I kept running into Amparo and Remy on our way to Poladura, and we entered the town together. They went to the albergue and I went to the Embrujo, a casa rural with a private room and en suite bathroom. I arrived to the sound of local music and found a musical group singing and playing folkloric music of the region. There was quite a crowd and I arrived just in time to get a bowl of paella cooked up by the Embrujo chef, Angel. It filled me so I had to cancel my dinner reservation. I sat with a woman named Ana, who had walked the San Salvador three years prior and fell in love with Poladura and stayed there.

After the paella was finished, the Valencianas arrived and we sat together. Amparo had left her charger at the previous albergue and wanted to borrow my portable charger. As we sat reminiscing the trail, the Costa Riqueños arrived. We sat and chatted about the day and wherever the conversation took us.

The Camino family. I might never see them again (though I believe I will), but we came together today in the magical world of the Camino as a group of like minded, kindred spirits. (No, I am not wearing a cast, that is the sunlight).

Card players at the fiesta. Most of the people were from around Poladura, population 30 souls.

La Robla

“Quien va a Santiago y no al Salvador, visita al criado y no al señor” — “He who goes to Santiago and not to the Salvador, visits the servant and not the lord.”

The adage stems from the claim by the cathedral of Oviedo that it has relics tied to Jesus, whereas the Cathedral of Santiago has only the bones of St James, his servant.

At any rate, I woke up in Leon ready to start the Camino San Salvador. I had a quick breakfast (guess what?) and hugged the Bernesga River until I had to turn inland at Carbajal to start the first long uphill section. The route was about 15 miles, mostly uphill on a rocky track, ending on asphalt and a long walk through La Robla because my hotel is at the other side of town. Which is a good thing so I can hit the trail quickly tomorrow.

There are two ways out of Leon. One runs on a nice paved path, but it is next to the roads with traffic and city noise. The other, which I took, runs along or near the Bersnega river.

Hmmm! Which path did Frost take? Which one would you take? Decisions can be judged only long after they are made.

The biggest news: there are actually other pilgrims on this trail! I met four and saw three others and then two more at my hotel, which is actually a casa rural, or small inn.

Johann from Germany. First pilgrim I met since leaving the Camino Frances.

La Robla is a decent sized town with a Carrefour grocery nearby. I bought some provisions because eating facilities get rather sparse for the next few days.

Long day today, so I will sign off til tomorrow. Love you all and hope your uphill rocky roads have a hot shower and a comfortable bed at the end.

Miranda de Ebro to Leon

I left before the sun came up and departed Arganzon in the dark, using my iPhone for light when necessary. The stars were starting to fade but Orion’s Belt was plain to see, as it has been for a million years. The sun slowly rose in the east casting a long shadow of myself heading west.

I left early to avoid any surprises. I had to get to Miranda de Ebro before 2:30 pm when my train to Leon was scheduled to depart. Missing the train would not have been a good thing; I even considered taking a train from Arganzon to Miranda, but where is the fun in that? As it was, the walk was quite easy and I arrived well before noon.

A few days ago while walking, I imagined what the earth would be like in another million years on a logarithmic scale, that is in ten years, one hundred years, one thousand years and so on. Today, I imagined what earth would look like today if our species hadn’t evolved or ended in a dead end like our Denisovan and Neanderthal cousins. Life on earth started about one billion years after the planet formed, and considering it is about 5 billion years old, that means life forms had 4 billion years to evolve a creature like us. (I am using rough numbers here). But if there were no hominins 5 million years ago, which is not that long in the grand scheme, life on earth would be pretty much the same as it was 10 million or a hundred million years ago, given that a large asteroid could come along and shake things up considerably.

Given that life is an emergent process, will it therefore always evolve to a human-like creature, that is, one with advanced consciousness, and even self-consciousness? And an awareness of things like beauty and an ability to communicate? And maybe also to fight and destroy and all those “bad” things Homo sapiens do?

Now, I don’t spend the entire day thinking those thoughts. It might drive me crazy! Sometimes I think about time, and that sliver of the present that exists between the future and the past, that sliver in which our consciousness exists. That sliver in which self-consciousness might catch a glimpse of eternity, outside of the future and the past.

Sorry, I am rambling.

Sunrise this morning. I was anxious for some warmth as it was 54 degrees F when I left my hotel. Sunrise comes about 8 am in these parts.

Miranda de Ebro is the last stop for me on the Camino Viejo. There are actually a few more stages to the Viejo, but they would take me to a place called Aguilar de Campoo which is a little village with no transportation facilities. Thus, arriving in Miranda is the end of the second section of my hybrid Camino.

I caught my train as scheduled and soon arrived in Leon to begin the third and last section of the hybrid journey: the Camino San Salvador. I walked around Leon and purchased some Siglo de Oro Reserva, a delicious Manchego style cheese from this region and some dried beef to make sandwiches on some of the stages coming up which have few services.

Ultreia et suseia!

La Puebla de Arganzon

Today was a very enjoyable walk. I woke up from one of the better sleeps I’ve had (must be pintxos and Txakoli) but I found myself going through email, reading a newsletter I subscribe to. As soon as I realized what I was doing (wasting time), I shut my phone down. My goal is to avoid newsletters, news sites, podcasts, social media, and all that nonsense of the carnival. I am getting better at using my phone only for personal emails, messages and my blog site. Oh yeah, and to find my way with my Gaia app.

My new friend in Vitoria. He is a bullfighter. He is not happy that Vitoria no longer hosts bullfight festivals (subsidies have been removed and most bullfighting facilities are being dismantled). But he shrugs it off. A couple hours away is Pamplona, where the bull attracts almost 500,000 visitors for the San Fermin festival in July.

I am writing this note in La Puebla de Arganzon, my destination for today. I left my hotel in Vitoria at 8 am, had a coffee and croissant at the bar next door (forgot to pay the bill, I do feel bad about that — give peregrinos a bad rep), and I arrived in Arganzon at 12:30! I am sitting out front sipping a beer while I wait for the hotel to open.

The departure from Vitoria was mostly along a wide tree-lined esplanade, or paseo. After a mile or so the promenade ended and city streets took over. Then come the highways and busy roads which went on for another two or three miles.

I left Vitoria on this wide walkway past several parks and green areas. Towards the end was a statue of San Prudencio, patron saint of the province of Alava.

Soon I was onto this busy road which went on for a couple miles. No sidewalk or footpath for pilgrims and no pedestrian would risk it. The cars coming towards you had the sun in their eyes and the road was narrow. It was not fun.

Finally the camino veered off into the countryside. It was relatively flat and evenly surfaced for a while but soon started up steeply into the hills followed by a long descent on slippery loose rock. It reminded me of the Alto de Perdon on the Frances outside Pamplona, maybe a bit more difficult.

The final stretch into La Puebla de Arganzon was very enjoyable. It was flat to slightly downhill and after the rough section before, I felt like I was floating. Isn’t that like life: some harrowing experiences, some challenging ones, and sometimes the joy of being alive is simply exquisite.

But I have not seen a single pilgrim or backpacker since I left Pamplona and the Camino Frances. I hear the Frances and other Caminos are crowded with people. I went to the local albergue and there were three pilgrims staying there.

This was the scene when I first arrived at hotel. Later, it seemed the whole village was there. Little children were running around, parents chattering, and more coming all the time!

Little boys were kicking their balls around, often hitting my table.

The little girls were playing with their toys. These pictures don’t capture what a busy noisy place the small plaza has become. I can hear them still at it, kids and grownups, at 8:30pm. They’ve been at it since about 4! Reminds me of when we lived in Madrid. Families would be outside playing, talking, and eating until 11 pm, especially in the summertime.

Vitoria-Gasteiz

When I arose this morning at the Truck Stop hotel, I had a choice to make: explore the Aizkorri sierra or take a train to Vitoria. My legs and feet won that debate.

I found my hotel in Vitoria about 2 blocks from the train station but still in a rather fashionable part of town. I dropped off my mochila (I love that word which means backpack) and went in search of breakfast. For me, the true test of a great breakfast when on a Camino is cafe con leche and a croissant. Second test would be a cafe con leche and a tortilla, especially if you need something a little more filling, a little more protein-oriented. The common element is the cafe con leche. I remember when Lisa discovered the cafe con leche grande on the Camino Frances and we could really get caffeinated!

I walked around the casco antiguo, or old town, known as the almendra medieval because of its shape. There are many cathedrals and churches and a basilica in and around the old town. The neo-gothic cathedral of Maria Immaculada was started in 1906 and finished in the 1960s.

I learned that Vitoria got its name after Wellesley’s defeat of Napoleon in the Peninsular War. By the way, the proper name for this city is Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spanish-Basque), like San Sebastián-Donostia or Pamplona-Iruña.