El Camino — My Around-the-World Trip

La Mesa to Castro

As hot and dehydrating as it was to walk the Hospidales route the day before, we really lucked out with the weather. The next day was foggy and wet, which somewhat obscured the views. We were warned by various guide books that this particular etapa has the steepest descent on the Camino Primitivo. I braced myself, quite literally, for the walk down. This was another moment where my sticks were more helpful than a nuisance.

Spring meant that the hills were filled with wildflowers. When we walked down far enough we saw a lake off in the distance and some rocks reminiscent of Pride Rock from The Lion King.

One of the interesting milestones on this etapa was a massive dam. Near the dam were crumbling buildings that ostensibly used to house people who worked there. There were also giant abandoned concrete structures for some undetermined reason. It had a somewhat apocalyptic vibe to it, like we were witnessing the result of nuclear fallout.

We arrived at Grandas de Salime around lunchtime. Grandas had an ethnography museum that was supposed to be fantastic. We went inside, thinking it was a small, rinky dinky operation. It was actually a quite sprawling complex featuring a mill, kitchen, chapel, barbershop, classroom, medical facilities, bar, and many other examples of life in Asturias throughout the centuries. Asturia famously has wooden shoes like Holland, and it was cool to see them in the museum after I’d seen a woman wearing them in real life. They come in pretty handy for mud thanks to the two slats of wood on the sole of the shoe.

Most people tend to stop at Grandas for this etapa, but we forged ahead in the rain to Castro so that the next etapa would be shorter. We spent the night in Castro playing a game called “Toepen.”

Castro to A Fonsagrada

Walking to Castro paid off because it was foggy and pouring the next day during the walk to A Fonsagrada. I bundled up, covered my pack, and got an early start. The only way to describe this stage is that it was spooky. I didn’t see any other pilgrims for practically the entire time and I could barely see 30 feet in front of me. Large windmills were so close to the Camino that their loud WHOOSH was unavoidable.

The other notable aspect of this stage was that I said goodbye to Asturia and entered Galicia, the same part of Spain as Santiago de Compostela. The first thing I noticed upon entering Galicia is that the pilgrim-oriented signage improved a lot. I spent the night in small town called A Fonsagrada.

A Fonsagrada or Fons Sacrata (“Sacred Fountain”) got its name from a story about St. James turning a fountain from water into milk after receiving hospitality from a local widow. When I arrived I learned it was a public holiday called “Galician Literature Day.” This was my 5th public holiday that I experienced since arriving in Spain. This was only an issue in so much that it meant grocery stores were closed AGAIN. You must get used to planning around these things when you’re Spanish. As a New Yorker who was previously two taps on his cell phone away from fully-prepared meals or groceries, it was jarring. I ended up going to the same restaurant in this town three times before leaving the next morning.

Etapa 6: A Fonsagrada to O Cádavo

The walk to O Cádavo was muddy. I was also irritatingly low on supplies. It wasn’t as if I were in danger or anything, it just meant I couldn’t do my usual picnic. I stopped at a random bar and ordered a turkey bocadillo. A creepy deer with hooves to hang jackets stared back down at me.

This was the same day as Eurovision so I was hoping I’d be able to watch the show somehow at the Albergue. Ideally I would have gotten to Lugo by this point so that I could watch it properly at a bar. The Albergue in O Cádavo was extremely accommodating and let me play Eurovision on the TV downstairs. I watched it with a couple other pilgrims and a loud group of Spaniards who were naturally starting their dinner at 930pm. I stayed up to watch all of the performances but needed to get to sleep before I could hear who was getting North Macedonia’s points.

The winner of Eurovision generally hosts the competition the following year. I was hoping the winner would be in some exotic place I’d never been but instead The Netherlands won with a cheesy ballad. Amsterdam 2019?

O Cádavo to Lugo

My Camino Family decided we wanted to do a rest day in Lugo, so I had this in mind as I walked. I passed through the town of Castoverde, which had a small church I could visit with a coffee truck outside ready to feed hungry pilgrims. It seemed like the closer to Santiago I got, the more I would see these kinds of provisions available. Many of the churches I passed on Norte and Primitivo were completely locked up to visitors. I got the feeling that on Camino Francés there were a ton of churches and cathedrals along the route where you can stop to pay tribute as you make your way to Santiago.

When I got to Lugo it turned out that Lugo was hosting a soccer match against A Coruña. The bars were already full of soccer fans by mid-afternoon. This was not that surprising. What was surprising was that they were actually all in support of the opposing team. My fellow pilgrims celebrated with a healthy amount of sangria and called it a night.

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