Download - My pilgrim walk: Camino del Norte
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34 Days on Camino del Norte
Snapshots from my Euro Pilgrim Walk
Summer 2015
Kristi Rohtsalu © August 2015
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Quick facts about my walk
Start: 9 July 2015, San Sebastián
End: 11 August 2015, Santiago de Compostela
Duration: 34 days
Distance: 800+ km
Elevations: +17,000+ m / -17,000+ m
Footwear: Sport sandals
Fuel on the road: Muesli batons; Werther's Original
Backpack: ̴4.5 kg (no sleeping bag, no spare shoes, nothing that wasn’t absolutely necessary)
Accommodation: Mainly hostels and one or two-star hotels
Total cost: ̴ 2,000-2,500 EUR (incl. food)
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9 July. So I got started...
3 From San Sebastián to Zarautz
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10 July. I absolutely loved mornings like this
4 From Zarautz to Deba
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11 July. „Few stretches of the Northern Way to Santiago are so far removed from civilisation as this path...“ – A travel guide
5 From Deba to Markina-Xemein to Bolibar
What? Am I supposed to go through this with sandals??!
I was, and it did not hurt.
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12 July. Attention! Peregrinos on the road! Only later I learned the meaning of some signs...
6 From Bolibar to Gernika
From Gernika’s tourist office I was gently guided to take a look to this historic town.
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13 July. Basque country, what a beautiful country! Basques are asking pilgrims for help.
7 From Gernika to Lezama
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14 July. Guggenheim Museum, contemporary arts and accident in Bilbao
8 From Lezama to Bilbao
The ladder was poorly fastened and I reached the floor from the third level much faster than I had planned to... The next 100 km I was literally limping.
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15 July. Step after careful step... Good that Portugalete was this close
9 From Bilbao to Portugalete
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16 July. My longest 30 km: Is it indeed Castro Urdiales? ... It was.
10 From Portugalete to Castro Urdiales
As a compensation for my sufferings because of the injured leg, the way was interesting.
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17 July. Another arrival: there are certain objects that all pilgrims shall see.
11 From Castro Urdiales to Laredo
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18 July. This day I was a bit absentminded and got a bit lost. But then there was someone who was watching that I wouldn’t slip and there was someone who showed me the right way.
12 From Laredo to Castillo (via Santoña)
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19 July. Wonderful beaches along the way... Ooh, that was a hot summer day for a hiker!
13 From Castillo to Santander (via Somo)
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20 July. The end is really near: „just“ 560 kilometres to go
14 From Santander to Cudón
Bridge of Arce, the sight of the day
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21 July. It was a rainy day when, following a rather short walk and a look to the historic quarter of Santillana del Mar, I explored the cave art in the Altamira Museum.
15 From Cudón to Santillana del Mar
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22 July. „The churches are all closed... It did not use to be like that.“
– A fellow hiker
16 From Santillana del Mar to Comillas
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23 July. When I got up in the morning I knew that this was going to be a good day. So it was.
17 From Comillas to Unquera
The last pic with Sonia before departing in San Vicente de la Barquera (me wearing the pink T-shirt)
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24 July. The last look to Cantabria before entering Asturias
18 From Unquera to Llanes
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25 July. Through the pasture to the point of destination, were the later a church or a cosy hotel...
19 From Llanes to Ribadesella to Pando
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26 July. What a coastline! And then... Let’s go to the beach! It’s a hot summer day, after all!
20 From Pando to La Isla
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27 July. Apparently they have cider in Asturias. In fact, in Asturias cider is considered not only a beverage but an intrinsic part of its culture and folklore.
21 From La Isla to Villaviciosa
„Is that all for me alone – just for 35 EUR?“ I wondered when entering my apartment in the hotel, apparently meant for three.
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28 July. So simple it is: uphill, downhill, through a village, over another mountain, a bit walking and there we are... In Gijón
22 From Villaviciosa to Gijón/Xixón
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29 July. Sometimes it feels just like that...
23 From Gijón/Xixón to Avilés
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30 July. A piece of thematic contemporary art on the way
24 From Avilés to El Pito
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31 July. Many people had walked this way before me and many people will walk it after me.
25 From El Pito to Ballota
Playa del Silencio was really silent today...
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1 August. There are probably not many places where you want to go for a walk on your 24th day of hiking. Luarca may be the one.
26 From Ballota to Luarca
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2 August. ...And for Sunday we have fiesta in Navia
27 From Luarca to Navia to Jarrio
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3 August. My day started with the sunrise as it had so many times before... I’m getting used to it. I feel an urge to get going...
28 From Jarrio to Ribadeo
No, that’s not the chapel that is popular. It’s the beach.
What a popular chapel!
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29 From Ribadeo to Lourenzá to Grove
While I took a pic of this garden, the landlord was there. I did not speak Spanish and he did not speak English, but he gave me two cucumbers from his garden.
4 August. The „Peregrino-hunt“
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5 August. My longest walking day (40+ km): I did not find accommodation in Abadín and went on to Vilalba where I then stopped for two nights.
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From Grove to Mondoñedo (in the background) to Abadín to Vilalba
A new happy day has just begun...
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7 August. There are many ways for going where we want to go...
31 From Vilalba to Baamonde to Guitiriz
After Baamonde I had to get creative and find my own path given the availability of accommodations. So instead of Miraz and Sobrado, I went via Guitiriz and Curtis. (My zigzags are in green.)
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8 August. Today’s highlight in loneliness: a wind generator in fog (I could have touched it)
32 From Guitiriz to Curtis
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9 August. Another Sunday, another fiesta, this time in Arzúa
33 From Curtis to Arzúa
An important milestone: less than 50 km left
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10 August. The last tens of kilometres... It’s like participating in some sort of marathon...
34 From Arzúa to O Pedrouzo
The doors of the „philosophical rooms“ in a cafe on the way: „BUEN CAMINO“ even there...
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11 August. This day was a sad day and a beautiful day because it was my last day on the way
35 From O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela
Last but not least: waiting for my certificate
(I’m not religious so it’s not exactly the Pilgrimage Certificate. But the cuteness of a paper doesn’t matter if there are personal experiences attached... I was just honest while telling at the end in the Pilgrimage Office that I’m neither religious nor spiritual. Because at this point in time I’m not.)
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...So I did it!
36 Just finished
The certificate (my name is written in Latin)
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Buen Camino!
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I’m not original but still: The journey is the reward. Once there what then?