ensuitepilgrim's Blog

Yesterday afternoon,only a few hundred metres from La Pola, Mac had a fall on the path. At first he thought it was just superficial bruising to his knee and shoulder,with some pain in his left wrist. However, over night the wrist had swollen and the knee was a little more painful.

Therefore, I made enquiries at our hotel about a Doctor.

We were directed to the local medical centre, fortunately only a 100 metres away!

After having ID and European medical card checked he was seen quite quickly by a doctor. I went in with him to help a little with translation.

Mac was examined and then referred to the nearest hospital at Cangas de Narcea. He was given a referral note, with a brief description of the problems and told to go to the” Urgencias” department.

I settled our hotel bill and the barmaid directed us to the nearby taxi rank which was situated by a striking monument to Emigrantes.

No driver, but a passing,elderly lady rang the taxi number and within a minute the driver extricated himself from the cafe and drove us to hospital – another Camino angel.

A winding journey of about 25 km brought us to Cangas, maybe it was the dull overhead weather conditions, it seemed a drab if busy place.

The relatively new hospital is situated on the due of the town.

After handing in the referral letter, we had barely sat down when Mac was summoned by a nurse.

An hour and a half later,after several X-Rays on his knee and wrist,MAC emerged with a knee bandaged and the wrist strapped with an external steel plate. The former to be discarded when we can obtain an elastic bandage and the latter to be kept on for ten days.

The halo is permanent apparently.

The whole process- two consultations in two different locations,including a taxi ride took two and a half hours – impressive Spanish health service.

Hospital receptionist saved me the bother of telephoning a taxi and within five minutes we were off to La Mesa and Albergue Miguelin- after another day off Mac is still determined to press on. Ultreia!

The taxi took us a great speed over the mountain pass – decent photos even as we were on the move.

This is a private Albergue mostly restored with the help of an EU grant. The bar/restaurant is popular for lunch with local workers.

The overall Trip Advisor rating is 9.4!

Not hard to see why.

 From the film ‘”The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”

“Everything will be all right in the end… if it’s not all right then it’s not yet the end”

There are two approaches to Pola de Allende from Tineo,which in times gone by was felt to be so difficult to get to that the most favoured route was by way of the mountains. Long abandoned Pilgrim hospitals bear witness to this – now called the ” Hospitales” route.

However, since then another lowered route was founded and this was the way we sauntered to Pola de Allende. Two main reasons – recent wet weather would have made descents very tricky, Plus it’s an isolated track – 14.2 km with no infrastructure.

Thankful for a dry if chilly start we made our way out towards the Camino taking a short taxi ride to an obvious starting point.

Oak and Pine trees, plentiful birdsong – well placed stepping stones.

Passing a tiny chapel dedicated to San Roque – a great favourite in Spain.

This enormous hoarding was placed on an isolated track and encouraged thoughts of much needed coffee – we were to be surprised by so much more on arrival.

MAC asked the owner, José, what time the Disco started – this was the most extraordinary galaxy of lights and flags festooned from every part of the ceiling. The range of goods and CAMINO related nicknacks was astonishing and we could not have asked for a more entertaining and humorous host, whose English was excellent.

He insisted on taking photos of us – with Emilio from The Canaries – both inside and outside the bar.

He had his own design made for the Camisetas and I could not resist- the actual quality is excellent – although I shall doubtless be required to off load a couple of old t- shirts as a consequence!

We pressed on through more forest, passing bee hives and enjoying the views.

The descent was over 300 metres and steep in places. Freshly placed signposts,too.

Pola is an attractive little place located on the steep banks of the River Nison .

The above photo shows a memorial to emigrants – the Indianos ” – were some who returned from the Americas with their fortunes and investing in the town, building some luxurious residences.

Our hotel overlooks the river and is a very friendly,old fashioned place – some unfashionable wet bits hopefully drying out in our room – been promised an exceptional Asturian dinner tonight.

Ponchos on, we left the square and gulped at the information board and began our first climb of the day.

The temperature was 8* when we started out from the hotel.

The Camino today was going to be mainly along wooded paths,sometimes clinging to the side of the mountain as we were sometimes clinging to the fences to avoid the mud. Heavy rain showers were to exacerbate what are generally pretty wet ways.

The Albergue at Bodenaya wasn’t open so no coffee, but a reminder on the wall about how far there was to walk.

At La Espina we found a welcome shelter from the rain. An automated self service Pelegrino Parada with coffee machine and a vending facility from which you could buy everything from a sandwich to a Camino Primitivo T-Shirt! Greatly appreciated. Could not resist these photos.

Two contrasting buildings. One an ancient hermitage site and almost next door, a bungalow with a difference.

Because of the rain and cloud cover over the valley and mountains, not many opportunities for photos. Occasional glimpses of the sun, but I was struck by this barn door!

Tineo was a very important Pilgrim stop in the Middle Ages and the views are impressive.

It does have an impressive Town Hall Square.

Tomorrow is set to be another challenging day, not least because of the weather which if the forecast is correct, then part of the initial climb involved is not advisable in poor conditions.We shall see. Meanwhile the boots are drying out in the laundry room after our young host provided us with some cleaning aids. She was impressed by our efforts to sweep up the mud we brought in.

Superb breakfast at Hotel Areces and we bade a warm farewell to Antonio and his wife. We quickly found the Camino and set off with some trepidation as the guide book told of inclines…We passed an old pump, a fountain and a cross, not untypical on a Camino I know, but they all have a special history and place.

The first climb was a long one, cobwebs and dog roses,vistas and Asturias Horreos which are larger than those of Galicia.,

My attention was taken by some unusual vegetation which was very attractive to bees and butterflies.

We were pleasantly surprised then to come across a Donativo drinks station – this is where someone local, sympathetic to Pelegrinos leaves out drinks and snacks and payment is by donation. We met two pelegrinas from the Veneto and the Argentinian lady who sets up the station, daily, with her daughter. She and her husband bought the place a while back and renovated it themselves.

We moved on to Cornellana and walked past its nearly 1000 year old monastery, in need of the promised TLC and as we looked back we were able to understand its size and past significance in the area.

A butterfly and wall climbing roses.

A typical Asturian farmhouse with its adjacent Horreos.

Fountains and bridges, all with information as to when they were built or renovated seem to be commonplace on the Primitivo. Intriguing doorways and a nearby window with a shell motif.

Soon we were in sight of Salas,and after sharing the view with some local livestock we reached our hotel for the night – a former palace of the Valdés family who founded Oviedo University,Castillo de Valdés-Salas. It also houses a small museum. The rooms are grouped around a courtyard, in which we were unable to recline because the rain swept in. We had been fortunate to have had reasonable conditions for our walk,however.

Aperitifs and dinner in Bar La Campa, served by an eccentric, hyper active lady, who forgot to give us knives and forks in her rush to go round in circles, but who did eventually serve us a decent bottle of wine. House Special Salad was muy bien.

Overnight bus to Gatwick. 06.00 flight to S de C. Half day in the city before taking a coach on Sunday morning to Oviedo, from whence we went to Grado, after a futile attempt to get a ” sello ” for our Pilgrim passport, I e Credencial. Long journeys but not a problem when you have done it a couple of times before.

On arriving at S de C, first Camino signs on the stairs from arrivals…

At our hotel ,De La Salle, where we have stayed before, there were obvious signs of improvement- and it remains a great value stopover.

How many times have I walked about this amazing city? Always a new Calle, or square.

Students receiving their degrees with a simple shawl. On to aperitifs and dinner. S de C remains great value for your Euro if you look around. Some great dressing up and Casa Manolo was good fun.

Next leg was the coach to Oviedo. Rarely do you go directly anywhere on ALSA buses, they serve remote towns and go along routes that your Satnav would not suggest. We went north to La Coruña before heading East to Oviedo and over the mountains some fog.

After reaching Oviedo, a big city, we made for the Cathedral wanting our first stamp, sello, from there – Sunday and the Basilica was shut! Luckily, Mac Spotted the Cathedral bar nearby and we got a great stamp there – then the bus to Grado.

We found our hotel Areces, with the assistance of a Chinese mum and daughter who insisted on taking us to the door – Camino Angels exist – Areces is only a year old and run by Antonio and his wife – great hosts; superb location.

Being in the region of Asturias, cider is the drink – in Oviedo there are streets dedicated to it. Here, we found Cafe Express, a little distance away from the square where live music was playing as part of a local fiesta – something to do with Spring – sheltered from booming bass notes, Sidra was ordered and whilst menus were perused took in the unlikely scenes of Spanish grandmothers pretending to be complimentary about their friends’ perms whilst they played, would you believe….Ludo? Great food, too. Even if it did come all at once!

En route back to the hotel, we were impressed by the stage show – so professional and very loud. Fortunately our host Antonio had forewarned us abou the din and provided ear plugs.

Great breakfast at Areces and then the Camino really begins…. a little longer in distance than the guide books stated as we were to find out. Mac reckoned the music went on until well after 02.00. I never heard a thing after closing the shutters. Next morning, looking out on the square you would not have thought there had been mayhem a few hour earlier.