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Primitive Path:
Oviedo to Santiago de Compostela
Everything was beautiful, wonderful... with rain, mud, fog, cold ...
The year after the “Northern Way” or “Coastal Way”, more precisely, on April 9, 2016, we left Oviedo, in Spain, for the “Primitive Way”, a decision made at the Villaviciosa fork in the road the previous year.
The year after the “Northern Way” or “Coastal Way”, more precisely, on April 9, 2016, we left Oviedo, in Spain, for the “Primitive Way”, a decision made at the Villaviciosa fork in the road the previous year.
As this was a shorter route, we also decided to walk along the Alentejo and Algarve coast in Portugal, the Rota Vicentina/Trilho dos Pescadores, which we will report on in another topic.
Sometimes people ask which path is the most beautiful. All paths are beautiful. They are different, but this Primitive Path, strangely, we never really understood. It was very hard and even harder because of the rain, cold, fog, mud and it was very lonely.
We continue through the mountains, between the Cantabrian Mountains and the Bay of Biscay, in Asturias, entering the northwest of Galicia, in the rural area of A Fonsagrada.
The way out of Oviedo was quite confusing. There had been a fire the day before, and where the signs were, the street was closed, even to pedestrians. After going back and forth through the city trying to find the way out, a man took us to the place where the signs were. We walked in the rain until Grado. The next day, it was fog, cold, rain, sun, mud, and hills, but with beautiful scenery until Salas. On those two days, we met only one other hiker, Emily, from Mayorca.
The funniest thing was that, amidst that foggy view, Emily would always appear from somewhere. It seemed like a vision from another world. When we thought he was walking behind us, he would appear in front of us and scare us. We started calling him “floater.” And so, between the visions of our “floating” friend, the snow-capped peaks and the stunning landscape, we continued on to Tineo, a beautiful and bucolic village.
From then on, we were completely in the mood for the journey, with no notion of time, alone, passing through forests and rivers, cold, rain, going up and down mountains in the mist, in a mysterious landscape, but full of life!
The German and the floating ghost...
The mysterious air of the fog would lift from time to time, which allowed us to take some good photos. The road from Pola de Allande to Berducedo fascinated us. We walked for many kilometers along the bed of a small river. The crystals and stones covered with moss were true sculptures of nature. A spectacle! An equally beautiful scene was when we climbed a huge mountain with many rocks and pine trees.
We were heading towards Grandas de Salime under heavy rain and very strong winds. At one point, we had to take shelter in a small hostel, where we met some hikers who were not willing to face such bad weather. Since we were already very wet, we decided to continue on. Later, when the rain had stopped, we went for a coffee at a restaurant next to a dam, the Embalse de Salime, when a German man came in. He ordered a beer and we started chatting, he in German and we in Portuguese. The German didn't speak a word of English or Spanish. But it was friendship at first sight. We met each other along the way, exchanging brilliant ideas, each in his own language. Crazy talk.
Finally, we arrived in Fonsagrada, in Galicia. The rain was so heavy that we ended up getting lost because we didn't see the signs. The next day was the same: rain, fog, wet feet, mud, meeting the German, meeting the "floating man"... Our destination was O Cádavo. Sometimes, Saint Peter thought we deserved a break from the rain. But the rain was already part of the scenery and didn't bother us anymore.
We arrived in Lugo, a large city that still has its Roman walls around its entire perimeter. Although we were tired, we still walked a lot so as not to miss anything in that historic city. The next day, with a temperature of 2 degrees, we left the city towards San Roman de Retorta, always encountering our “floating” friend, who appeared and disappeared along our path, which made us believe that he was really a ghost... This was the last stretch before, once again, meeting the French Way, this time in Melide...
End of an intense journey...
San Roman de Retorta has only one hostel and a wonderful landscape. Nothing more. It is a place that brings together all hikers. From there, our destination was Melide, a city known for its restaurants that served the “best octopus” on the trail. Despite the encounter with the French Way, this time it was not exhausting for us. It was not as crowded as the previous year. Perhaps because it was still April, the beginning of the hiking season in Europe.
We stayed for a while with a new friend from Malaga, Begoña or Begô, as she liked to be called. It was fun.
Two days before Santiago de Compostela, we both felt a bit down. Each one was on their own, with their own thoughts. From Arzua to Pedrouzo the walk was good, without rain, but we were trying to understand what was happening. The truth is that we lost focus.
As on other occasions, we woke up very early in Pedrouzo to visit our magical forest, which opens up at dawn to an incredible horizon. The moon was full. Beautiful! We walked in absolute silence. No comments. Nothing. Only when we arrived in Santiago de Compostela could we contain ourselves. Joy and emotion took over us both and, without understanding what had happened, we felt fine. We performed our ritual in the Cathedral, attended the pilgrims' mass, which, once again, included the magnificent botafumeiro. We revisited our favorite places, saw friends again and were happy because we still had another route ahead of us, the Rota Vicentina/Trilho dos Pescadores, in Portugal.
Finally, a journey that began and ended strangely taught us that being alone, in the most difficult situations, being an integral part of that scenario, is life. A life that we are grateful for every day! At this current moment, our learning is that, just like on the path, if we focus only on the difficulties we will fail to see the beauty of life. Living a simple life, a full life, without false expectations and beyond our selfishness.
A quick trip to England...
After the intensity of an enigmatic journey, we decided to “cool off” in England. From Santiago de Compostela, we took a plane to London. The London climate was very good for us and, with a clear head, we revisited the city as if it were the first time. In three days, we visited many of the places we already knew. We went to the most well-known tourist spots, such as Tower Bridge, Convent Garden, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Saint James Park, Big Ben, but we also ventured into Brick Lane, in the East End of London, a neighborhood also known as Banglatown (Tower Hamlets), because it is home to the Bangladeshi community. We crossed from north to south, passing through the busiest part, Spitalfields. In short, we ventured all over the city, walking to every corner we could reach. But our trip to England had another reason: to visit our friend Mike, who we met on our way to Alaska.
After Liz passed away, Mike decided to settle in Devizes, a small town near Bath. At Victoria Station, we took a bus to Chippeham, where Mike would meet us. The journey, despite the comfort of the bus, was not very peaceful. This is because, sitting in the front row to better enjoy the scenery, we also noticed that the driver was very tired. We could see his eyes slowly closing and opening. He shook his head and splashed water on his face. We thought the worst was going to happen. At one point, he grabbed the Gatorade he had in his hand to splash it on his face. It was a very tense journey, but fortunately, it didn't end in the worst possible scenario.
When we arrived in Chippeham, Mike was already waiting for us. He was very happy to see us, as were we. We missed Liz. Mike was still very shaken by her death. It was a very difficult time for him, as he had lost not only his wife but also his mother. So our visit was very comforting at that moment. On the way to Devizes, we stopped at a pub for food and drinks, of course! In the evening, Mike held a small reception, inviting Liz's two daughters and their husbands. It was quite fun, especially because we barely understood the English of one of them, who was from Wales. But Mike helped us out and laughed a lot about the situation.
The following days were equally enjoyable, visiting Devizes, Bath, the pubs, dinners and lots of wine. We also visited Lacock, the setting for films such as “Pride and Prejudice”, “Cranford”, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” and “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”. Harry Potter’s family home was also filmed in this village, in Godric Hollow, and in the Abbey cloisters. Apart from that, we also walked along the Canal. And the most interesting thing was watching the boats sailing by and opening and closing its 29 locks. The boats stopped at each one, someone got out, opened it, the boat passed by and the person closed the lock. It was a lot of work, but very much enjoyed by the residents who spent the day doing this work.
After these days, we returned to Santiago de Compostela, then Lisbon to do the Rota Vicentina/Trilho dos Pescadores and return to Brazil.
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