Day 6: Tranquil Mountain Forests and Camaraderie with Pilgrims

Morning mountain mist I had to wait out...

Day 6: Biking the Camino de Santiago, Camino del Norte

Approx. 55 km/34 miles: San Esteban de Pravia to Almuña

One advantage of riding my bike instead of walking is that I can get to my next destination faster than the walkers, SO I don’t have to get up and out as early in the morning. Today was a pretty early start for me…up and out by 8:30 am. It totally backfired on me though, as at 9 am, I hit mountain morning fog/mist so dense that I could hardly see 10 meters in front of me. As there were many sharp curves and no shoulder on the old national highway, I decided to avert being hit from behind by waiting it out with a cafe con leche (coffee with milk) in a gas station’s café.

View Larger Map

It's hard to see, but the ocean is on the other side of this town.

The rest of the day was somewhat monotonous and uneventful until the evening. Still, I can´t complain…the landscape is pretty, forested, and dotted with quaint towns right on the ocean as you can see in my pics.

Horse with rocky coastline in background

It started sprinkling a few kilometers before I made it to my albergue, but I made it without getting too wet. I’ve been very fortunate to have such great weather. I made it farther today since I didn’t get lost and there were not as many hills (or I’m just getting buff and more used to them)…just lots of curvy roads. There were also more Camino markers for alternative bike routes which I was incredibly grateful for.

At the albergue in Almuña outside of Luarca, there were 8 other guests representing 7 nationalities. The one young German turned out to be friends with another German I had dinner with back in Sebrayo. We all pooled our food and drinks together and shared a simple meal together, talking and translating through a mix of English, German, French, and Spanish. The evening truly captured the essence of community on the Camino. Although we all come from different places, we share a similar destination and a sense of goodwill to all. In my experience, The Camino has a way of attracting helpful, pleasant and interesting people to it; or at least they become that way while they are on the Camino. It seems the sense of camaraderie is irresistible to those who are truly on the Camino with pure motives.

8 pilgrims, 7 nationalities, united by the Camino

The most distinct character of the evening was actually the hostelero (the guy in charge of running the albergue). We invited him to stay and join us to eat, and he reveled in it saying he hadn’t seen a community meal like this in a couple of months in this albergue. He got a bit carried away…I think possibly under the influence of some happy grass…and ended up describing to us all in depth, multiple times what café de calcetines is and how it’s made. I have never seen someone so passionate and animated about an old- fashioned, rural way of making coffee by using a sock or hosiery as a filter.

The night was finished off by more banter about my bike as everyone watched me quickly unfold and fold it again. Everyone gave me a hard time about my small bike, for my big heavy chain I use to lock it (I don’t have the expensive lightweight ones), and then became parental, chastising me for doing the Camino on bike alone. These are all conversations I have often. I wish I had $1 for every time I was given unsolicited advice about my equipment choices and going alone! But, I know they mean well or deep down are just jealous and wish they had an awesome bike like mine.