bagi - Recent messages

After two years of break we went to Spain again this year, this time on the coastal path Camino de Mar. This is an official pilgrimage path that starts in the town of Ribadeo and ends in the town of Ferrol. There are two variants, the shorter, more inland one, which is about 190 km long. We walked the longer, more coastal one, which runs along the Atlantic and we covered a good 280 km. Both are located in Galicia, a beautiful and mystical land .

We decided on Camino de Mar after a wonderful experience with Camino dos Faros on our previous visit to Galicia and on the recommendation of an acquaintance. There was not much written about this path on the internet, I could barely find GPS tracks. But we really needed them. I have never encountered such a poorly marked Camino, and I have been visiting Spain for 12 years. Nor such a lonely one, although I have walked in many places. On the entire path we were completely alone, not even daily hikers were to be seen.

There are no pilgrim accommodations like albergo anywhere, except at the beginning and end of the path, and even those are there because of Camino del Norte or Camino Inglese. We stayed in various hotel rooms, which are very cheap and of quite adequate quality . Breakfast was often included in the price. For two people many private albergues on more visited Camino paths would be more expensive, and we would sleep on bunks and crowd in shared bathrooms. So we have no complaints about accommodation, but it is wise to book accommodations at least a day in advance.

Expectations were high, so what are the impressions ???

According to the rare descriptions this should have been a super experience walking along the mighty Atlantic, but it turned out quite differently. Camino dos Faros from previous years simply set too high standards that will be hard to surpass. Even after longer consideration and time distance this year's Camino de Mar cannot even approximately be equated with the previously mentioned one. There was simply too much asphalt and hard surfaces of coastal promenades. On the entire path this is at least 70% or rather more, often also most of the day. The path does not only run by the sea, but often goes quite far from it, even very high. We climbed highest even over 600 m and then we looked at the sea deep below us.

Because of all this I place Camino de Mar alongside the northern path Camino del Norte. In fact together with Camino Inglese it is also its alternative to Santiago, but lonely and almost not marked. In short …. whoever likes Norte, may also like de Mar. Whoever is looking for the experience of Camino dos Faros, should look for it elsewhere. More about our trip follows later …

A few more links for comparison …

Camino del Norte … KLIK
Camino dos Faros … KLIK

Baraga Path is named after Friderik Baraga, a Slovenian missionary and bishop. The path is circular and leads through some places from his life. The starting point in Trebnje is very close to us, so we set off to explore this part of Slovenia as well.

We parked on Baraga Square in front of the Church of St. Mary's Assumption, where there is plenty of space for several cars. We continued across the bridge towards the prominent Trebnje Castle, which is in quite a sad state. At this point the circular path begins, which can be walked in both directions. There are really numerous Baraga signs for the correct direction, so it's hard to get really lost. The exception is in Knežja vas, where they disappear soon after the church for a good half kilometer. I suspect someone intentionally removed them . There we used the GPS track.

We walked clockwise and first visited the highest point of the path, which is Trebni vrh. There we also met the only hikers of the entire day. Afterwards we were completely alone, which we're already used to . Baraga Path is partly forested, partly scenic, and the surface is mostly comfortable for walking. When wet it can be slippery in many places, which fortunately we didn't experience . On a few short sections there is also brambles that effectively catch passers-by. There is little asphalt, and the roads are completely traffic-free.

Kilometers were left behind us, villages followed one after another. After Knežja vas we soon returned to the original valley and spotted Trebnje in the distance. But the path to it was still long and ran along the slopes above the valley. Before Trebnje Castle there followed a descent to the road and return to the starting point. More in the photo story ...

Coordinates of the starting point (Trebnje): 45.9071769N, 15.0057844E

Thanks to both . The railway is of normal width and connects a large part of the coast. Probably the camera angle made the tracks appear narrower.

DAY 5 ...

Another long stage was ahead of us, so we didn't wait for morning coffee. We set off at first light or even a bit earlier and hit the road. The first half of Camino de Mar was already behind us, but many more adventures awaited us . The weather forecast this time wasn't exactly encouraging, but we still started in a dry morning. Luckily it stayed that way all morning, only mists were hanging everywhere. Later the sun even came out.

This time something about Spaniards and their kindness. We experienced it once again exactly that day, when the local baker in the coastal town of Espasante baked two chocolate rolls just for us. An elderly lady had just taken them before us. He immediately offered to bake two more, we just had to wait half an hour. Just right for coffee. And indeed they were waiting for us, still warm and crispy. Interestingly, he didn't bake even one extra for possible other customers.

Spaniards are generally very helpful and warm people. In 12 years of my wandering around Spain I have no bad experience. They immediately help with directions, sometimes they even unexpectedly tug you by the sleeve. Also in bars no one comments if besides the ordered you eat something of your own, moreover they usually additionally supply you with free snacks. Besides that no one honks at you if you commit some traffic violation on the road. After a long walk you are namely as if in a trance and something like that happens quickly.

Another peculiarity catches the eye after thousands of kilometers of walking. Spaniards are top experts in stone processing, without a doubt. Everything made of this material is excellently made and sometimes you can only wonder at what was done. On the other hand I would never take them for builders. I have already been in many places and slept in many, so I know what I'm talking about. Objects of this and that kind, even new ones, still somehow look okay from the outside, but for details they usually lack the will. My experience is that in many places the windows seal just enough so that sparrows don't fly around the rooms .

Anyway, we always like to return to Spain precisely because of the people, new paths and different environment.

DAY 4 ...

A later start to the day still tormented us, but we no longer waited for the morning light. We go when we go, the day will come . This time we headed to Porto do Barqueiro, a fishing village that is increasingly turning to tourism. There they just opened a hotel for this season, which came in very handy for us given the length of the stages.

Nothing new regarding the path. Again there was a lot of asphalt, but also some wonderful places. We traveled both by the sea and more inland and saw a lot. One of the characteristics are old houses, which despite the weight of many decades and neglected exterior are still inhabited. Unfortunately we never had the opportunity to see what the interior of these buildings looks like. But such houses are necessarily covered with hand-chiseled slate, which is a completely local material. Newer houses also use it, except some are covered with machine-made. I vote for the hand-made version .

Another surprising feature are the strict bans on leading dogs on beaches. There are warning signs everywhere, regardless of the size of the beaches. Even on the very small ones they are present, completely local, where there are definitely not many tourists. In many places besides the main signs there are also handwritten bans on the coastal rocks. I don't know exactly where the reason is, but the penalties are drastic … from 100 to 3000€.

What also surprised me are the decorative lemons and oranges that no one picks. We encountered this almost the entire way. Oranges are supposedly bitter varieties, lemons are quite real. They differ from our commercial ones mainly in size. In many places they are as big as a man's palm, if not even bigger. We didn't try either oranges or lemons, just in case . But we tried their food without hesitation and of course seafood. It's finger-licking good and I don't even need to mention the plate next to it. Yummy ...

Of course, thank you

DAY 3 ...

This time we had a longer stage ahead so we got moving quickly in the morning. Only the garbage collectors were faster . Generally cleanliness in these parts is quite good as we didn't see much litter anywhere. Maybe in villages it's sometimes more homely but no trash in public spaces. Even in bigger cities they clean the streets early after night parties. Spaniards are night people mainly because of the heat during the day. They really come alive only after eight in the evening when streets and local bars are full of sociable people. During the day most are somewhere in the cool, only the two of us don't give in .

This day too was marked by asphalt or hard surface of coastal promenades. We already got used to that, just need to air the shoes more often. Besides we saw again what low tide means here. The sea simply drains away and many boats stay on dry land. Usual for locals, unusual for us.

Also hórreos appeared for the first time, locally called granaries. They are mainly at home in humid Galicia and Asturias. Their feature are high bases that isolate the granary from moisture. On top of each base there are overhanging stone slabs acting as a physical barrier to rodents. For the same reason stairs never reach the top but end a step earlier. There are many types of hórreos; the principles are the same for all. Some are still in use, others are more a memory of the past. The longest is a full 37 m.

The day passed, there were plenty of impressions. Due to the length of the path we were glad the sun was more or less hiding behind clouds. We even came across a real sign for Camino de Mar, the first of the four on the whole path. But understand who can . Anyway we successfully reached the goal in the town Celeiro. Dinner followed then straight to bed. Not at all Spanish style .

For the weekend we planned a high-mountain treat starting at Pecol. First we climbed to Špik above the hudic police, which was expectedly very visited. We even met two Koreans . After a short return we continued on the Leva path towards Montaž, then after checking the conditions we climbed it as well. It had rather little traffic, but we all used Pipan's ladder. From the direction of Findenegg there wasn't a living soul.

Current conditions... on the Leva path there is no mention-worthy snowfield, at the junction of this path and the classic towards Montaž there persists a long and steep tongue of avalanche debris. We bypassed it on dry ground a bit higher. Further on there are no more difficulties all the way to the top of Montaž. There are also a lot of chamois, especially the curious young ones are everywhere . Old bucks weren't visible this time. More in the photo-story …

Bojan, that's why I hike with Mateja .

I agree. Despite the mileage we make mistakes or precisely because of that . On the Centenary a helmet is mandatory, a safety harness also comes in handy, especially if you're here for the first time.

The Centenary Path is dry, only a little searching for passages is in the gully until the entrance to the via ferrata. There some snow patches persist which can be completely avoided. The markings in the via ferrata are ancient, the protections flawless, for the final part with descent through the tunnel a light is mandatory. It was a beautiful day . More in the photo story …

Thanks, thanks . We adjusted the lengths of the stages to the accommodations, so some days were a bit less, some quite a bit more. There was never any crisis, because we had quite solid weather for the entire Camino.

DAY 2 ...

In the morning we got up at the usual time as at home, but it was still pitch dark outside. Spain has a 1 hour delay compared to Slovenia, although it is in the same time zone as us. General Franco is responsible for this discrepancy in geographical zones, who wanted to align with his allies with this. For us, this meant that we set off on the journey significantly later than we otherwise would. No problem, at least we had breakfast in peace .

For a good morning we continued along the coastal promenade and much later turned into the forest. In these areas there are extensive eucalyptus plantations, which smell intoxicatingly with their aroma. This is especially pronounced just before rain and we are always happy about these forests. Eucalyptus is also a real stripper . It constantly undresses and thus creates an extremely flammable base in case of fire. In addition, an abundance of essential oils is available for fuel. That's why the trees are planted in rows in many places, and in between the owners occasionally clear the undergrowth and fallen bark.

Soon we came back to more populated areas, this time at low tide. This revealed numerous dunes and stranded boats and thus showed how shallow the sea is in some areas. This is especially pronounced in the area of the coastal town of Foz, where we could hardly believe our eyes. Here tourists can only swim at high tide, and fishing boats can only set sail then. Incredible. If we had come at high tide, we would have had a completely different picture.

Then came a rest in one of the many cafes. We usually choose one where we can take off our shoes and air our feet. Almost everywhere they serve you pastry with coffee, and with beer already concrete snacks, the so-called tapas. First time, second time, no problem, all sorts and all free. Many times we ate something of our own from the nearby bakery in addition to what we ordered, and no one ever looked at us badly. Prices are generally lower than at home and we also got full .

After a longer break we continued along the stone promenade. For some time we walked by the sea, moved more inland and returned to the coast again. The weather deteriorated according to the forecast, but it remained dry. This suited us quite well, as it was pleasantly breezy by the coast, while inside it was damn humid. The day passed and we finished in the town of Burela. Here too I had previously reserved a wonderful room, which was already ridiculously cheap. This time we walked all day and after dinner we went to bed quite soon. Good night ...

DAY 1 ...

First we had to get from Oviedo to the starting point. A local carrier Alsa runs to Ribadeo, luckily early in the morning. The ride is a full three hours long and so we still had quite some time left for walking. We needed that after the long ride, especially since the day before we had mostly been on our butts .

In Ribadeo we found the tourist office and stamped the first stamp in the pilgrim's document. That wouldn't even have been necessary, since we slept everywhere else but in albergues. But tradition demands its own and a stamped booklet is a nice memory for other times . Then came the obligatory coffee, and finally we set off on the path. First we followed the signs for Camino de Norte, which soon turned one way, while we went the other. We looked in vain for the yellow signs for the turnoff, and later it wasn't any better. Instead of official Camino signs, brown signs for Ruta del Cantabrica are everywhere. They are really clear and matched our direction perfectly.

The first day was one of the most beautiful on the entire Camino. Most of the time we walked by the sea along coastal promenades and pleasant paths. We saw a bunch of interesting things, from an attractive lighthouse, flowering coasts, fishing villages to the very visited natural attraction Praia das Catedrais. In plain words … cathedral beach. Here visitors can walk on the sand under giant stone arches carved by the raging Atlantic, explore sea caves and numerous passable tunnels. But here the tide got in our way ... sniff, sniff. We arrived exactly at the highest water level, when viewing this beach is impossible. Even at low tide the visit time is limited to a maximum of 4 hours, before the sea takes over the main word again.

Then came the final part, continuation to our accommodation right on the coast. I had already reserved that in advance, so there were no problems with that. The friendly owner gave us a room with a view of the Atlantic and because of the pleasant roaring the terrace doors stayed open all night. A wonderful day and an even more beautiful night .

From the train station in Sillian to the hut of the same name the most elegant and fastest way is along the road past Leckfeldalm. Altogether you'll have to do a good 8 km and 1300 meters of elevation gain. How many hours you'll spend depends on what kind of hiker you are .

There is definitely still snow. We met two Czechs who turned back while trying to cross the massif. I'm attaching a photo from in front of the Vualt hut.

I think these are two peaks. From your point of view, they should be Cuel de la Ceit (larger left one) and Cuel de la Ruviis (smaller right one)