From the earliest days of this trip, I had been wrestling with the decision of what route to take from Oviedo to Santiago. The Camino del Norte continues along the coast before turning inland to get to Santiago, while the Camino Primitivo takes a more direct route over the mountains. Everyone that I spoke to agreed that the Primitivo is the more interesting route, and on that basis, I made my final decision. Primitivo, it would be.
Sometimes, it can take several kilometres to get out of a city. Santander was an example, with several kilometres of car showrooms and furniture shops before the city was behind me. But in Oviedo, it was quick, and it was sudden. I went from the city centre to residential neighbourhoods of apartment buildings, and then suddenly I was in countryside, looking back at the city.
The low sun in the morning sky cast long shadows as I headed onwards. It was misty, the heat of the day taking some of the moisture from the fields. There was no wind. And as I came to cross the Rio Nora, the river gave an almost perfect reflection of the nearby older bridge.
The route allows for some short cuts. Just after the village of Gallegos, I stayed on the road instead of taking the longer official route on tracks. And at La Venta de Escamplero, I once again went off the official route. This second occasion allowed me to see farming life that I might otherwise have missed. But there is no avoiding the forest routes completely.
So it was that by a mixture of roads and tracks, passing small farms, I reached the village of Paladin, where a bar just a hundred metres off the trail provided welcome refreshment. With that, I was on again until I reached Penaflor.
And from Penaflor, it was just three kilometres of almost flat country road into Grado, my destination for the day. I found a place at one of the Albergues, and that was it, I was done walking for the day. The local market was in full swing, and even though I wasn’t buying anything, it gave a nice vitality to the town.
My total step count for the day was 41, 086.
Walkingman 