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Fiona Boult

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    • Fiona BoultPengembaraCamino Primitivo 2025

      Berducedo to Castro

      26 Mei, Sepanyol ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

      This felt like a very long day. Still a wonderful experience but I’m so tired now that am not sure I’ll be able to write much - or coherently.
      We left our lovely little apartment, reluctantly, at about 7.30. Had had a fab nights sleep in a very comfortable bed. Couldn’t work the coffee machine tho which was a shame.
      The first part of the walk was a long slow climb, followed by a downhill stretch to La Mesa where many of our friends had stayed owing to the lack of accommodation in Berducedo.
      There had coffee and tostada which was good and met up with many of our other camino friends.
      At this point my MapmyRun tracker went bonkers and was totting up extra kilometres while I was sitting still so I stopped it and started the route again from there - so my route is a bit wrong today and about 4.5 k too short!
      Another stiff uphill out of La Mesa and then along and down and along and down for many kilometres until we reached the dam at Embalse de Salime. Water and v good tortilla there to fortify me for the next uphill stretch to Grandas de Salime where most people were stopping. This time it was us who hadn’t been able to get accommodation, which was a shame as it was a very attractive town.
      The scenery both walking down to the dam and back up to Grandas was wonderful. Birds, including my first cuckoo of this camino, beautiful flowers and great vistas of the lake created by the dam.
      Grandas has a lovely church which was open (seems to be unusual on this camino) and the Ayuntamiento has an unusual bell tower. There were a number of good looking bars and a very friendly food shop. But unfortunately we still had another 5k to go, uphill, and by now it was after 2 and quite hot.
      Those last kilometres were a struggle and I’m so tired now and quite hungry and hoping I’ll be able to eat something at dinner.
      We are staying in Castro, a tiny place where this is the only option for staying. When we arrived there were three other people who hadn’t got reservations. We offered one, Barbara from British Columbia, the spare bed in our room which was definitely the right thing to do. She was also exhausted and very relieved.
      There’s not a lot to do here - but have done washing and had a beer so all good.
      PS dinner was amazing and huge but I crashed by 9 as I could barely speak by then!      Baca lagi

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    • Fiona BoultPengembaraCamino Primitivo 2025
      1

      Collinas de Arriba to Berducedo

      25 Mei, Sepanyol ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

      Not a bad nights sleep despite 6 bed dorm - there was a bit of snoring but I still slept. Got up at about 6.20 to find it very misty outside, however almost as I watched the mist began to dissolve leaving clouds below and blue sky above.
      This was a day I had been anticipating for ages both with excitement and trepidation as it was always going to be spectacular (provided we got the weather) but steep and long. Started walking just before 7 very very steeply up but we were soon looking down on a sea of clouds. Hopefully the pictures do it some justice.
      Onwards and upwards all morning really. We passed in turn the ruins of the three medieval ‘hospitales’ - refuges for the brave pilgrims of the Middle Ages. I cannot imagine doing any of this without modern kit but they managed it somehow, tho I gather often got very sick.
      As we climbed higher and higher it got colder and colder with a very keen wind. My pack was very heavy as we were advised to carry plenty of food and water as there were no services or human habitation of any kind for over 20k. In fact I didn’t really eat or drink a huge amount and managed to get by with a yoghurt and a couple of bananas and an energy drink (instead of coffee) until we reached Berducedo - where I had the best cheese sandwich ever - at least that’s what it felt like after the walk.
      After crossing the pass the weather became significantly warmer with a very different feel - more humid and very different plants and flowers. It had been very difficult to stop at all on the climb as it had become extremely cold but on the warm side it was possible to eat my slightly weird late breakfast and have a bit of a rest - even then we probably didn’t stop for more than about 15 minutes.
      It was a tiring but exceptionally beautiful walk. I was very pleased to reach Berducedo at about 1.45 and a bar and a cold drink and my award winning sandwich.
      Apparently the water supply to the village has been cut off - although luckily we have had enough for showers.
      We are cooking tonight as have been craving pasta (almost non existent as a restaurant option in this area) and we are in an air bnb as couldn’t get a place in an albergue. Have invited David and Alex round as will have plenty for four. Weather is now closing in again but hoping whatever it is that is closing in will pass over by the morning!
      Good evening - pasta worked out well and was enjoyed in large quantities by all.      Baca lagi

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    • Fiona BoultPengembaraCamino Primitivo 2025

      Tineo to Collinas de Arriba

      24 Mei, Sepanyol ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

      Wow what a day! Slight logistical issue in that both the apps showed our distance today as being 14.5k but in fact it was 21.5. However we’d sort of worked that out thank goodness as I find it easier to know roughly how far I’m going to be walking - not much fun finding out you’ve got to walk another 8k when it’s already been quite tough.
      We left Tineo at about 7.20. There was a steady climb through trees looking down on the clouds and with distant views to the mountains for the first hour or two and then eventually the path emerged onto a sort of high moorland with gorse bushes and grass and lots of birdsong. Also stunning. Heard a garden warbler, a yellow hammer and lots of stone chats who seemed to follow me around.
      Then a gradual downhill and on into woodland, again full of birds and insects before eventually emerging onto a road.
      There was a fairly long stretch of road before the route finally reached breakfast at the only stop on the way, Campiello - about 12 k from the start.
      Coffee, green tea and a piece of tortilla later I was revived and after buying bananas and a red bull for tomorrow (nothing at all day and a big mountain - the Hospitales route) I continued on - more road and then some steep paths - a lot of sun interspersed with bits of shade. It was quite a hard walk with very muddy bits that required some hopping, but still very enjoyable.
      I arrived at the hostal Los hospitales at around 1. It’s beautiful here. A very new hostal. We are in a 6 bed dorm with its own bathroom - as we were first we have two bottom bunks thank goodness. David (Wales) is here and Catherine and husband. Also lots of new people (potential for snoring in our dorm is high I think). Hoping for the best tho as need to sleep tonight in advance of the high route tomorrow.
      Great and huge dinner - vegetarian risotto for me. Now in our dorm with two Swiss women and two Irish guys Joe and David who met on the Frances in 2022. Joe has given cress some very smelly Chinese medicine stuff for her knees which he swears by.      Baca lagi

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    • Fiona BoultPengembaraCamino Primitivo 2025
      21

      Salas to Tineo

      23 Mei, Sepanyol ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

      A great nights sleep under a big warm duvet but still woke at about 5.45 which is too early! Ready to be on the road by just after 7 anticipating a big climb out of Salas. Luckily our Canadian neighbours with whom we were sharing the bathroom were sleeping in so we had it to ourselves which was a help.
      Set off feeling a bit anticipatory about the gradient but it was actually completely fine - up but not unmanageable.
      Walked with David from the hostel which was good - roughly the same speed for once! The one and only stop (La Espina) seemed to come quite quickly at around 11 k where I had tortilla (good and not too salty) and a great coffee and a green tea with real leaves! Cress caught up here too so that was good.
      On from La Espina with stunning views and flowers and lots of mud - but again totally manageable with a bit of balancing! All that ballet is coming in useful!
      After the breakfast stop the gradients were if anything a bit easier - still undulating but not on the whole as steep, tho have to admit the mud was worse.
      It ended up being a relatively early arrival - was at a sunny cafe in the square with pilgrim friends by about 1. Tineo is beautiful set up high with a perfect view across to the mountains. Hopefully some of the pictures will give you an idea.
      The hostel is good (slightly weird entry down dark stairs) but the room looks out over the view and is now, in early evening, full of sunlight.
      We did a tour of the supermarket, picking up stuff for tomorrow and the next day, when there will be no food along the way. I’m just assuming I’ve sort of got enough now even if I do get stuck up on a mountain on the Hospitales route!
      Have spent ages planning some more stays further along the line which is time consuming but probably necessary as there seem to be some pinch spots along the way where accommodation is scarce.
      Going out for food with other pilgrims at local bar where I’m assured there will be some veggie fare for me.
      Delicious real veggie burger and lots of chips. Great company, as well as Cress with Alex and David and three Canadians Garth and Darla and JP from Quebec. Very kind restaurant owners made us very welcome and gave us little gift packs at the end of the meal - La Griega - such a good place.      Baca lagi

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    • Fiona BoultPengembaraCamino Primitivo 2025

      Grado to Salas

      22 Mei, Sepanyol ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

      Had a pretty good nights sleep and was woken by the alarm at 6.25 (I’m often awake before it so it was nice to still be asleep for once).
      Set off at about 7.20 anticipating a morning of steep up hill walking.
      In fact although it was definitely steep in parts it really didn’t seem too bad and the views were worth any pain. Another day without rain which feels like a gift given the weather that they have been having recently and given our first day!
      We started off in misty cloud which was very beautiful but the sun gradually came out which was beautiful in a different way. Somehow the path seemed to stay in the shade for most of the way so temperatures remained very pleasant.
      After about 11k (wonderful compared to previous days) we arrived in Cornellana where there was a very busy bar serving food which meant breakfast was indeed breakfast rather than lunch.
      Then on and up and down through more quiet and beautiful countryside to our destination of Salas.
      I’m extremely fortunate in that I’m not finding this particularly painful or over challenging yet and I’m enjoying almost every minute. It does feel like a good challenge without being impossible.
      Tomorrow does look a bit more tricky with over twice the amount of climbing. However there looks to be a town with food after 9k which is perfect.
      I forgot to mention when writing about Oviedo that we found the most amazing pharmacy where instead of having to wait for someone to locate your medication on a shelf behind the counter this is done at lightning speed by a robot type machine that whizzes up and down and sends the medication out through a sort of hatch! I have never seen anything like it - it was so fast and efficient and brilliant to watch. I wish I had taken a video of it - could have watched it for hours!!
      Back to today tho - hostel has a vegetarian communal evening meal which is fab and is a lovely place. We have a room with duvets and each bed has a hot water bottle (a lovely touch tho don’t think I’ll need it). Very cute in every way and the joy of sunshine and an outside line (with pegs!!) for the washing. Perfect.
      The hostal is on a square with bars so have had a glass on wine with pilgrim David (76) who has literally done every possible camino. Ate some cherries and now sitting on a be ch enjoying the, until now rare, sunshine.
      Well the meal was fabulous and great company too - David from wales, Alex from Richmond (about 3 miles from where I live) and Garth and his wife, Canadians from Vancouver. Great conversations and lots of useful info shared about the route.      Baca lagi

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    • Fiona BoultPengembaraCamino Primitivo 2025
      1

      Oviedo to Grado

      21 Mei, Sepanyol ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

      Set off at about 7.20. A misty morning walking through the streets of Oviedo, heading towards the distant hills.
      After about 3k we reached the edge of the city (having been given directions by a number of very kind Oviedo residents pointing us in the right direction, including an elderly man with a walking stick who seemed to have set himself up on a corner specifically to point pilgrims in the right direction (it was a bit complicated).
      The (pretty hopeless) guidebook seemed to suggest a fairly easy gently undulating walk. It devoted all of one paragraph to this 25.5 k stage. The reality was a bit different. Pretty much steep up followed by steep down all day bar the last 2k through a beautiful water meadow replete with stone chats and a tree creeper nest in an abandoned building by the path. Also my first zittings cisticola of the year.
      Food was a problem again with nothing until about 19k (a promised stop wasn’t open despite blackboards outside).
      Eventually found a place at Paladin which made us an omelette.
      We finally met some other pilgrims now that we are on the actual Camino Primitivo - British guy called David who has done every camino including the camino de la plata from Seville and the via francigiana from Canterbury to Rome. Now on my list obviously. 🙄
      Also a German guy who is 78 and on his 5th camino. And a Spanish couple who live down the road from where Cress grew up.
      It was an extremely beautiful day and rain free thankfully. Misty at first moving to cloud with the odd bit of sun - perfect walking weather.
      We think we’ve found somewhere with some edible food for tonight but not til 8.15 (everyone eats late here) which is not ideal for the pilgrim lifestyle but needs must and they seem to be very friendly.
      Great focaccia veggie pizza thing!      Baca lagi

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    • Fiona BoultPengembaraCamino Primitivo 2025
      1

      El Berrón to Oviedo - dry and sunny

      20 Mei, Sepanyol ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

      Today was a short one which was a relief after yesterday. And it was also dry - in fact perfect walking weather.
      The route to Oviedo was pretty flat and through countryside until about the last 3k. Lots of horses and donkeys again and attractive gentle vistas.
      A reasonably sensibly placed breakfast stop after 9k and then on into the city.
      Oviedo is lovely - the centre has many interesting historic buildings. We toured the cathedral with an good audio guide and cress picked up various things she needed- every shop you could wish for.
      However the food situation for me is still a bit dire - no actually fully vegetarian restaurants, which is fine as I really don’t mind if I can eat something but it’s very hard to find somewhere that has anything at all that I can eat other than a basic mixed salad. And I’m going to struggle to walk 300k on mixed salad. It could be the supermarket for me! Clearly the Frances vibe hasn’t reached here yet!
      But actually …. By a complete fluke we bumped into a fab place selling an eclectic mix of largely vegetarian food!! Had delicious guacamole with plantain slices and then a vegetable stir fry with tofu - all fab and toppers off with a glass of Godello. Perfect and such a relief to have a proper meal. Not sure when I’ll get another one but happy to live for the day and today was good.      Baca lagi

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    • Fiona BoultPengembaraCamino Primitivo 2025

      Villaviciosa to El Berron - rain!

      18 Mei, Sepanyol ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

      Oh my goodness what a first day!
      We intended to leave by 6 but when we looked out of the window to see it was pitch dark and pouring with rain we decided to delay a little - just until we could see a bit. Finally left at about 6.30 in full wet weather gear - poncho, waterproof trousers and gaiters for me. My shoes are waterproof and behaved brilliantly so that was a relief.
      Finding out way out of Villaviciosa was tricky even in the semi light - the yellow arrows indicating the camino were very sparse and there was no way we’d have been able to do it in the dark.
      Finally out of the town and getting light, the countryside was beautiful even in the pouring rain. But walking in full rain gear means you just don’t see or hear as much, and also getting my phone out to take photos is a performance so not many pictures today.
      Having left at 6.30 we were getting quite hungry by 9.30/10 but there was absolutely nowhere to eat until after 11 - just countryside and deserted villages and closed bars. And it was so steep - much worse than going over the Pyrenees last year. As steep but for much much longer.
      Finally found a fantastic bar in La Carcabada. It didn’t look too promising from the outside but inside it was great - best tortilla ever, great coffee and a cup of green tea - all I could wish for. I can’t tell you how good tortilla tastes after nearly 20k of walking in the rain.
      After that, feeling revived, we continued on - much less steep, a few small towns, quite a lot of mud but with the rain beginning to ease a bit it was definitely an improvement on the first half.
      This was always going to be a long day as we had planned to keep tomorrow shorter so as to allow for time to look round Oviedo. However it did feel very long - we didn’t arrive until about 3.45 after having walked a total of 33.5 k.
      Hotel is good and very comfortable which is a relief.
      Many many horses today - I could have supplied horse of the hour rather than horse of the day! Also happy looking cows and calves, a peacock, lots of chickens and sheep and some very sad dogs. It breaks my heart how they treat dogs here. But I can’t think about that too much or I’ll get upset again.
      Despite being ravenously hungry there was no food for vegetarians in El Burron tonight. The restaurants and bars were either completely closed (it’s Monday) or open but the kitchens were closed or had absolutely no options for vegetarian. So we bought bread and cheese and avocado from the supermarket, washed down with a carton of gazpacho (and proceeded by a very nice glass of of Albariño for €2.60 - which seems to be standard round here). All good - I’m not hungry an y more thank goodness. Now ready for sleep.      Baca lagi

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    • Fiona BoultPengembaraCamino Primitivo 2025

      Avilés to Villaviciosa

      18 Mei, Sepanyol ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      After a fairly intermittent nights sleep I felt it wasn’t worth staying in bed - despite having no need to get up early. So showered and then started to try to sort out my stuff, which is definitely not as organised as last year - yet.
      Checkout from the hotel was 12 so we went out to find coffee and I found a lovely church (StThomas a Becket) where I went to a start of Camino Sunday mass.
      After mass I met Cress in one of Avilés’ wide squares - great coffee, sunshine and church bells followed by a cup of green tea.
      Eventually we stirred our stumps, collected our (far too heavy in my case) bags and navigated back to the bus station to find a bus to Gijón.
      This took a little while as the buses don’t run as frequently on Sundays but eventually one came and it was a fairly swift ride to Gijón.
      Gijón has a fabulous at deco bus station and many other interesting and unusual buildings as well as the sea and more spacious and beautiful squares lined with cafes. This really is a much underrated area of Spain.
      Having bought onward bus tickets for Villaviciosa we walked into the centre of town for an explore. The wide sandy beaches at either end of the port area looked very inviting but we didn’t really have time to take advantage of them (and didn’t want to risk sandy feet in reasonably clean socks) so walked along by the sea and then found a bar for a drink - mineral water in my case. Cress had a beer.
      In the way back to the bus station I bought some pizza at a bakery as was starving - very delicious with loads of vegetables. Then a short bus ride to Villaviciosa. It seems a bit dead here but think the hotel is more in the central area and it is obviously Sunday. We are going out to explore soon, having completed tasks like washing and ballet practice (I’ve got an exam soon after I get back!).
      More later when I’ve been out to explore and found something to eat.
      Wandering round Villaviciosa was a delight once we found the older part. Curving streets of houses dotted with appealing bars and cafes and an 8th century Romanesque church with and exquisite ‘floating’ crucifix - the picture really doesn’t do it justice.
      Villaviciosa is at the centre of the cider making area so there is a huge cider factory and references everywhere to this important industry. Sadly cider makes me feel very unwell so haven’t tried any yet but did have a couple of glasses of a lovely Albariño.
      Dinner was at a very traditional bar - to be honest many places were closed but this was good - grilled vegetables, patatas with three sauces (version of patatas bravas) and some local blue cheese with quince jelly - eclectic combination but very good.
      Now trying to get a reasonably early night in advance of first walk tomorrow - and it’s going to be quite a long one.      Baca lagi

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    • Fiona BoultPengembaraCamino Primitivo 2025

      London to Aviles

      17 Mei, Sepanyol ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

      Just the start - nervous and excited.
      Flight to Asturias was on time and the views during the flight were fab. Flew over Jersey which was looking stunning and then down the coast of France. The Spanish coast was looking beautiful - landed shortly after flying over a deserted white sand beach at the tiny airport of Asturias.
      Then a bus ride to Aviles (about 40k and very reasonable fare of €4.50).
      Hotel La Serrana is fine - had a wander around Aviles looking for food. Many places serving drinks only - some pretty squares and attractive architecture. Eventually found a restaurant where I could eat something (but had to eat fish — which I’m fine with occasionally). Temperature is pleasant- cool but as it is at the moment will be good for walking.
      Stuff is in a bit of a muddle as something leaked a bit in my wash bag so everything had to be rinsed and is now all over the place. Hoping it will dry by the morning.
      No pictures yet - will try to take some tomorrow. Lying in bed watching Eurovision at the moment tho don’t think I’ll make it to the end as it’s already after 11 and nowhere near the end. Actually will as a picture now of feet watching Eurovision!      Baca lagi

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