Camino del Norte Day 10

Today’s walk was long—about 30km from Llanes to Ribadesella along the coast. There was a mix of country and beach today as we made our way westwards. The morning started cloudily and a bit drizzly but with a temperature hovering around 17C, so it wasn’t too cold; pleasant walking weather except for the drizzle.

There wasn’t much to see heading out of Llaves, just the usual outskirts of town boring stuff till we hit a town called Poo which we thought was pretty funny. Not exactly sure how it’s pronounced in Spanish, but I suspect it might be a short ‘o’ as in Po rather than Poo. After passing this town, we hit the beach a couple of times, bumping into some Americans doing the same walk. Plenty of other pilgrims about doing the same journey.

A bit drizzly and grey by the beach. No one is swimming. The summer season has come to a close. All the local cafes and ice cream parlours were shut up for the season.

For the most part, today, we were on farm tracks that took us between main roads and towns. It was pleasant to walk in the countryside for a change rather than on the tarmac or beach—an idyllic day in the country. The rain eased up, but the cloud cover was still there, keeping us cool from the hot sun.

We hit the beach one more time today, and the above photo looks back at where we’ve come from. A few die-hard surfers were parked checking out the waves, but no one was in the water.

We had to find water along the way because we weren’t carrying our giant backpacks with 2-litre water tanks. This spring, the middle of a town provided fresh, clean water. While we were there, the locals came to fill their bottles too, so it must’ve been good.

It was now Ron’s turn to feel unwell on the trip. I’d had my dose a few days back, and today he felt a little sub-par. Probably the same bug that I had, and he’d caught from me. We’d walked about 21km thus far, and he’d had enough. I went into a bar alongside the road and asked if they could call us a taxi into town. She gave me the number to call, which I did, but I gave her my phone to tell the cabbie the bar’s address and where to pick us up. It was about 10km more into town, so the fare wasn’t that much but a relief for Ron, who was flagging. We’ll see how he is tomorrow and whether I will walk on to the next town while he catches a bus or if we will walk partway again. Most likely the latter at this stage, but we’ll see in the morning. A shame that we’ve both caught a bug this time, but that’s how it goes, and we roll with it. Not much else we can do.

So that pretty much rounds today’s walk up. Not much to report on but a good solid day’s walk. Challenging at times, pushing through discomfort and sore feet and, at times, tedious boredom, but I know that when I look back on these photos and times, it will be with fondness. Sometimes you want to be home with all the comforts and not living out of a suitcase, but I know when I get back home, I’ll wish I was back here in Spain. The grass is always greener somewhere, I guess.

That’s it for today; I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it.

Today’s map is below, including the cab ride. Buen Camino! 🥸