Photography, Travel

Camino del Norte Day 11

Today’s walk was from Ribadesella, a beach town on the Asturian coast, to Villaviciosa, about 35km, but we didn’t plan to do the whole walk. Today, we walked about 20km into Colunga and then got a cab the rest of the way. Ron and I are a bit under the weather, and today being humid at 26C, it was a slightly challenging walk. It was difficult but rewarding when it came to the scenery.

Our hotel in Ribadesella
Walking along the beach out of town

It was a warm start to the day, around 17C, with cloud cover to protect us from the sun. A few other pilgrims started at the same time but wanted to keep to themselves, so there wasn’t too much chatter between us.

The scenery today was lovely, and we mainly walked along farm trails and ancient paths with cobblestones. Thankfully, the cobbles didn’t last too long, as they’re hard to walk on. We came to the ocean and beaches quite a few times today, each full of surfers catching waves.

Country lanes

We came to our first beach town, Vega. As we walked in the image above, you can see the owner of this house had painted murals to liven up the property.

Vega beach

Heading away from the beach, we climbed up a cobblestone path which was at times difficult and slippery.

Looking back to Vega and the beach
More country lanes and farm houses

We hit our second beach today at Caravia and, from then on, pretty much followed the coast to our destination of Colunga, where we were to get the cab from. It was nice to walk along the coast and take in the sea air and the scenery. The light from the sun had a beautiful hue to it as well.

Walking through paddocks that hugged the coastline
More farmland
Beautiful to be out walking
Some beach villages up ahead.
Another beach, not any takers in this one though
Some beach villages up ahead.

We soon leave the beach and head to Colunga, more inland. We were both pretty weary at this stage, and even as I write this, I’m finding it hard to focus. I’m not sure what it is this time, but maybe the bug took it out of me. I cannot do any longer walks this time around.

Charming countryside
Colunga up ahead

Seeing Colunga in the distance; now we had to find a taxi. The path led us right into the town centre to the closed tourist office that was off on holiday. Right out the front of that was a taxi stand with a driver in one of them, and we asked him if he’d take us into Villaviciosa, which wasn’t a problem for him. I’ve never felt ripped off by taxi drivers here in Spain, which is a good thing. It was about a twenty-minute ride, and before we knew it, we were booked into the hotel and our room. I just went out and got a snack as dinner isn’t till 8 pm, and I’m feeling knackered. I wish I could just go to bed, but if I do, I’ll wake up hungry and won’t have enough energy for tomorrow’s walk.

That’s it for today. For a map of today’s walk, which includes the cab ride, you’ll find that below.

Over and out. Buen Camino! 🧐

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