Santillana del Mar to San Vicente de la Barquera (34 km)

I do like camping! The main reason is being outside all the time. This morning, I was greeted with marvellous skys on the way to the toilets. It doesn’t get better!

I’m the only “tent” on the site, although it’s hard to call my shelter a tent. Although it was fairly comfortable, it is lighter and more adaptable than a proper tent. I’ve got a 3x3m tarp which can be pitched in many ways, using my walking poles, which in turn use something called ” the missing link” to join them together to make an almost 2m pole. I also have a bivi bag, which my sleeping bag goes into, and the lightest (and most puncture resistant) sleeping mat I could find. After one night, it looks a good combination, except the ground sloped the wrong way. One other key piece of equipment is the headnet, with no inner tent, there are lots of bugs flying around. That said, I was able to watch “Hunted” live, on a weak WiFi signal from reception through a VPN onto the Channel 4 app. Bugs excepted, the shelter worked well, and my whole sleeping system (except poles) weighs less than 1.8kg (some tents on their own are heavier than that).

Anyway, got packed up pretty easily. There was no rush as I was waiting for the shop/cafe on the campsite to open at 9:00. Just before 9:00, I noticed a big “Lupo” sign just up the road. It is a big supermercado that also opens at 9:00. So I headed up there.  It may just be a rebadged Lidl as it looked completely the same! I did a few kilometres searching for stuff (the super thin bread actually), and once I had escaped, decided to  restart my watch distance tracker so it’s more representative of the Camino, rather than my knowledge of Spanish shopping isles.

I got going on the Camino. I noticed one person (it turned out to be two) a bit behind as I joined, but otherwise it was deserted. Today was pretty much all paved (a few kms of tracks) but all quiet roads and through beautiful farm land. The road may have been quiet, but it was never flat, always up and down. There were magnificent views of the snowcapped Picos de Europa. Im heading that way! I was hoping for more opportunities for a coffee this morning, as I hadn’t had any breakfast, but they were very rare. I realised I had missed my best chance when I passed what looked like a smart hotel. I soon regretted it and sat down for my first sandwich of the day.

The people who were following (I now know a father and son from Herefordshire) passed, with a “bueno camino”. Its impossible to tell someone’s nationality from that. Anyway I caught them later at a nice church and discovered we spoke the same language. I walked with them for a few hours chatting, they had started yesterday and were aiming for the Camino Lebaningo. He had walked it a few years ago and I got lots of useful information. It also transpired that they had spotted an earlier navigational error, where I missed a fancy church on a hill with magnificent views of the sea. I had noticed the church and felt it strange the route didn’t go past it. It almost feels like I’ve been there now! Going through my photos, reminded me I got distracted by a dog on a massive pile of sand. No wonder I didn’t see the turning!

We dropped down to the beach at Playa de Luaña, which I had earmarked for a coffee. Alas, everything was closed. The rain  had really started now, so I had a quick sandwich while sheltering next to a lady throwing balls for her collie dog. The dog kept bringing the ball to me, which was quite funny.

The rain got heavier, and there was some faffing, with waterproofs and toilet stops, so I walked on. There was still a long way to go. I soon caught up with a Romanian couple who had been walking for two weeks. We chatted for a while and I pushed on when they slowed on a hill. It’s quite difficult to know whether to hang around or keep moving. In this instance the woman was a bit slower and kept talking , I took as hint.

I then passed a campsite with resturant. It looked a nice site and the food looked good. There were two French women peregrinos, and they would be the last I saw all day. After a well deserved bacon roll with hamburger (that’s not how it was described!), I headed back into the rain. I wasn’t even half way yet.

The Camino continued, up and down, as did the rain, heavier and lighter. I started to think that I must be last on the road (I had seen the Romanians go past when I was eating), it was a similar feeling this morning when I thought I must be first (I think I was as I hit the road incredibly early at 9:15, surely nobody starts earlier). In reality, there is no first or last. People are always moving on the Camino, and you never see them as we are all moving at very similar speeds so the chances of meeting on the road are quite slim. Taking that thought process even further, it started with the first Pilgrim and has been continuous ever since. The last will never be known. They were good thoughts and took any pressure off.

I was heading to San Vicente de la Barquera, but was undecided where to stay. I have all options open to me. Booking.com had rooms for €45, or I could head for a dorm in an albergue or there was a campsite. I must admit that the albergue is unappealing, but will try one when I’m forced to. The weather forecast said it should be dry to pitch the tent and dry in the morning (raining all the rest of the time). So I took the opportunity of the weather window and decided to camp. I’ll leave dormitories until I really need to!

A nice looking site right on the beach, for €9. It was just starting to rain when I came out of the reception, so l grabed a sheltered site and pitched the tarp in a different way. It went up quicker in the rain and should withstand any wind.

There was a nice bar down the road, perfect for blog writing, phone charging and a few beers. Tomorrow I head inland into the hills on the Camino Lebaningo. I need to stop following the yellow shells, and follow the red crosses instead.