Sick

The days or weeks hiking along the northern coast of Spain flew by as if it were nothing. From La Isla I walked inland to Oviedo in three days time, and from there I walked onto the Camino Primitivo.

The Primitivo Route is the route that Alfonso II, King of Asturias, followed to make his pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James the Apostle in the 9th century. The very first pilgrimage that was walked according to history. This mountainous trail starts in Oviedo, former capital of Spain, and heads west to Santiago de Compostela via the town of Lugo. It is described as the toughest but perhaps also the most beautiful Camino in Spain.

With heavy legs I left the sea behind me, knowing that in not too long I would see her again on the west coast, at "the end of the world". Nevertheless, day 141 went well, there were suddenly several unpaved areas, which was way more pleasant to walk on.

Just before the town of Villaviciosa I walked a short distance with a Spaniard. Turns out he had been an exchange student in high school. Yes really, in Venlo! Unbelievable. He lived with a family in Baarlo and the local cafe’s, de Loco and the golden tiger were very familiar to him. I showed him my credential in which my first stamp is from 'Venlo'. It gave us both goosebumps.

From Villaviciosa it was another 2.5km walk to Amandi where I would end my day. There was a crowd of people in Villaviciosa, it was Sunday and the terraces were full. I did some shopping in the supermarket and decided to eat what weighed heaviest in a park before walking the last bit.

Here a pilgrim from Denmark was also having her lunch. I sat down and we had a very nice chat. She had a job interview the next day to work with homeless people in London. I hope it went well.

The Albergue de peregrinos La Ferrería where I arrived after 24.7km was a private donativo with a garden for my tent. We were 12 pilgrims and more than half of them were also at the albergue in La Isla the day before. Our clothes were washed for us while we rested our muscles and ate the delicious half pineapple I had bought. It was a pleasant evening and we were spoiled with vegetarian paella and red wine.

Breakfast was at 7am the next morning. The fanatics were already waiting fifteen minutes before. I enjoyed another cup of hot tea while the rest ate quickly and left. Even at my leisure, it was just after 8 am when I said goodbye to Sergio, the owner of this nice place.

I had enough food with me for the day so all I had to do was make sure I had water when I found a spot for my tent. The weather was pleasant on day 142 and the area reminded me of l'Aubrac National Park, which I walked through in the south of France. After 21.6 km I came to a chapel in the middle of a forest. Surrounded by a lawn with a picnic bench, it made the perfect place to spend the night.

That evening I ate beetroot with fresh tomato and bread. I had bought a pack of pre-cooked beets, part of which I had already eaten for lunch. I think this was the mistake.

That evening it already started with rumbling in my stomach and pain in my lower back. This burden only got worse during the night and I could clearly feel that it was coming from my kidneys that had to work incredibly hard to process the beetroot. It was therefore not shocking to see that I peed reddish.

On the morning of day 143, I hid another #2 next to the one from last night and headed towards Oviedo. After walking 5km I walked through La Pola Siero where the pilgrim albergue still had the door open and luckily I was allowed to go to the toilet. Relieved I continued on, but it was tough. It was 22.8km to Oviedo. The last half of which I walked along with Eva and Xavi. This was a good distraction, so I could focus on the conversation and not on how miserable I was feeling. Despite that, it was tough for all three of us, especially the last 5km. These lead us through the industrial part of the city and were especially ugly.

We arrived at Albergue de peregrinos de El Salvador around 2 o'clock. It turned out that it only opened at 4am, as opposed to 2am as my app described. Not having the energy to take another step, I lay down on one of the benches in front of the building. Here I slept a little and was especially happy not to have to move anymore. Until the sun got so hot that I couldn't stand it any longer. At the cafe around the corner, the three of us sat miserable waiting for the time to pass. We were all feeling unwell. Wouldn't it just come from the beets then?

Finally it was 4 o'clock and we could check in. A large metal door opened, via an old-fashioned stone staircase we walked up one floor to reach a kind of outdoor area, here we walked along a high fence towards the entrance of the building. It made me feel like I was walking into a prison.

Inside it looked like a boarding school. Long corridors with doors on the left and right that led to the kitchen, shower, toilet and several bedrooms with several beds. The number of beds per room varied. Eva, Xavi and I checked in together with the 3 of us and were given a room with 3 beds, 1 bunk bed and 1 single. This felt like a luxury, our own room!

When checking in you will always be asked for your passport and credential. They often also ask where you are going or where you started. Now the man asked where I started. The Netherlands. No, where did you start walking? Yes, in the Netherlands.

The expression on the face is beautiful. Bulging eyes, amazement and respect. It always makes me laugh, but this time it was extra fun because Eva and Xavi were there, they also had to laugh about it.

At the beginning of this pilgrimage, most of the pilgrims I met were walking from home, but the closer I get, the more exceptional it seems to be.

Meanwhile, in the room, I spread my bed and lay down, hoping that I would feel better after some rest. That evening I ate an orange and a peach, that's all I wanted. It didn't go well and I felt very weak. Sick. I decided to take a rest day. Or rather, a sick day.

The disadvantage of a church shelter like this is that you are not allowed to stay there during the day. The backpack is. With the things I deemed necessary, I walked to the Oviedo city park at 9am to spend most of day 144 there. Eva also didn't feel fit and decided to do the same.

I lay down in the shade of the tree and slept. Until the sun shifted the shadows and the heat woke me up. It would be 35°C today. I shifted to the shade, lay down and slept again. This routine went on a few times and surprisingly I kept it up without difficulty until just before 4 am.

We walked back to the albergue, a short 10 minute walk. In those 10 minutes I went from feeling a lot better to feeling exhausted and happy to be able to lay myself down in the albergue again. A positive side effect after all this sleeping was that today, for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel anything in my knees when I got up. I was able to manage just fine, but since the Pyrenees I still felt a little pain when squatting or getting up. Now it went smoothly again as usual. Just in time for the mountains of the primitivo!

That evening, after a shower, I felt more human again and decided to grab a bite to eat. I had to gain some strength to continue walking tomorrow. The restaurants here in Spain are not known for their healthy food and unfortunately I really regretted this the next day.

From Oviedo I walked to Escamplero. This was a short 12.7km, but the most painful day yet. Day 145. My belly cramped up, I had a nauseous feeling in my stomach and the muscle tension in my core when walking up and down the mountain was very unpleasant. Gosh, what a crappy day this was!

Several times I stood leaning forward on my walking sticks while I caught my breath and my stomach calmed down a bit so that I could walk a little further.

On the way I met a Danish family, two sisters and their father. If this is the first time I've been sick during my long Camino, then it's not that bad, said the eldest sister. Yes, exactly, I'm all for positive thinking, but that's difficult right now. They offered me effervescent tablets with electrolytes, very kind. And looking back, I also think I was probably struggling from dehydration. My kidneys had to work so hard because of those beetroots and I hadn't drunk enough water because of the nausea. On top of that, eating too much fat from the restaurant to process.

In the albergue I chose a bed by the window for a fresh breeze, drank a bottle of water with an effervescent tablet and took a nap. By evening I felt like a completely different person again. I cooked myself white rice and ate it for dinner, I didn't dare to gamble on any other foods.

Before going to sleep I drank water with the second effervescent tablet of electrolytes. After a good night's sleep I felt good again on day 146. I had some appetite again, but better yet, I had energy. This day I walked 27km to the town of Cornellana together with Eva. It was cloudy with a light shower here and there, but fine for walking.

Eva had booked an albergue and I longed for a night in the open air. I found a beautiful field of fruit trees. Apples, apricots and kiwis. I had never seen kiwi bushes like this before and now I could even sleep under them for a night.

After a quiet night and a delicious oatmeal breakfast with fresh fruit, I continued the Camino Primitivo following the yellow arrows that showed me the way. Day 147 started cloudy, but dry. In the town of Salas the sun was shining and I bought a quarter of a watermelon for lunch. In the afternoon the route passed a waterfall where I took a small break. Unfortunately, the weather changed shortly afterwards. The donativo albergue I had in mind got a top rating on the app and described itself as having 'the real pilgrim spirit'. I wanted to feel that. I got there just before it started pouring down. Unfortunately they were full and had no garden, so I had to walk further, I was told. Well, this didn’t get the real pilgrim feeling across to me.

Fortunately, the next albergue came shortly after 2.5km in La Espina, which brought my total for the day to 20.8km. Also a donativo and it was also full. The man offered to put a mattress for me on the floor in a room where one other pilgrim was lying. Well that's that pilgrim spirit. We cooked dinner with two fellow pilgrims, Eline from the Netherlands and Tatjana from Germany. Couscous with fresh zucchini, tomato and chickpeas. It rained almost non-stop throughout the evening and night, grateful for my bed on the floor and the roof over my head.

At half past seven when I got up I saw the first pilgrims walking out the door with their poncho and headlamp on. It was still pitch dark. That really doesn't seem like fun to me. I ate my oatmeal breakfast and enjoyed a hot cup of tea while looking out the open window in the kitchen over the fields as it slowly turned light. It was a crisp morning.

From day 148 the route went through the mountains. Nice trails and beautiful views. At least as long as the clouds allowed it. The highest point today was 970 meters and after a 28.7km walk I arrived in Borres. It had rained a lot in the morning and in the afternoon the weather cleared up a bit. Howeve, I preferred the albergue over the tent. It rained again that evening and the night temperature dropped to 13°C. Now I just have to deal with the snoring orchestra.

Day 149 was the day on the primitivo that we reached the highest point. 1270 meters. This should be accompanied by beautiful views across the mountains, but unfortunately we saw nothing. Together with Eva I walked through the clouds, the wind and the rain. It was rough and cold. Not fun and mentally very difficult.

In a spot that seemed to be very beautiful we took shelter behind a wall for a mini break. With my emergency blanket we tried to keep ourselves a little warm during this short rest period. Quickly moving on before we really cooled down too much. This was no weather for shorts and sandals. Every hair on our legs stood on end and Eva joked that we had cactus legs.

Towards the end of the trip it cleared up a bit and after 24.8km we checked in to the albergue in Berducedo. How wonderful to have a hot shower.

This evening I realized how far I had come. The Camino app indicated that I only had 198 km to go. Holy sh*t, not even 200km more! I had a bit of an emotional moment with this realization. I’ve almost made it.

Yes, unfortunately, but true, it became three in a row. Day 150 was also cold and wet. A maximum height of 1090 meters meant that this day, just like the last two, involved a lot of climbing and descending. 21 km to Grandas de Salime. In the meantime we had descended again to an altitude of 600 meters and the temperature felt a little more pleasant by the end of the afternoon. Another night in an albergue then. Tomorrow the weather would be better, I was longing for my tent. Together with Eva we prepared a healthy meal in our camping pots.

It was a fresh but dry morning on day 151. I walked by myself again today. Nice and enjoyable to have walked with Eva together for a few days, but wonderful to walk alone again. I'm aware of so much more from everything around me when I'm on my own. It was a nice route that took me to A Fonsagrada. In the town, which is built on a mountain, I bought groceries and ended this day at the campsite after 27.1 km. In my head I was very hungry, but my stomach turned out to think otherwise. That night I lay awake again from the nausea. It still wasn't quite right. That evening I ate a type of Gazpacho, one of the main ingredients of which is olive oil. Perhaps still too greasy? What I had left over I gave to other camping guests the next day, my body disapproved of it.

It was a quiet campsite at an altitude of 930 meters. I had a nice view from my tent. It was a full moon and the campsite had a swimming pool. I decided to have a rest day there. Day 152 was a beautiful sunny day on which I gave my muscles and my stomach a rest to recover. I slept in, enjoyed the peace in the shade of a tree and spent the afternoon in and around the pool.

I continued on day 153 with fresh courage. I am almost there. About a week left to go. A strange thought. It feels special that I'm almost there, but also a shame that it's almost over. Could the final stretch really be the toughest? Or have I already had that during the past week(s) and will I be able to just enjoying the last few days?

You'll hear from me soon!

Thank you, as always, for your support and kind words. I look forward to your comments and respect everyone who reads along until the last blog. 😘