Hi, LM and John,
I have just returned from the Camino Ingles and had a very enjoyable walk. Many thanks to Johnny Walker for all the helpful tips, it really made things easy. I walked this one with my husband, who is not a very avid walker, and we found that it was easy for him to stop walking after 16-20 km and either hop a bus or get a taxi. So it's a nice alternative for newbies who don't want to start out with 25-30 km days. I'll just note a few random impressions:
-- definitely spend a day in Coruna if possible. It is a lovely town, at least the old part is, lots of pleasant walking, nice old churches and pretty plazas. We took the bus from there to El Ferrol in the late afternoon and started walking soon after the tourist office opened. So we walked about 12 km from Ferrol to Neda (did not stay in the albergue, but there is a ** pension that's adequate). Leaving so late meant we got to Neda around 10 pm, but night was just falling when we arrived.
-- Take the Avenida del Mar alternative coming out of Ferrol. It's a very popular promenade and though we were the only ones with backpacks on, we were among hundreds of residents out for their afternoon stroll and it was very pleasant.
-- Pontedeume (and its beach across the bridge Cabanas (?), are a nice stop. We stayed at the Bar Luis, again totally adequate. We had a picnic lunch in the pine trees next to the ocean on the beach before the bridge and it was very pleasant. This is not a high end international seaside resort, just a very pleasant little hamlet with a lot of Spanish families enjoying the summer. And the 2 km walk up to the romanesque church, San Miguel de Breamo, was a real highlight (even though the church is closed). It's a pretty building in a very tranquil spot, nice to just sit for a while. As Johnny Walker recommended, I took the forest path up and the road down, because the spectacular bay views are all from the road. It was great.
-- Betanzos -- what a lovely town! Really a nice place. We got there early in the afternoon (my husband caught a bus in Vinas) and were able to enjoy the town. Highly recommended.
Overall, I would say I thought the scenery was the prettiest on the first few days, but the surface was basically all pavement up to Betanzos. That was hard on my feet. From Betanzos on, it seems there was much more off road walking, but tthe scenery wasn't as beautiful.
We never saw another walker. Not even in the Hostal Miras in Sigueiro. But maybe we would have if we had stayed in the albergue in Hospital de Bruma. I walked through the village and spent a while at the very nice albergue there. The hospitalero is a very chatty friendly guy, who told me that his yearly numbers hover around 1300-1500. Looking at the book for the days prior to when we arrived, there were anywhere from 2 to 25 people on any recent night.
So all in all, it's a fun walk. For me the main surprises were the huge numbers of ripe blackberries along the road, the hot sunny days (never got anywhere near my fleece, and only had one morning with rain),the total absence of cow patties (we saw not one dairy operation, no farmers with sticks leading their cows out to pasture or in to the barn), and a tremendous amount of corn growing. Coming from Illinois, I felt right at home.
So, LM, I think you've picked a good first Camino -- hope you will enjoy it. Laurie
