help! in a gudina

[becky]

Hi. My sister and I are currently on the vdlp in a gudina. We are confused as to the route to take tomorrow. We had originally planned to walk to campobecerros and then on to laza but have noticed the notice re diversion. Does anyone know if we are ok to continue with our original plan,or do we need to walk towards verrin on the diversion? Thanks to anyone who can help us.

 

[Undermanager]

Hi there

I know what you mean. I've been reading various posts and making notes on the route and am none the wiser either. However, from one blog post, which was dated 16th July 2015, comes this:

Someone wrote this:

"The next important point is that you can't go directly to Laza at the moment. You need to start on the southern Verín route. The board suggests it is about 30 km.

And the response was this:

I know there is a big board that says the Camino is CLOSED and to go through Verin. I was looking very despondent after reading it so a little old lady came up to me (from the shop near by) and told me to ignore the sign! She explained lots of peregrinos had complained/got lost etc so the Amigos del Camino had just come from Ourense to re-mark the way with yellow arrows all the way to Laza.
I'm so sorry you had such a long, hard day, I wrote it in my blog but didn't post on the forum

Unless things have changed since, please pilgrims go straight to Laza! (Check with the locals first just in case).

That section is absolutely fine to walk, no probs , until you arrive at Laza that is and you realise the extent of the damage they've caused to the countryside I'm sure that is why they don't want people to walk that way.

******************************************

I will be leaving Seville in 10 days time and will be following the route you are on. Could I ask that you post what you find out after you have done the walk from A Gudina, please. It will help those who follow you (especially me)!

Have a great day tomorrow and I hope it doesn't turn out too long!

Undermanager

 

[Dickwilbur]

Hi there

I know what you mean. I've been reading various posts and making notes on the route and am none the wiser either. However, from one blog post, which was dated 16th July 2015, comes this:

Someone wrote this:

"The next important point is that you can't go directly to Laza at the moment. You need to start on the southern Verín route. The board suggests it is about 30 km.

And the response was this:

I know there is a big board that says the Camino is CLOSED and to go through Verin. I was looking very despondent after reading it so a little old lady came up to me (from the shop near by) and told me to ignore the sign! She explained lots of peregrinos had complained/got lost etc so the Amigos del Camino had just come from Ourense to re-mark the way with yellow arrows all the way to Laza.
I'm so sorry you had such a long, hard day, I wrote it in my blog but didn't post on the forum

Unless things have changed since, please pilgrims go straight to Laza! (Check with the locals first just in case).

That section is absolutely fine to walk, no probs , until you arrive at Laza that is and you realise the extent of the damage they've caused to the countryside I'm sure that is why they don't want people to walk that way.

******************************************

I will be leaving Seville in 10 days time and will be following the route you are on. Could I ask that you post what you find out after you have done the walk from A Gudina, please. It will help those who follow you (especially me)!

Have a great day tomorrow and I hope it doesn't turn out too long!

Undermanager

Hi. My sister and I are currently on the vdlp in a gudina. We are confused as to the route to take tomorrow. We had originally planned to walk to campobecerros and then on to laza but have noticed the notice re diversion. Does anyone know if we are ok to continue with our original plan,or do we need to walk towards verrin on the diversion? Thanks to anyone who can help us.

Hi. My sister and I are currently on the vdlp in a gudina. We are confused as to the route to take tomorrow. We had originally planned to walk to campobecerros and then on to laza but have noticed the notice re diversion. Does anyone know if we are ok to continue with our original plan,or do we need to walk towards verrin on the diversion? Thanks to anyone who can help us.

Ok to walk original route. Walked last October, breathtaking scenery. You will encounter lots of construction traffic on the road and will encounter the works just before Campobecceros, but they do not hamper you.

 

[Donna Sch]

Verin is a lovely place and the albergue is great. The route there is also a lovely walk. It also has the WORST waymarking after about 20 km (unless someone has been through since last July). It is very easy to get lost as a result. Just walk the original route.

Here's my post from my Verin day:

Á Gudiña: I mentioned the Albergue being shut. The next important point is that you can't go directly to Laza at the moment. You need to start on the southern Verín route. The board suggests it is about 30 km. The highway signs say 36km so we all know that means at least 40 km on the Camino. Now my friend Rodrigo had to find a Santander bank and the agency in Á Gudiña has closed so he was wanting to go to Verín anyway. So he left at 5 am to get there...and still didn't make it on time despite being no slouch.
I left at first light and ended up having a 12 hour day. The first 15 km were well marked. The first fuente was about 4 hours in at ?Vendas. Given all the little pumps and fountains of the day before, this was a big difference. So take a ton of water. And top up every chance you get.
When you hit all those little hamlet the conchas and arrows often disappear completely. The waymarking in this area was the worst on the entire Camino to date. Rodrigo actually cleared quite a few signs of bramble etc. Someone needs to go through with pruning shears and yellow paint. I got lost for the first time EVER on the Camino. The first time was at the top of one small hamlet and after exploring both routes of an intersection I ended up going through a boggy paddock and some woods (I had seen houses above there earlier). The key is to stay near the power lines. I finally hit a dirt track, headed in a westerly direction and accidentally got back on the Camino.

Then there was San Pedro where the markers disappeared. I asked a local but obviously misunderstood his directions with his thick Gallego. At the top of the town there is a cross roads. The San Pedrobsign is on your left as is the road coming up the bill. You have a choice of going straight ahead or turning right. There is a pink arrow indicating right painted on the road. DO NOT TURN RIGHT!
If you do the next town is Monteveloso. There are some fountains at the entrance and then the road swings around to the right before another intersection with 2 towns I hadn't heard off. Thankfully the house on the corner has a British couple living there who gave me drink and failsafe directions. Basically you turn left, go over the hill and keep following the road down until you see signs saying Verín. Yes the road does turn right when you can see Verín to the left but it does a big wide loop. Do not go to San Paio in the hope of a shortcut down. It is a teeny tiny hamlet with loose big dogs that made me very glad to have sticks. There probably were faster ways down via the firetracks but I didn't want to risk getting lost again. If I hadn't turned right at San Pedro and had gone straight, I would have been on the Camino and it would have dumped me right by Verín. Getting from Monteveloso to Verín alone added 10 miles to my total.
Now a lot of pilgrims have been getting lost and in the heat its pretty risky. I did well over 50 km and probably close to 60km.

Yesterday I walked from Verín to Laza. Most of the bars have Wi-Fi on the way up. I actually walked the same way I came into Verín from Castro do Val. So the first 6 km were way too familiar. Took the road as I was fed up with getting lost although I diverted onto the Camino proper in the last 5 km. Very pleasant walk but due to the horror day the day before I took forever as I stopped in every bar, every pump and had lots of rest stops to spare my feet a little.

 

[Heikki]

Two years ago we walked to Laza despite rerouting, so did most of peregrinos that day. When we started it was still dark so a torch or some other light is handy for making yourself visible to lorries and cars. Views were some of the best of this comino, I think.
Buen Camino,
Heikki

 

[Harington]

Hi. My sister and I are currently on the vdlp in a gudina. We are confused as to the route to take tomorrow. We had originally planned to walk to campobecerros and then on to laza but have noticed the notice re diversion. Does anyone know if we are ok to continue with our original plan,or do we need to walk towards verrin on the diversion? Thanks to anyone who can help us.

When I was there the hospitaleros in A Gudiña told us to take no notice of diversion signs but to go on the route to Laza, but to make sure we were careful and visible to construction workers. Mind you, this was 2013.

 

[becky]

Hi. Thanks for your help. We walked to campobecerros and it was fine. We saw 18 construction lorries on the road but the works didn't hinder us at all. It is a beautiful walk with amazing scenery but the last bit downhill into campobecerros is hard on the legs! Their is only one bar we could find that served food and they didn't start serving in the evening till 8:30. The way is beautiful so far but very few pilgrims at the moment. Sorry for the late reply, only just found WiFi!