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Purky and SonofPurky on the Primitivo (and beyond?) July 2024

Purky

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Time of past OR future Camino
Reality is frequently inaccurate
Sometimes things become possible if we want them bad enough. So I have reserved the last three weeks of July for a camino. Not only that, @SonofPurky is coming with me! Hence, due to budgetary considerations, I finally opted for the Camino Primitivo. The Camino Portugues was also briefly in the picture, but the price of airfare made me decide otherwise.

I just got back from a few days in Spain (Valencia and a few days visiting friends in Dénia) and the desire for a camino hit me hard. Time to negotiate with my wife (who is frankly already looking forward to a lengthy period without us two in the house) and an open invitation to my son. Who, today, accepted.

I expect that, given our previous experience on the Camino Ingles (2017), we will fly through the Primitivo and probably have enough time left to also tackle Santiago - Muxia/Finisterre. We'll play it by ear and see what is what after the Primitivo. Now it is time for planning, getting guides/credentials and book some tickets.

Have at it with tips and recommendations!
 
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How exciting!
Of course you already know this, but do look at the profiles and not just the distances when you plan each day. This is particularly important for this route (and the San Salvador - which you might consider as an alternative "extra", although it would make sense to do it at the beginning and not the end! You might find getting to Leon is as easy as or easier than Oviedo).
 
@Kiwi-family is right, adding on the San Salvador at the beginning is well worth considering and would fit nicely in your time frame. @David Tallan did this last year, you could look for his live on camino thread.
A wonderful time of year to walk, I did the Primitivo the last two weeks of July last year. My only suggestion would be to consider giving yourself a day in both Oviedo and Lugo to explore, if of course that's the type of thing you enjoy. Personally I considered both of them worth it.
 
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I walked the Salvador in 2018, but I still have a few months to decide whether or not to put it before the Primitivo: indeed, that thought occurred to me too because it's a real cracker. But Finisterre/Muxia also beckons. Choices, choices.

About the profiles: I check those religiously since the Gudbrandsdalsleden. That one really kicked my ass a few times.
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
Ditto, but did check out the Sobrado monastery when staying in Sobrado while walking the second half of the Norte. The Verde sounds like a nice option after Lugo. Wish I'd known about it at the time I walked the Primitivo.
 
Purky said:
Have at it with tips and recommendations!
Click to expand...
Well, mostly buen camino to the two of you!
In your shoes, with some days to spare, I would be starting in Leon and walk the San Salvador before the Primitivo. You have walked it before, but has @SonofPurky? Those mountains are the complete opposite of home.
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I'm also going around the same time with my pretend child @harrygodsonofdavejsy (14yr)! We've only got two weeks planned, but I can see us extending to get to Finisterre if everything goes well as we have unfinished business there. Would have loved to have done the Salvador first but I think that will have to be for another time.
 
Good idea. I have walked the Primitivo last year with my son - look up on the thread where I describe our itinerary - thinking the Primitivo too short we started in Villaviciosa - and from Lugo went back to the Norte at Sobrado... Very happy about both these choices.
Any way you choose, enjoy the time with your son!
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Purky said:
There seems to be a Salvador-pattern emerging...
Click to expand...
We're all waiting with bated breath to hear you have purchased two plane/train/bus/whatever-transport-you-use-when-you-live-so-close tickets to Leon ;-)
 
Kiwi-family said:
We're all waiting with bated breath to hear you have purchased two plane/train/bus/whatever-transport-you-use-when-you-live-so-close tickets to Leon ;-)
Click to expand...
First I have to have a conversation at work about dates before I can buy tickets. Asturias Airport is looking good at the moment and buses and/or trains are easily arranged when on the ground. I like to keep my options open, but to be honest the Salvador seems like a no-brainer now. I'd be foolish to withhold that experience from my son. If I make sure stages and accommodations are not the same as my 2018 hike, I can likely pretend it's a new camino. 'No man ever steps in the same river twice' sort of thing. Except for Bendueños. I will make sure to stay there again if we decide to walk the Salvador.
 
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I did the San Salvador/Primitivo combo a second time because my husband had not walked it - the second time most of my joy came from seeing his enjoyment of it and hearing the kids reminisce about the first time. I was also astounded how many times I thought "xyz comes up just after this" - only to discover there was ten kilometres of walking between those two points!
Different weather and different fellow pilgrims can also make for an entirely different camino.
I do not regret walking those routes a second time, but I'm not sure I'd do them again, at least not until I've done all the others I want to do!
 
You have one of those ridiculously long lists too?
 
My first recommendation, if you have three weeks, is to consider adding a Camino del Salvador preface to your Camino Primitivo. The Primitivo can be done in two weeks or less without pulling especially long days, and the Salvador fits nicely under a week (it was six days for me, with stops in Pajares and Bendueños). That would start you in Leon. The Salvador is a sweet little Camino and I know I will combine it with the Primitivo again when I repeat this part of last summer's Camino. Given a choice between preceding the Primitivo with the Salvador or following it with the walk to Finisterre/Muxia (which I also did last summer), the Salvador wins hands down.

In terms of tips and recommendations, if you are going to walk the Salvador, I'd recommend staying in Pajares and especially Bendueños. The latter is an extra 1.5 km (uphill at the end of the day!) but well worth every step!

On to the Primitivo. I'd recommend walking the Hospitales option if the weather permits. I stayed at Samblismo, just where the two options split apart and enjoyed it, although I've heard there is another albergue a few km further down the path towards Pola that also can be made to connect to the Hospitales route that some pilgrims like.

I would also recommend a couple of detours off-route: one to Soutomorille on the way into Lugo, through an amazing chestnut forest to see a nice little chapel with a pre-Romanesque window. The other on the day after Lugo to Bóveda where, underneath the church, is hiding an amazing and mysterious Roman structure.
 
More 2024 Camino Guides available
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
I add: when I walked the Salvador, Sandra still offered to collect pilgrims at the bottom of the hill. I am not sure I could have done the hill!
The miracle of the entire experience was on the following morning. From the bottom of the hill, walking left - we pilgrims watched the birth of a foal in the field to the right of the path.
Purky, and son, you sound much more agile...and Bendueños is such a special experience. Buen camino...
 
Kiwi-family said:
We're all waiting with bated breath to hear you have purchased two plane/train/bus/whatever-transport-you-use-when-you-live-so-close tickets to Leon ;-)
Click to expand...
You can breathe normally again. I have purchased two plane tickets to Asturias Airport. I still have over four months to muse about the shape our camino will evolve to, but I think I have been swayed sufficiently to start with the Salvador. It'll be nice to revisit for me and great for my son to discover.

Thanks all, for your thoughts & tips!
 
i LOVE it when people ask for feedback and then actually listen AND take suggestions
Now (in the absence of hills in your neck of the woods) you just need to find some windmills to climb for your training!
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Kiwi-family said:
i LOVE it when people ask for feedback and then actually listen AND take suggestions
Now (in the absence of hills in your neck of the woods) you just need to find some windmills to climb for your training!
Click to expand...
The feedback from you angels in here has guided me in many decisions last weeks, different routes, albergues etc. AND been inspired to start rucking in what feels like windmills..
 
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