Rain… Well, I started out taking a bus, as I was not really up for the planned 30 km’s today. This limited the walk to 10 km’s which would be piece of cake. In the very last minute before my stop, I decided to do the 10 K walk, hoping the rain would stop, and after a quick coffee in Caridad, the rain stopped for today.

The walk was uneventful and quick, I arrived to Tapia de Casariego shortly after noon.

When I spoke to Manuella from Munich the other day, she mentioned something that I also have thought about for a while. I told her that I was fast-tracking the Camino, by taking the bus once in a while. What she said was that everyone has his or her way.  That is of course obvious, but to people doing the Camino, I think it is an important point. Do the Camino the way that makes you happy. It is not a test where you absolutely have to stick to the rules. And in fact the only requirement, if you want to have your Camino walk certified in Santiago, is that you did the last 100 km’s solely by walking.

I think the Camino is about 825 km’s long, and this puts things into perspective. If you have time, if you feel like it, definitely, walk all of the way. Personally, I am more interested in seeing the different regions of northern Spain, and I really like to be somewhere completely different every day. I do this part of the Camino alone, but the section from St. Sebastian to Santander, I did together with Trine. We had a blast, even though I was, and had been sick most of that summer back in 2017. I will definitely not be eligible for the certification when I get to Santiago de Compostella, but to me, these 14 days that I have spent since Santander, means a lot. Even though lonely once in a while, I really enjoy the solitude, and that I can plan and do as I want all day, every day. Most of the time, I don’t know what I want, but the choices I make, gives great variety in the experience. Sometimes, I just stay by myself all night, sometimes I go to a bar. Sometimes I follow the route, sometimes I don’t. sometimes i am in trouble, sometimes I really get wowed, like the day at Playa del siclencio. It’s a great experience.

Today I am staying at Hotel Puente de Los Santos. They let me in already around noon. The price is really cheap, I think about 33 euroes, and the room is nice. The Bathroom is excellent. They do my laundry for 3 euros, and even bothered to give me a thorough walk through of the sights and restaurants and sights in the town of Tapia de Casariego, pretty amazing.  

And now that I have started the advertising, let me recommend booking.com, there is just nothing like it, at least when it comes to Spain. Booking.com is the only service that has choices in every little town. Most other service will recommend hotels up to 25 km’s from the place you are looking at, and that just does not work when you are walking.