After almost 3 weeks away on a family holiday, I have returned to the Atlantic coast to resume my journey. I estimate that it will only take me 3 weeks to complete the trip on the Camino, so I decide to travel light. Rather than bring my trusty trailer I have opted for panniers. I had a pair already, but they were the clip-on type which are no good for off-road as they helpfully unclip whenever you go over a big bump. My friend Vicki however has a set which strap on tightly, and has kindly lent them to me. Using panniers means a big cut-down in equipment, including clothes and toiletries; so best to stand up-wind of me for the next few weeks.
It is peak holiday season in Spain and I could not get a room anywhere in Celorio, so rather than miss out a part I back-track and start in Llanes, which I have already traveled through. But this gives me a good opportunity to look at the town again, and it is rather lovely. The architecture is different from much of Spain in that windows are bigger an less shuttered, I guess because it’s cooler and a lot of buildings look north over the sea:
You can see the same feature in the buildings around their rather nice little harbour.
There was a very lively street market on the Saturday night I was there, and it was great that it was so warm everyone was still out – northern Spain is not that far north after all.
The next morning I get up early intending to make a good start, but can’t upload the route into the GPS. It takes me til 11.30 to find the corruption in the file, so I have a bad start to what I know will be a long day. But once I get going the ride is lovely, much of it off road and with spectacular views varying between cliffs and hills.
This is not remote territory though, like the Sierra Segura or the Pyrenees. There are villages and houses everywhere. I keep passing these store houses called Horreos, which are very characteristic of the area. Note the wide stone slabs to stop rats getting in.
I pass through a small seaside village called Ribdesella which has a nice little harbour in and inlet, and a bridge over it to allow passage along the coast.
You can see more spectacular views, a religious procession, and some cows on the video diary.
