Camino Primitivo Day 4-Salas to Tineo
Today’s stage-Salas to Tineo
We started the day early to avoid the heat as much as possible. We were walking by 5:30 and a headlamp was definitely needed. The walk out of Salas was a bit rainy and cool which made the 8km uphill walk a lot easier. Immediately leaving Salas we entered a wooded area and without the headlamp it would have been difficult to see the rocky road ahead. It was very pretty seeing the sunrise as we walked out of the canopy and saw the town below us in the near distance.
We soon arrived at Bodenaya where we initially had made reservations to stay the night before. We stopped in and said hi to David, topped off our water, and used the bathroom. I got to see the albergue and while it looked a little cramped, it also seemed really comfy and welcoming. He was very grateful that I had called the day before to cancel as he was able to give our beds to a couple of pilgrims who had no reservations. As a thanks, he gave us each his yellow arrow pins which only guests get to have. I really wanted to stay at his albergue because it has a great reputation and is one of the very few with community meals in the evening. But it just wasn’t meant to be. We stamped our credenciales and were on our way.
Camino de Santiago painted on the ground
The rain had stopped but made walking into Tineo very muddy. We were glad to have waterproof footwear and gators as we stepped into that thick cowpie laden mud! Our socks stayed nice and dry. We were able to find little mounds of grass to avoid a lot of it. Hiking poles made balancing between the barbed wire fence on one side and the muddle puddle on the other a lot easier.
Barbed wire fence on the left. Mud and cow pies on the right
The terrain after Bodenaya is fairly flat compared to the previous 8km but it gets steeper going into Tineo. We reached the edge of town and right near a park, the arrows point in two directions. We took the higher street on the right on the advice of a local who said it was faster and would take us right to the door of hotel we wanted. Had we taken the lower street we would have completely bypassed the pilgrim monument. It’s a sundial with a metal pilgrim whose staff is angled to cast a shadow at the corresponding time if day.
We decided to stay at The Palacio de Meras. It’s both a very nice hotel and has an albergue in lower level. We opted for the hotel and it’s beautiful green marble and frosted glass bathroom. Food in the restaurant was good and they offer a pilgrim menu as well as standard menu del día.
Palacio de Meras
This was a good decision on our part. It was nice to have a private bath and a quiet room. Plus I wanted to experience all the different types of accommodations on this route. I highly recommend this hotel. The albergue was quite nice as well. Had we been walking with a group we probably would have opted for the albergue.
Tomorrow we head to Campiello. A short 13Km day. We are off schedule and will probably need to skip a stage at some point after the Hospitales route in order to get our rest day back in Lugo.
