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  1. #1

    Default Extremely sleepy and gloomy day- Camino from Laredo to Noja in Cantabria, Spain

    On the Day 11 of our Camino de Santiago del Norte we hiked from the town Laredo in Cantabria to the Noja village.

    This day started in the camping Laredo where we stopped in yesterday and we were very happy about it. They left us to choose the pitch and gave us a reasonable price for the backpacker so that we didn't have to pay for the car or caravan we don't have. And the facilities were very good. At night it was quiet except for the chickens and ravens singing that we're a bit annoying.

    We left the camping at 11 am because we felt extremely sleepy and didn't want to get up at all. The weather was cloudy and very humid that day and we felt it all day long getting over us.

    When we got out of the camping and walked along the sea front with the huge sand hills we had to hop on the ferry that took us from Laredo to Santoņa. It wasn't a very long ride probably just about 5 min. But it saved us a huge amount of distance - 15 km if we did the round through the bridge and the highways. And we certainly didn't want that especially because it meant to go all the way with the cars. From this boat you get beautiful views of the surrounded area that is all wetlands and ponds and is considered to be a natural park.

    When we got to Santoņa we found a tourist office where we put a stamp of the city. We saw that there is a mountain that we can hike over but we realized that it will take us several hours to do so and we won't get to the planned destination today so we decided to go with the Camino.

    This part of the route was quite boring going straight ahead through the suburbs of the city and then we passed by the huge wall which we then realized was a jail. So it was quite stressfull to walk there. It was very weird that there was a walking pass for bikes and people.

    But then we got to beach of Berria - a bit neglected area it seemed to us or maybe it was because of the gloomy and foggy weather that made everything black and white. It was very humid that day with the water drops coming down but at least it wasn't raining.

    So we passed along that beach and decided to hike up the cliff that we saw wasn't as high and big as the previous one cause we wanted to get some views after this sad environment we were in the last couple of kms. And this was the best part of our day it was quite fast but very beautiful with the views of the ocean from above. Soon we started seeing on the horizon the beach of El Brusco and on a falling tide it was an epic view with the rocks looking out of the sand that shortly would be under water again.

    We had a quick snack and looking at the maps we realized that we won't get to La Isla town how it was planned and should stay in the town Noja. The trail of the Camino was getting away from the ocean again in this place, not so much as it was in the Basque country but still. We didn't see it before and planned to walk along the coast as always. But it was obvious why it was going this way. It was because of the river floods and lots of wetlands in the area that we needed to go over and the bridges were only on the highways. And if we wanted to go closer to ocean we had to get away from it every time there was a river flood. That's why the Camino was going higher. And if we knew it before we would do more kms that day following the Camino because it makes sense in this case and stayed in the city Beyroa where there was a camping actually which is a rare case.

    So once again we suffered from the lack of planning the trail. So we decided to compensate it next day and do more kms then. We still needed these several easy days to recover completely from our collapse that happened earlier. So now with the exact plans for the next day we with a peace of mind did our shopping and headed to the camping.

    Watch the full video here:

  2. #2
    Registered User NY HIKER 50's Avatar
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    Is this just a trip report and why is it here?

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    Well I have a question as we are considering the Norte this summer. On the Camino Frances there are so many services that it was fun to do without a guide book at all, just wing it. Albergies, cafe's and bars everywhere, and just talking to others and following the arrows. We were wondering if this is feasible on the Norte. Just get up very early, walk till noon then find a good spot, talk, nap, eat recharge, rinse and repeat. Or is the guidebook needed here?

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by NY HIKER 50 View Post
    Is this just a trip report and why is it here?
    A small percentage of WB trip reports seem to be links to Youtube channels, just the "hay guyz!" viral advertising scene, and they'll never post anything other than a link to their channel.

    Some of them respond to questions here, and take part in discussions and are part of the WB community. I'm far more likely to click those links.

  5. #5
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    My wife an I are enjoying seeing your videos. thanks for posting them.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Starchild View Post
    Well I have a question as we are considering the Norte this summer. On the Camino Frances there are so many services that it was fun to do without a guide book at all, just wing it. Albergies, cafe's and bars everywhere, and just talking to others and following the arrows. We were wondering if this is feasible on the Norte. Just get up very early, walk till noon then find a good spot, talk, nap, eat recharge, rinse and repeat. Or is the guidebook needed here?
    Speaking not from my own experience, but from endless tales told by close friends who are enthusiatic Camino hikers:
    Lots of hosting of all kind everywhere, they usually just walk up and ask.
    A guidebook (or better, a decent online resource) might still be useful for crowded hotspots to book in advance.
    Note that the typical (and cheap) Camino Albergos are on a first come, first serve basis. Reservations will only work at hotels and private rooms.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Starchild View Post
    Well I have a question as we are considering the Norte this summer. On the Camino Frances there are so many services that it was fun to do without a guide book at all, just wing it. Albergies, cafe's and bars everywhere, and just talking to others and following the arrows. We were wondering if this is feasible on the Norte. Just get up very early, walk till noon then find a good spot, talk, nap, eat recharge, rinse and repeat. Or is the guidebook needed here?
    We haven't walked the French Way so can't compare much but on the Norte we've seen quite a lot of options where to stay and it goes through lots of little villages and towns so you may not have any problem with that. There are quite a lot of alternative routes though and it's better to have a GPS on hand to guide you but rather than that you don't really need a particular guide, it just takes the fun out of the way in our opinion.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by SkeeterPee View Post
    My wife an I are enjoying seeing your videos. thanks for posting them.
    Thank you very much for your words. We are happy to know if somebody finds the videos enjoyable to watch

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