Camino Primitivo

We officially began the Primitivo when we left Oviedo. I have to admit, we were both excited and a little nervous. Fellow peregrinos  we had met along the Via de la Plata had told us that this was a stellar walk but a bit strenuous. We began our journey today and we have to agree on both accounts. It is a stellar walk and it is strenuous but we have decided it is definitely worth it.

The Primitivo is considered one of the earliest pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela. Pilgrims along this route experience a more isolated Spain in the region of Asturias. After leaving the coastal walk of the Camino Norte the Primitivo climbs over rugged mountain terrains and deep valleys. We often walk through the clouds for several hours each morning before emerging into delightful sunny days. 

Some of the oldest ruins remaining in Spain are found along this way. In Tineo we passed the ruins  ‘El Ultima de Filipinas’ which was one of the first pilgrim hospitals in the seventeenth century. It was amazing to walk by and imagine that for over four hundred years this building stood in the same place and that other pilgrims had walked by as well. If I am still, I am sure I can hear the footsteps of those before me. I imagine how different it might have been for them as I look at what is in my pack and realize I want for nothing with my few modern conveniences. I have a light load and  I can live well with what I have. And yet, maybe not so different after all as my feet hit the very same ground. There is always so much to ponder and I have the time to do it.