Camino del Norte part 11

As usual, before getting to my story of the Camino del Norte, I present my weekly logic puzzle.

Logic Puzzle

Alex, Bob, Charlie and Dylan (represented by lower-case letters) must each get to his respective home (represented by upper-case letters) through a snow-covered field. They may not leave the field and may not cross paths. How can they do it?

Camino del Norte part 11

Day 13 (Mar. 30) – Continued

Where I left off in part 10, I had arrived at the La Naranja Perejrina Albergue in Muros de Nalón. I was placed in a room of about seven beds. Three of them were already taken. I had the only bed that was not part of a rack (bunkbed).

I didn’t know anybody there so quietly sat on my bed as I unpacked and got my affairs in order for the evening. Across from me was a large blond man who was evidently traveling by himself. I heard him earlier asking for water in broken English. There were two other people in the room, two older German men who were obviously traveling together.

The blonde man was laying in his lower bed of a rack when he suddenly started shaking. That led to a massive seizure. I have seen an epileptic seizure before at a blackjack table in Las Vegas. This one was much more intense. The man was thrashing around uncontrollably as if each limb of his body had a unique mind of its own.

Shortly after it started, the Albergue host came in and I pointed to the man having the seizure. The host asked if anyone else had any medical training. One of the German men said he was a nurse and then did his best to hold down the blonde man. He later explained that his highest priority was keeping the blonde man from hurting himself. The German man tried to get the blonde man to lay down, but the blonde man was younger and probably outweighed him by 100 pounds.

This struggle lasted a few minutes when the blonde man suddenly stopped moving. His arms and legs were stiff and at unusual angles. His eyes were pointing in different directions and his skin was pale. I’ve seen dead people up close four times. To be honest, I thought we were losing and wondering if CPR was called for. However, after about 30 seconds of being in this frozen state he suddenly came back with a deep breath and his whole body jolted. The closest thing I can compare it to is the adrenaline shot scene in the movie Pulp Fiction.

At this point, he clearly wanted to stand up. The German tried to stop him, but the blonde man simply overpowered him. He managed to stand up and take a few steps, but he seemed very disoriented and couldn’t put together a coherent sentence in any language. Shortly after that, paramedics arrived who had been called earlier. They helped walk him out to an ambulance. About 15 minutes later, they took him to the nearest hospital.

About two hours later, the Albergue host drove to the hospital with the blonde man’s backpack and all his clothing and gear. When the host returned, he said the man was from Denmark and they made arrangements at the hospital to get him back home. They were not sure if he had a history of epilepsy. One problem through the whole incident is nobody else in the Albergue spoke Danish or even knew what language to try to speak to him in.

The wife of the Albergue owner served a delicious home-cooked meal while her husband was away at the hospital. There was no discussion of the incident at the table. It was at this dinner I met Mario and Sebastian, who I would see many more times the rest of my Camino.

Day 14 (Mar. 31)

I passed the two German men from the previous Albergue multiple times. They invited me to join them, but I tried to decline as delicately as I could. At this point on the Camino del Norte, there aren’t many long sandy beaches any longer. Once in a while, the Camino passes by a small beach but is usually a bit inland of the rugged coast.

That evening I wanted to stay at an Albergue in Novellana, but, alas, it didn’t open until April 1, the next day. However, the man evidently doing last minute preparation for the open season gave me two juicy oranges in consolation.

That evening I stayed at the Pensión Prada Albergue in Santa Marina. I checked in at a bar and was shown to a large house across the street. Not only did I have a room to myself, but I believe the entire house to myself. Mario from the previous day stayed in a room in the same building as the bar. We chatted a little over dinner in a room adjacent to the bar, but he brought along his computer and was busy doing business much of the time. Overall, day 14 was a quiet day.

Day 15 (April 1)

It was nice to finally get to April. No longer could Albergues use the excuse they didn’t open until April 1. I walked by myself all day most of the time too far from the coast to see it.

My destination was the Villa de Luarca Albergue in the city of Luarca. The city itself was one of the most scenic of the Camino. A river ran through the middle of the city with steep narrow streets on either side. It could compete in terms of beauty with any city in Italy.

Mario stayed at the same Albergue and suggested we go out to dinner, which I happily accepted. He did some research and discovered a lovely seafood restaurant away from the touristy center of the city. On the way back to the Albergue, we passed by a religious procession in the days leading up to Easter. There were small bands preceding some statues of religious figures. It was a nice evening. I hoped to continue to travel with Mario but feared he was younger and stronger than me and would probably get ahead of me if I didn’t up my daily mileage. Distance covered day 15 was 25.8 kilometers.

Day 16 (April 2)

Day 16 was another quiet day. I walked alone all day. Mario was up and out before I even woke up. Not another pilgrim to be found. All my friends from day 6 were nowhere to be seen.

When I reached the small town of Navia, I found a nice Albergue and decided to stay there, despite covering only 20.1 kilometers. Had I gone on, the next Albergue would be 10.1 kilometers away in La Caridad. In retrospect, I probably should have kept going. Almost everything in Navia was closed due to Santa Semana (holy week). I asked the Albergue host if there would be a parade, like the one in Luarca. He laughed and said Navia was much too small to have one.

It was a small struggle to find anything to do the rest of the day. I ended up drinking beer along the river and ate at a doner kebab place (if that is the right term), which are reliable places to be open late and on holidays anywhere in Europe. Kind of like Chinese food in the US. Overall, another uneventful day on the Camino without a single conversation with another pilgrim.

Day 17 (April 3)

Day 17 presented a problem. The previous day my Albergue host asked where I wanted to stay the next day. I responded “Tapia de Casariego.” He evidently expected that response and warned me the town would be booked solid due to a surfing competition. I made two phone calls to hotels just to be sure, which confirmed what he said. While there is an Albergue there, it’s not difficult for anyone to fake being a pilgrim. A pilgrim’s credential costs only two Euros and they sell them to anyone. The next Albergue past that one was in Ribadeo, which would have been a 40.3-kilometer day (25.2 miles). 30 was the most I was used to.

So, I cheated a fourth and final time. I took a taxi 10.1 kilometers from Navia to La Caridad. When I arrived in La Caridad, hoping to find anybody open for breakfast, I was rebuffed. As I’ve said many times in my story, businesses in Spain tend to get a slow start in the morning, but make up for it by staying open until late. However, a bar that served only coffee in the morning took pity on me and made some eggs and toast just for me. This is the kind of magic you see on the Camino often.

This was another day walking entirely by myself. I know I complained about this earlier in my story, but by this time I was not only getting used to it but rather liking it. In the afternoon, I arrived at Tapia de Casariego. Sure enough, there was a surfing competition going on. I grew up near Huntington Beach, California, known as “Surf City USA,” so this felt strangely familiar to me. I sat around an hour or two for the surfing and then moved on.

Later that afternoon, I arrived at Ribadeo. This was a significant marker on the Camino del Norte. It marks the last place the Camino sees the coast. After Ribadeo, it goes south-west, away from the coast, as Santiago is inland. Ribadeo is also symbolic as it leaves Asturias and crosses into Galicia.

Ribadeo is another scenic touristy city in northern Spain. Not as nice as Luarca, but close. Mario told me earlier to enjoy the Galician octopus there, which I did. It was a good recommendation. Mario knew his food in Europe.

Despite Ribadeo being a fairly large city, my Albergue was only about 20% full. Once again, I saw no other pilgrims on the Camino. Those in the Albergue I suspect were low-budget travelers not actually doing the Camino. Overall, it was a nice, but somewhat lonely day. I missed my group from day 6 and suspected I lost Mario as well.

Next week, in part 12, I’ll tell about the four days inland between Ribadeo and joining the Camino Frances in Arzúa.

Logic Puzzle Answer

The following image shows just one way.