On our way to Santiago our onward plan emerged. The Camino Frances is now the most popular pilgrim route across Northern Spain but is one of several. The Camino del Norte is one of the other paths. It starts in Irun in the Basque country and runs along the Northern coast of Spain, down through Cantabria, Asturias and into Galicia to join the Camino Frances in a small town called Melide 50 kilometres from Santiago. So it was decided over our remaining five weeks we would walk up the Camino del Norte to meet our ferry from Bilbao in late August. The lesser walked Camino trails can be difficult to navigate, particularly in the reverse direction, so in Santiago we plundered the book shops for the ultimate guide. We discovered four books that detailed the Norte
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