Day 12 Noja to Santander 27K

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Well, pinch me! It rained last night but is clear blue sky for todays walk to Santander. This is 27K segment and should take 6 hours. The walk is what I imaged the Camino to be like, nice rolling hills, gentle up and downs thru small villages of 30-40 houses, small farms, lots of animals in the fields, new gardens, spring is in full swing! Fruit trees in blossom, wild flowers everywhere new babies abound! New born calves, horses, sheep, chickens, geese, goats, etc. The smell of new cut hay and cow shit is everywhere!

This being said, I must state one of the most annoying things I have experienced on the Camino is aggressive and habitually barking dogs. EVERY farmer has a dog chained at his driveway to prevent anyone from leaving the road and stepping 1 inch to close to his property. The dogs love to wait for some nature loving dumbass looking everywhere but the drive way to pass when they leap out from around an unseen corner and scare the absolute living shit right out of you. It is very distracting and unnecessary. This is the Camino, keep your aggressive dog further away from the road! If the dog is not on a chain it's in a fenced yard when it can bark incessantly as you approach, pass and leave his perceived area. Spain loves their dogs and seem to take pride in their misbehavior. 90% of these dogs would be NOT ALLOWED anywhere else.

Anyway the trek continues along the coast line with incredible beauty and great parks for day camping at all the surfing locations. I had no idea Spain had such a huge surfing culture. I pass one particularly gorgeous playa and see 10-12 VW vans parked with surf boards on the roof and surfer dudes and dudets sunbathing waiting for a tide change when the break increases. Nude sun bathing is the order of the day. I, of course turn away and block the vision I have mistakenly allowed my eyes to imprint on my brain. This sene goes on for 3-4K before arriving to Soma. Soma is Santa Cruze on steroids. I counted 30 surf hostiles, and even more surfing schools. WOW! Surfing heaven! Anyway from Soma you can catch a ferry that drops you in Santander or you can walk inland and around the corner for an additional 4K added to this segment. Being of sound mind and old body, I opt for the ferry. Again being an experienced lost person I seek SPECIFIC advice as to the EXACT location of the ferry dock. Armed with this fresh information I find the described location and declare it impossible for a ferry to dock here. Disappointed and tried I see a guy sitting on a bench nearby with his HUGE backpack, ah ha a Pilgrim. I ask in my best Spanish "is this where the ferry to Santander docks". He calmly looks up replies "yes". My perfect Spanish did not fool him. I state boldly "it cant dock here its too shallow, are you sure?" Again he slowly looks up and says, "yes, shut up, sit down, don't worry, be happy". OK then I follow his sage advise. Sure enough 5 minuets later the ferry shows up, I jump on, and 2 euros later I am in Santander. I am not worried and I am happy!

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Comments

[anonymous]

Where are the pics?
And not of the sunbathing ....

[elizabeth frenette]

Surfing Spain
Sounds like a fascinating journey so far, I had no idea there was such a big surfing culture. It's really neat how during your walk, you can notice things that you wouldn't otherwise - if you took a train, bus, etc. tough luck with the dogs though, they sound nasty.