Pre-Thirties Adventure on Lugo's Coast

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At the end of October, I decided to take a solo adventure along the north-eastern coast of Galicia. This year, I moved to Coruña and resolved, in order to improve my Spanish, to try not to be friends with native English speakers, which is the easiest way to make friends. It in reality resulted in my not really making any good friends (yet?).



Not having friends is challenging in some ways, but for me the hardest part is not having people to go on adventures with. And hiking solo as a woman is generally a safety no-no. After going back and forth about it, with a good weather forecast, I decided to go through with my plan.



I took an early morning train from La Coruña to Ferrol. I had a few hours there before my next train, and I was super-impressed. Most Galicians say it’s crappy (and this was my expectation), but it’s because they know about its downfall. In the past it rivaled Coruña as a busy port, but in the past couple of decades, its economy has collapsed.



On a Saturday morning, it was peaceful. I loved the Meninas de Canido. Canido is a downtrodden neighborhood, and local artists have added murals all over it, mostly interpretations of the Spanish classic ‘Las Meninas’ by Diego Velázquez. The area, even without the art, would be photogenic, with its full-of-character paint peeling, exposed stones, and older-style Galician buildings, but with the art, it’s a great place to explore. It also makes it more accessible to tourists, who normally might feel a bit out of place wandering it, but the art gives an excuse to linger. I could have spent half a day there admiring the art.



I then walked through the downtown, which was more charming and contained than Coruña’s. Although it’s next to the sea, there aren’t a lot of nice viewpoints of the sea from the center. I enjoyed the well-preserved Modernist buildings in the Magdalena district. I’ve also heard the Castillo San Felipe, outside of town, is interesting to visit, but it looks like you’d need a car to get there.



After my morning exploring Ferrol, it was time for the main part of my adventure—the FEVE train. This is a ‘narrow-gauge’ train that goes along most of Spain’s northern coast. For those of you for whom ‘narrow-gauge’ means nothing, I think it’s that the track (and therefore the train too) are skinnier than other trains. So these trains are a different size than in other parts of Spain. The other distinction, at least in Galicia, is that these trains are relatively slow and stop every few minutes. For my uses, that was so cool because I could get off, walk around a bit, then get on one or two stops farther ahead (planning carefully with the train times!).



So, I first took the train to Loiba. I got off in the mist, and found myself on a small, rundown platform (no building in sight) in the middle of the woods. I decided to walk to the coast a bit out of the way to the Mirador (Lookout) de Pena Furada. I came across a small threatening dog as I walked up the otherwise-empty country road. In my travels, my heart pounds the most from unexpected dogs. Luckily, as I kept walking, it eventually tired of me.



When I arrived at the vista, but it was still pretty foggy. As I approached the most extended part of the cliff, there was a blur into a hole under some bushes. I think I’d disturbed a fox. I waited there a bit as I had my lunch to see if it would re-emerge, but it didn’t. The road parallel to the sea that I continued on was also deserted. The pines, partially covered in fog, were peaceful. Along the road, there were a number of other lookouts, some with picnic spots.



I arrived to ‘The Best Bench in the World’ along the cliffs of Loiba just in time for the fog to move out. The views nearby were remarkable, and would have been better with clearer weather. I continued to follow the sea to Esteiro Beach. I watched surfers for a while, but otherwise had the beach to myself.



Next, I walked to my destination for the evening, O Barqueiro, a small, kind-of-cute, fishing village. I had had a great day up to that point. I felt accomplished that I’d navigated and carried my stuff so far (around 12 km). It’s cool to walk up to your hostel, your means of transportation being your feet. But when I got to the hostel I’d reserved, no one answered the bell. I was there during siesta time, and earlier than I’d expected, so I wasn’t surprised that no one answered the door.



I decided to wait until after the siesta. The weather was cooler than expected, and I’d packed light to not have to carry so much. After an hour, I went to check again (nope), so I sat in the café next door and had a coffee. While there, I researched and decided on back-up plans. This was when the grand idea of traveling on my own in small villages started to seem a bit less smart. What was I thinking not to worry that they hadn’t emailed me back?



So, I returned to the hostel yet again to see if they were opening for dinner (it was a combo hostel/restaurant), but this time the neighbor kids had the manners to tell me it was closed for the winter. Well, a form email after I’d reserved or after I’d updated them with my arrival time would have been nice!



My last hope without totally having to re-do my plans was another hostel-restaurant up the hill. I walked in (hopefully) looking a bit desperate, and the lady called the owner, who agreed to let me have my own room for 20 euros! A steal! For tv, a heater I controlled, and a long supply of hot water (which I don’t even have in my dumb apartment here in Coruña). What a relief! How great to be out of the cold! Phew!



The next day, I took a train from O Barqueiro to Reinante, and walked from there to Praia das Catedrais. This was one of my ‘Galicia bucket list’ items. It was crowded (for being in the middle of nowhere), and foggy, of course, but beautiful. It’s called Cathedral Beach because the sea has eroded some of rocks into arches, which look like flying buttresses on some cathedrals. It’s a bigger area than I expected, and I had a good amount of time between tides to wander barefoot in the smooth sand. Unlike most other Galician coastal cliff areas, the tide area had no small/medium rocks you have to climb over—just huge rocks to walk around. I would recommend going there in the afternoon around low tide to avoid the fog as much as possible.



My plan afterwards was to walk to the next or in two train stops to catch the train back to Ferrol, but I came across a sign for the ‘Camino Natural de la Ruta del Cantabrico’, basically the Natural Trail of the Cantabrian Way. A map nearby seemed to show that I could follow it and then just branch off later to get to a station. I had time to spare, so I just started following signs.



What a discovery! It was awesome. I would love to do another part. It threaded along cliffs right next to the ocean. I imagine parts of Ireland like it—so green and lovely. Again, I was the only one on the trail. One part cut inland past cows at pasture. I made a ‘how’ gesture at them as I passed them. I ended at Rinlo, and caught the FEVE back to Ferrol and then another train to Coruña.



The trip was great for a few reasons. One, as much of a challenge/worry as it is to be on my own, when things work out, you gain some faith in yourself and in humanity and the world. It was also freeing to just be able to walk in nature, near water, on my own terms. It was a break from life, a time for reflection, or sometimes an opportunity to have a clear mind. I got to see a different part of Galicia, a beautiful place I’d never been before.



I also felt again like I was in Galicia. Even though I live in Coruña, it’s a big city and not that common to hear Galician. Being closer to the fields/countryside and hearing a lot more Galician reminded me of the pueblo my school was in last year. What an experience to walk down a country road and greet older Galicians gardening or out in their fields. The culture here is changing quickly, and in not many years, there won’t be so many older Galicians who speak Galician farming out in the countryside.



Some practical tips for a trip in this style:

-You can buy FEVE tickets (at least in Galicia) using cash from the conductor on board if there’s not a station/ticket machine where you get on. And the only place I saw a station was in Ferrol. For all intents and purposes, you’ll just be waiting for the train on a rundown, graffitied concrete platform in the middle of nowhere.

-Because of the lack of info at the train ‘stations’, you should have a plan, a list of train times. You should also have internet/maps/phone charged because it’s rural.

-I recommend walking between some stations with detours to the coast, but let me emphasize again that the platforms are in bad shape and in the middle of nowhere (little to no shelter, no bathrooms, etc.), so have a plan and bring food/water with you. In the summer, I assume there are more bars/restaurants around and open, but in other seasons, not much is open.

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