Las Arenas de Cabrales to Ribadeo.

We headed back down the mountains to the coast today, our destination Ribadeo on the border of Asturias and Galicia, the westernmost region of Spain. We are finding that the further west we go, the less touristy places are, and where there are tourists, they are more likely to be Spanish. Less English is used so we are required to put our primitive Spanish skills into practise.

Guided by The Culture Trip app we dropped in on Llastres, a small fishing village clinging to the coastal cliffs. We have now gotten the hang of parking in these little villages, most have a free parking space on the edge of town, so we park and walk rather than negotiate narrow laneways and touch parking.

High up above town is the San Roque lookout point complete with its tiny chapel where a few miracles may have occurred if the discarded plaster cast and walking stick are to be believed.

Walking back down through the village.

Next stop was Cudillero, another recommendation from The Culture Trip. This time parking was at the far end and the road into town took us right through the middle: down steep and narrow, but two way lanes. The word is out, this village was full of, mainly local, tourists, and the foreshore plaza packed with restaurants. Another fishing port so seafood is the main fare.

The view back east.

No wonder there's fish on the menu!

The road continued further west, incredible engineering kept us high above the valleys and through the mountain tunnels making for quick travel. Next stop was at Luarca, a much larger town and the least appealing of our stops today. We still found some nice spots though.

And finally to Ribadeo where we are having our first Albergue experience for this trip. Initially we were a bit wary, the Albergue is located down a few very rural laneways amid the cornfields and first impressions were not great. We totally confused the staff when three of us turned up but they only had rooms for two and the dorm. Eventually the young lady understood that that was in fact what we we had booked and took us to our rooms. Helen and Mike have their double room with private bathroom and I'm in the five bed dorm, again with private bathroom. The rooms here at Albergue Camino Norte are fantastic, so clean you could eat off the floor and the beds crisp and comfortable. Meals also look fantastic so tomorrow night we'll be eating in. And so far I have the dorm to myself, the only downside is that it's 4km out of town.

Views from the 600m bridge across the river on the way into town.

The main plaza in Ribadeo.