Llanes, Asturias
It was a short walk from my hotel in Unquero, the last town in Cantabria before the regional border with Asturias,
The first rays of the sun were just banishing the darkness from the bottom of the valley.
A view up the river which forms the border between the two regions.
Straight after the bridge over the river, El Camino starts a long climb up into the mountains. Looking down into the valley, there was mist in the bottom of the valley making it look very atmospheric.
And being a different region, there are different markers. So far pilgrims would follow the yellow arrow and the scallop shell was pointing in all directions, In Asturias, the shells are all oriented so that where all the lines that denote the ribs of the shell meet also indicates the direction to folllow. But there are still yellow arrows. Pilgrims must be wary as in the next region, Galicia, thery have adopted the opposite approach with the longest rib indicating the direction to go so pilgrims must be aware of which region they are in or they will go the wrong way.
The Ermita del Cristo del Camino is well preserved but some of the other former buildings on the site are just ruins. From here it was a descent from the mountains down to Llanes on the coast.
There was some interesting architecture as the route makes its way to the bridge over the river that also forms part of the harbour...
...and more buildings....
...the enclosed balconies are a feature of houses in thee far north west of the country.
A view from the bridge over the river.
And there were more grand
buildings in the centre of town such as the town hall...
...and the offices of the local branch of the Santander Bank.
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