Day 16 - Heading north to Ribadeo

 Well as lay-bys go this one was 10/10! No more than half a dozen cars passed all night and spring was springing when we woke with birdsong accompanied by the drumming of woodpeckers that we could watch from the van window. 

On to the coast! First we have another mountain road to climb, whilst the mountains may be gentler now they are no less steep and our road still involves plenty of precipitous drops and tight turns. 

There are a number of spots signposted for tourists on the way, too many to stop at all of them but certainly the Mirador de Los Buitres was worth our time, a scramble up a marble outcrop that gave an incredible panorama of the Doiras reservoir and valley in the sunshine. 



Onwards and the sun is still shining. There is more pasture now between forested areas and lots more wild flowers in bloom. 
When it starts to feel like lunchtime I have a quick look at the map and notice there may be parking if we turn down to the dam at the end of the reservoir. This was not wrong! Part way down the access road we find a grass layby and even get the deckchairs out to eat facing the glass-like water. Almost no one passes all the time we are there, definitely potential as an overnight but not for us today. 


Back on the road again and it’s feeling less ‘wild’ all the time, already missing the inland Asturias, definitely somewhere to return to one day. 
We are heading for the Castro de Coana, an Iron Age/roman settlement on a hill outside of Navia. Google can’t find it but luckily there are signs so we follow them to the ‘education centre’ a new building that seems to only house toilets and an admission desk. The guy in the office is super friendly and gives us a laminated sheet in English and points us on our way.


 The site is quite something. There are around 80 huts around a ‘acropolis’ with public buildings such as saunas evident too. It’s quite incredible and unlike anything we’ve seen before. 
 The excavated walls are made of slate and many contain the mortars used to mill grain or the stone weights that would have held the heather thatched roofs in position. 
We are the only visitors it’s very quiet and easy to imagine voices from the past around us. Fantastic site!



Not far off the coast and getting near time to settle down. We head for the sea and then wander along through towns looking at options that never seem quite right! We settle on a lovely viewpoint high over Ribadeo that is a picnic area by day. The road there was quite exciting, it felt like 4km of someone’s drive ( thanks google!)  But it’s a lovely spot, theres a little hermitage and seems to be an observatory of some sort but otherwise it’s just overgrown grass everywhere and an amazing view!


We settle down and cook some dinner whilst we plan our next day. We are keen to have a brief look at Ribadeo town, but also the ‘cathedral beach’ a few miles further along. At this point we realise that to see the rock formations at their best we need to be at the beach at just before low tide which is at 9am in the morning. A quick google and we discover we can overnight in the beach carpark which will make an early start much easier so we do our fastest ever turnaround and set off just as some ‘boy racers’ start arriving at the viewpoint making it an even better idea to be moving. Taking the road out in the opposite direction to the way we arrived it’s apparent we used a back road in! 

We reach the beach carpark just as it gets dark. We aren’t alone and it’s obvious many others have the same plan but there’s loads of space and with everyone in their vans it’s lovely and quiet so will do us fine! 

Cumulative Mileage: 787.6
Overnight: Carpark at As Catedrais beach, free
Spending : Coana site entrance €3.60 


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