El Camino de Santiago, Spain : Week 5
Articles I have written for TheTrek.co about my Camino Frances pilgrimage hike:
Recently uploaded (January 2021) video from 2017 Camino
Last week! [If you want to start at the beginning, click HERE.]
May 12: Castromaior to Melide: 19.08 miles
Another rainy day that ended with sangria and churros.
The obsession is real, y'all
May 13: Melide to Salceda: 15.53 miles
Took a nice long break in Arzua with Maddy and Anna eating churros and pizza. Later on we couldn't find our albergue where we had reserved beds and ended up going too far, but luckily the owner came and picked us up. Glad to be indoors for the evening while it rained all night.
Walking around Eucalyptus trees smelled great
May 14: Salceda to Vilamaior: 11.8 miles
For our last full day of hiking before reaching Santiago I came up with a challenge for us, stop at every cafe (one per town).
I named it Coffee Crawl 2017.
We had a short mileage day so we could take our time.
The day started off well and we reached the first cafe an hour in to the walk. We were enjoying our cafes con leches but waited too late to pay and were overrun by a huge group that swarmed the cafe. Annoyed by the group just walking a day out of Santiago we tried to keep ahead of them the rest of the day. Shortly after leaving the first cafe we came across another one and per the challenge we had to stop. At the fourth cafe we stopped for a longer break and the big group passed us. Later when we tried to stop at the next cafe the owners said it was closed cause they had too many people (the group was there). Shortly thereafter, we arrived at our casa rural where we had reserved a private room for the 3 of us to share. We had time to relax and get organized before arriving in Santiago the next day.
Oddly, the only picture I took this day
May 15: Vilamaior to Santiago de Compostela: 5.6 miles
I woke up and played some pump up/race day music to get us in the mood for Santiago/Finish day. We decided to walk separately in the morning to have our own private time to reflect and then meet up in a few kilometers and hike into town to the cathedral together. It was a foggy morning and I didn't see anyone else until I met Maddy and Anna for cafe at a coffee stand. I remember thinking how symbolic the fog was this last day- I've come 485 miles and the way is still unclear. Soon after meeting up with Maddy and Anna we arrived in the outskirts of the city and still had a couple miles before reaching the cathedral. Then, Anna spotted the cathedral in the distance and my excitement kicked in and I wanted to run. We went through a tunnel and then into the plaza by the cathedral. There were large groups of people around and we cheered for arriving. The cathedral is in the process of restoration and so the visual is not too impressive and it almost felt a bit anti-climatic. [Check out my time lapse video at the cathedral.] After taking lots of photos, I went to wait in line at the pilgrim's office to receive my compostela (or certificate of completion of the pilgrimage). This is where the pilgrim's credencial is used to show/validate that you walked what you said you walked. [I received my credencial, an empty booklet, in France. Every night when I checked into an albergue they would stamp my credencial and write the date. The credencial is also used for the albergues to know that you are a legit pilgrim. For the last 100km to Santiago it is required to receive 2 stamps per day so I would get one at a cafe that we would stop at for a break. After 33 days my credencial is full of stamps and I can keep it as a memento of my camino pilgrimage]. After receiving my compostela, I joined the others for a churro breakfast and then attended the noon pilgrims' mass at the cathedral. The cathedral was packed and during the service they swung the Botafumeiro (filled with incense, it swings above the congregation. The ritual goes back to the 12th century and was used to clean the air from the sweaty pilgrims in attendance). After the service I did the typical pilgrim rituals of kneeling before the casket containing relics of St. James and "hugged" the Apostle (statue) behind the altar. Later I checked into my private room and took care of some travel logistics. I met up with the others later for a celebratory dinner and ice cream. I said goodbye to some friends who weren't continuing on to Fisterra.
Made it to Santiago!
490 miles!
Friends celebrating
Credencial with all the stamps & pilgrim's shell
The Botafumeiro being lifted during mass
Celebratory dinner with Anna, Maddy, Julie, Ally, & Scotty
The Cathedral at night
May 16: Santiago de Compostela to Negreira: 13 miles
No rest day in Santiago but got a later start and had churros for breakfast before heading out of town with Anna. It was a hot day and no cafes along the way so we stopped at the first one we came to for a lunch break before a climb. Later just a few kilometers shy of the town we were going to for the day we stopped at a nice restaurant by the river and had vino verano (wine with lemonade or lemon) and shared a brownie. We got to the albergue and was surprised to find that there weren't many people there. We had a nice dinner in town shared with a woman from Norway.
View of Santiago's Cathedral after leaving town
Relaxing by the river drinking wine
May 17: Negreira to O Logosa : 23 miles
Started early for the longest mile day of the trip. It lightly rained for the first part of the day and remained cloudy the rest of the day. We limited our breaks to 30mins and only stopped 3 times before arriving to O Logosa, a small village tucked away in the mountains at 5.
Our albergue and dinner spot
May 18: O Logosa to Fisterra: 19 miles
Got an early start for our last day. We came to the split in routes to Fisterra or Muxia and Anna spotted the ocean! From then on we walked towards the water that we could see. We stopped in Cee for a churros break. From there we didn't stop till we got to the beach before Fisterra. We chose to walk on the beach instead of on the path beside it. Once we got closer to town we stopped to jump in the water. That was always my plan, to jump into the ocean at the end, but the end is the lighthouse and it's up on a cliff so this was the best point to get in the water. I ran in, went under, and ran out cause it was so cold. Then we officially walked into Fisterra and looked for our albergue but went too far and had to turn around. We came across the cutest lunch spot and took it as fate that we went past the albergue and stopped for lunch and had sangria and the best patates fritas con aioli. Best meal of the trip! We got to the albergue but there was a problem and they had accidentally cancled our reservation so we went to another and got a private room to share. After cleaning up we walked the 2.3km to the end of the road, to the lighthouse and to the 0 kilometer mark. We made it! We took pictures and decided not to wait the 2 hours till sunset and went back to town for a late dinner.
At the route split
Ocean!
First view of Fisterra!
Anna walking to Fisterra
Walking on the beach
Pilgrim monument on the way to the lighthouse
Lighthouse in the distance
0 KM, End of the World
We made it!
I loved these goats by the lighthouse!
So that's a wrap on my Camino de Santiago pilgrimage thru hike! I had such a great time and I highly recommend this walk to everyone! I'm already thinking of coming back and taking one of the many different routes to Santiago. I'm so glad I had this opportunity to come and have this life-changing experience. I also feel very lucky to have met and made friends with people who I connected deeply with and who are in my life for good now!
Next: Colorado!
