Santiago de Compostela

 Santiago de Compostela  

I was so excited after walking officially 782 kilometres of El Camino del Norte, that I was up early for my last day on El Camino del Norte. I had actually much more due to errors of navigation and doubling back, walking to a hotel set away from El Camino and walks around churches and museums in the afternoon and around towns and cities in the evening looking for an evening meal when it wasn't included in the room booking. 

I set off half an hour before dawn, and there were still pilgrims on the route ahead of me. There was never a quiet moment as the last 100 kilometres into Santiago de Compostela is choked with pilgrims. I passed several entrepreneurs who were selling jewellery, pastries, or cold drinks. There were also some musicians who had set up a stall to collect coins, or sell CDs of their music. It is surprising how far music can carry in the cool of the morning through the forest, including one who was playing Galician bag pipes. 

A view of some farmland, a rare sight along the last section as there is a lot of forest. The route climbs a hill and skirts the perimeter of the airport before dipping towards the city of Santiago de Compostela. It is a large city and there are glimpses of it through the trees. 

There is a large welcome to Santiago de Compostela sign at the city perimeter. I would have taken a photo of it or a selfie but there was a queue of pilgrims all wanting to do the same thing. I didn't wait but continued. 

Although the sign welcomes visitor to the city, there is still a lot of uninteresting urban sprawl before passing into the old city where the pilgrim reaches their ultimate goal of standing in the Praza do Obradoiro in front of the west facade of the cathedral.

It was approaching midday so the sun was behind one side of the building. 

O Pino, Galicia

 O Pino, Galicia  

I left Arzua more than half an hour before dawn...along with a lot of other pilgrims perhaps all with the same idea to get ahead of the crowds. I remembered the route from an earlier Camino when I had walked the majority of El Camino Frances but had riden a horse for the last 270 kilometres. The main road runs parallel to the Camino route, but given the numbers of pilgrims, the back street is much more crowded. 

After leaving the urban area, it was dark, especially as the route is under the shelter of trees but there were plenty of pilgrims with head torches and mobiles lighting the route with a string of pinpricks of light bobbing up and down ahead of me. The pylons with the distance and the yellow arrow were hard to read in the dark but there was no need as there were so many people all going in the same direction.

When I was walking El Camino del Norte, there were only a few pilgrims with long stretches when I might see nobody, or just a pilgrim or a couple a long way ahead of me. Here on El Camino Frances, it was crowded. It was like comparing a quiet rural road with a major motorway. 

Now that the route was out of the mountains, the total ascent and descent of the route in metres for this section seemed modeest at 250? and 250? so I was surprised when the route climbed up a steep slope as I thought that I had left all those leg jarring, lung bursting ascents behind me in the mountains.  Luckily it wasn't a long ascent and it came out of the trees and there views aover fields in grey of dawn. Overhead, there were aircraft contrails lit up in red as the sun rose in an otherwise clear sky. 

Contrails in the sky. 

El Camino Frances is an old route to Santiago de Compostela, and the most popular route by far. This section is also part of the minimum 100 kilometres (for walkers) that need to be completed in order to obtain that important piece of paper to proce that you have completed a Camino. 

The rules vary from year to year, and there has been a recent alteration. Pilgrims no longer have to complete the last minimum 100 kilometres but can complete any authorised route of 100 kilometres on any Camino and be credited with a Compostela. 

That is a good idea to try to reduce congestion near Santiago de Compostela, and it helps to spread the largesse of pilgrims to other areas but a pilgrim must still take his pilgrims passport to the pilgrim's office in Santiago de Compostela in order to have his Credential checked and to be issued with his Compostela. It will take a few years to see whether this change in rules has any effect. 

Nearly half a million pilgrims gained a Compostela in 2024 but that figure excludes those who walked a Camino but didn't take up the offer of obtaining a Compostela. The most popular route is El Camino Frances as it is the least challenging with more than half a million pilgrims completing this route. 

The next most popular route is El Camino Portuguese. This route was completed by more than a quarter of pilgrims claiming a Compostela. Ignoring the dip in numbers due to COVID, the numbers of pilgrims completing a Camino has increased every year for more than the last ten years. The percentage of pilgrims completing either the Frances or Portuguese routes is declining as more pilgrims are choosing and completing some of the alternative routes. 

It seems that once a pilgrim has completed one route, they have been bitten by the bug and the numbers of pilgrims completing a second Camino is also increasing, thus increasing the numbers of pilgrims completing some of the hitherto less popular routes. Many pilgrims also walk one of the shorter routes after finishing their main route, such as the Caminos Finsiterre, Irlandais or Anglais but having gained a Compostela, they don't claim their earned next Compostela. 

On El Camino Frances, in contrast to El Camino del Norte and other options, there are so many pilgrims that many entrepreneurs have found it profitable to open cafes, alberques or set up stalls en route. Everyone has a different take such as this cafe whose perimetre walls are lined with beer bottles with peoples names on the base. 

There are plenty of rustic scenes such as small fords with an elevated side pavement for pilgrims so they don't get their feet wet.

And plenty of fine countryside views...

...and entrepreneurs with stalls at the side of the route.

A tribute to Guillermo Watt , who died en route...

...a fountain fro pilgrims, but of no use now after the road was redeveloped to provide a safe underpass for pilgrims that cut off the spring so now it is dry. 

One of many underpasses even on rural roads to give a safe passage for pilgrims. 

Another tribute to a pilgrim who died in her sleep after completing her second Camino. 

Arzúa, Galicia

 Arzúa, Galicia  

I had checked the weather forecast for the next day and there was a 70% chance of rain for most of the next day.  We didn't have far to go, just 22 kms, so Lesley and I had ordered breakfast for 8am. I rehearshed my pitch for the morning over breakfast. My proposal was to visit the monastery in Sobrado, the point where we has been picked up from El Camino del Norte and where we would be taken back to in the morning. Then, given the poor weather forecast, we could share a taxi to Arzua to keep out of the rain

In the morning, some of my clothes were still damp. My trusted white and blue check shirt had dried overnight but my walking shorts were damp and my thick pair of walking socks were still wet. I like to wear the same shirt and shorts for continuity purposes. It is a trick that some TV presenters use. When filming a show or a series, they may have two identical sets of the same outfit so that if there is any damage, downpour,  or a break in filming, the producer can cut and splice the takes as he pleases and the viewerwill not notice the changes.

I wasn't being filmed but the same clothes made it easier for identification. On an earlier Camino, I had happened to wear a blue hat, a blue shirt and blue shorts by coincidence, not by design, all of different shades but of the same primary colour. I didn't know it at the time but it makes it easier to describe and positively identify me to others.

I had been the subject of some discussion amonsgt my fellow pilgrims who didn't know my name but the description of my outfit meant that they knew that they were talking about me. I had dropped something and to attract my attention, they had shouted 'Mr Blue'. 

This time I was wearing a black peaked cap, originally black but faded by the strong sunlight, a white and blue quick dry check shirt that got washed every night and always dried overnight whatever the conditions, a pair of black fleeces and a choice of two pairs of black shorts, different brands and slightly different shades of black but not noticeable unless they were placed side by side. 

This particular morning, I would have to wear my charcoal coloured shorts and different socks. I would have to pack my still damp clothes but I only had one large plastic bag that I used to protect my laptop. I had saved some plastic bags from shopping for groceries but they weren't big enough. I rolled my wet socks inside my damp shorts and surrounded them with a nearly dry T-shirt and hoped that they wouldn't make anything else damp during the day.

I had checked the weather forecast in the morning and the bad weather had blown over during the night and there was a forecast of no rain, clear skies and warm temperatures. Our fellow guests of the night before had had breakfast at 7am and had been driven back to their morning starting point somewhere on El Camino Primitivo. I ditched my rehearsed alternative pitch. 

Lesley and I were driven back to Sobrado where we checked out the outside of the monastery.

                                        

The entrance from the village to the monastery complex.

                                        

The reverse side of the entrance. 

The north side of the main complex.

A detail of one of the towers of the western facade.

The western facade. There are some exquisite carvings but the light was poor and the picture doesn't do it justice. 

It turned out to be a marvellous morning with clear blue skies, a bright sun and without the mist and low cloud that had dogged our last few early morning starts and as we were still at a high elevation, there were sweeping views across vallies and teh surrounding countryside...

,,,with plenty of great views, such as this one and the house in the centre of the photo must have had a great uninterrupted view across the valley. 

A view along a corredoira...    

...and a house with great views...

...a poor photo of some beautiful countryside...

...and a waymarker showing that it was only a little further to my hotel in Arzua where El Camino del Norte joins El Camino Frances. Where I was in for a shock.    

Sobrado dos Monxes, Galicia

 Sobrado dos Monxes, Galicia  

It had rained during the night and the ground was wey and there was a light drizzle in the air. There was a 26 kilometre walk ahead of us so we had opted for an early breakfast. We were taken back to where we had been picked up in Miraz. The cafe associated with the alberque was open but with just a few pilgrims having breakfast.  As we arrived, one pilgrim was setting off ahead of us. It had rained during the night but the ground here seemed dry and no drizzle which was a turn up for the books.

We set off at 8am although it was still dawn and the light was poor. I accompanied Lesley as I wasn't sure of the route and the markers were hard to see in the gloom. There was a hiccup as the last waymarker pointed uphill but the route was unclear as it split into three separate paths, but all going up. We took the most travelled path and after a climb were rewarded with the sight of another granite pylon a little further ahead. 

Once it was light enough to see ahead and easy to read the markers,we stopped at the next pylon. Lesley put on a cape against the light drizzle and took my fleece off as I was getting too hot and thought that the drizzle was not too bad to warrant wearing waterproofs. I bid Lesley a Buen Camino and picked up the pace. 

The countryside we were walking through was open with just a few trees and some scrub. It was different from the fields and forests that had been such a feature of the last few days. The rock was exposed in places and the soils were thin and hence the lack of trees and fields. 

The trail dipped and there were more fields and trees providing some respite from the drizzle. There was a light wind and the drizzle seemed to come and go. I got damp but when it eased off, I was generating so much heat that body heat and a gentle breeze soon dried my shirt out. Only to be damp again when the drizzle returned. 

At the side of the road, I passed a large red topped mushroom. I desparately tried to remember whether this was a poisonous one, an edible one, or one of those that are labelled 'poisonous' as they have psychedelic properties which imbibers may or may not want to experience. But a note of caution as different mushrooms have different psychedelic effects on different individuals so a little careful  experimentation with a more learned user is advised.  

The day had started out with just a little mist but it had got thicker as the morning progressed. The drizzle had also got a little heavier but I hadn't noticed and always hoped that the weather would get better. 

The guidebook said that the route today would pass through the highest point on El Camino del Norte at 710 metres above sea level at Mancela. I had been up and down a lot of mountains on earlier stretches of El Camino del Norte but these were mainly along the coastal sections where the route crosses an estuary at sea level and then rises up a mountain only to return to sea level. 

Here we were already at a high elevation and away from the coast without the deep river valleys. It didn't seem that we had climbed a long way as we were already high. The road slowly climbed a gentle slope and the name of the village was signpsted at the side of the road. Being at a significant point on El Camino del Norte, I expected there to be a cross or a monument. As I walked through the small settlement, I looked for something significant but saw nothing. I was sure that this was an opportunity missed. 

The route dipped and followed tracks through the forest. It was sheltered from the wind but I had not noticed how the light drizzle with breaks had turned to heavier drizzle and to rain. By the time that I noticed it might be time to put on some waterproofs, I was already wet and it would be pointless putting on waterproofs over seriously wet clothes. I was generating heat by walking, the wind wasn't strong so the chill factor was low and the ambient temperature was adequate.

I had an idea to change into dry clothes and waterproofs but was waiting for an opportunity of a dry bus shelter but there were none. EAventually, I changed into dry clothes under a dripping tree, the best cover I could find and continued.

I reached the lake outside Sobrado dos Monxes and knew that I was just a few kilometres short of Sobrado dos Monxes. 

El Camino takes a side road and passes one side of the monastery but doesn't pass the impressive front facade. If it was a nice day, I would have walked the extra to see the front and the botanical gardens, but it was raining and I was cold, wet, tired and just wanted a hot coffee in a bar.

Another view of the monastery.

Miraz, Galicia

 Miraz, Galicia 

After a great breakfast cooked by our host, Terese, a taxi arrived to take us for a 20 minute journey back to Baamonde to restart our Camino. Just as we were dropped off, we met Don and Lisa. Lesley knew them but I had never seen them en route, but I had been introduced in a previous cafe. I had probably never seen tehm enroute as they weren't early starters and I was often walking by 8.30 except when breakfast was believeably late at 9am.

Don and Lisa stopped to buy water, so Lesley and I set off. I accompanied her out of town. Waymarkers can be hard to see and may not be so obvious or abundant in an urban environment with so many other distractions. I like the company and prefer to be lost with someone than by myself. 

Once out of town, I wished her a Buen Camino and picked up the pace.

But I did stop to stand on the railway tracks to take a photo of the broad gauge railway.

El Camino follows the road until it peels off into the forest. There were forest tracks and rural roads with hardly any traffic. As usual, I passed several pilgrims, wishing them all a Buen CAmino, some that I recognised but from after about an hour and a half, I saw few if any pilgrims.

I walked through several villages according to the guide, but they were all small, with just a few scattered houses and several didn't even have a name sign either on the way in or on the way out with a diagonal red line through the name. But the scenery was a pleasant mixture of fields and forest...

...but little changed other than more fields and more forest.

I reached Mizar in time for lunch. I sat in the Alberque O Abrago and waited for the kitchen to open. A girl I had passed earlier walked in and booked a room n the hostal. Aother girl that I had passed several times and had first seen Casa de Goas in Abidan walked in and we greeted each other.

Lesley joined me for lunch and as we were waiting for our food to be served , Don and Lisa walked in. They too had a similar schedule to ours and were having two nights at a hotel and being taken back and forth between El Camino and their hotel by taxi. 

Leslay and I were picked up by our host at 2.30pm and driven for 20 minutes to our lodgings for the night. It was a restored 19th century typical Galician style former farmhouse, set in its own grounds.

The farmhouse....

...two of the bedrooms in a former outhouse...

...four of the free roaming pet dogs and a tethered goat....

...a geodysic dome used as extra space.

Baamonde, Galicia

 Baamonde, Galicia  

I had an early start as the hotel opened for breakfast at 7.30am although it was quiet and a complete change from the hubbub at Casa Goas the morning before at the same time. 

It was a level walk through the town centre which I had checked out the afternoon before. Then the trail dipped down to cross a river. 

But of course after a down, there is always an up. After the river crossing, El Camino climbs up the other side of the valley and the first up slope of the day. 

Looking out of the hotel, I thought that it was going to be a clear start, but once out of the town, the countryside was still cloaked in mist and it was damp.  But the dampness in the sir did condense on everything including several large cobwebs, some the size of dinner plates.

At one junction, I saw no way markers even after checking both routes for any signs. One route turned away from the nearby motorway. I knew the route ran near teh motorway and then dipped under it. I ignored the route that turned away and followed the route that run parallel to the road. The route dipped under the motorway so I still felt that I was on the right route until I came to a junction and there were no markers. 

Then I realised that I must have made the wrong decision. I had walked too far to double back but the route continued in the right direction and parallel to and between both the motorway and the N634 so as long as I continued between teh two I was still heading in the right direction. The correct El Camino route was somewhere off on the other side of the motorway but would cut underneath it, cross my trail and rejoin teh N634 just off to my left. 

That plan worked well until the path I was on turned south under the N634 and there was no junction. The rural route I was on didn't connect with the N634. There were stout fences and thick vegetation and no way that I could push my way through to where I needed to be. I checked out all the alterntives, gates to fields, weaknesses in fences and stretches of woodlands.

By chance, I saw an overgrown channel that drained rain water runoff from the N634 down past the track that I had followed. It was steep but sufficiently overgrown with stout saplings that provided plenty of support to climb up the channel. I wasn't exactly back on track but I was walking along N634 and somewhere ahead of me, El Camino would join it.

I had only seen one pilgrim all morning, and I passed him on the outskirts of Vilalba, but not surprising if I had taken the wrong route. Ahead, I saw a pilgrim emerge from a junction and cross the road. I was now back on track. It was a pleasant walk through farmland and having left the mountains behind, there were only gentle slopes and no steep mountain paths to climb. And away from the road, it was a pleasant walk through rustic countryside without the sound of any traffic.

I passed plenty of buildings using locally available materials. There were a lot of stone buildings using rocks that could be quarried from anywhere. Only the doors and windows neated some masonery skills to produce a good straight surround. And one feature that was reproduced in many local buildings was not just dressed stone around the openings,  but two thirds up the opening, be it a door or a window, there was a stretcher block, much longer than necessary for constructural needs, so it must have been for local asetic taste. 

It was 11am and it was still misty. The air didn't seem so damp and it was warmer and brighter but visibility was still poor as the sun was till struggling to burn off the mist. Another thing that I noticed was that the flagstones set upright as field boundaries were well maintained and well built with rarely a gap between the stones. 

At the end of the days walk, the route returned to the road with lots of heavy traffic as the route weaved its way into Baamonde and the end of the day's walk. I just had to sit in the local cafe for a couple of hours for Lesley to catch me up and for our hosts for the evening to come and collect us. There was a shortage of accomadation locally so our hotel for the night was over 20 kilometres away from the official El Camino route.

But the wait and the drive was worth it. We had a stone former farmhouse, renovated and modernised and a range of outbuildings all to ourselves. The outside of the farmhouse.

One of the rooms had a balocny and its own external staircase. 

There was an horreo in the extensive grounds, plus...

...a games room in one of the outhouses and a swimming pool.

The kitchen diner...

...the entrance hall...

...a sitting area with a giant fireplace...

...and another reception area with settees and another table.