Testing My Limits on a Pilgrimage in Spain

At the end of last week, we took a rest day in the hope my feet would have some time to heal and our blisters could finally callus over, but we jumped right back in with a pretty big hill climb. I keep going back and forth on how much suffering one should endure on a pilgrimage such as this, and whether I should feel guilty for taking advantage of modern day transports such as taxis. Initially I had planned to at least walk the last 100km without taxis so I wouldn’t have to worry but fate, or perhaps some poorly cooked pizza, had other plans.

Day 8: The Big Hill

Fully rested and fueled from our snack stash, we headed out of town down a bit of a hill overlooking the foggy landscape. It was road walking for the first mile until we started climbing again, and before we turned off we had a good view of the town behind us. The trail took us on a few hills and early on there was even a freeway type sign for the trail telling us what a side trail led to, a restaurant, bar, and hotel, but it was so early in the day we decided not to stop. Little did we realize that was one of the few opportunities to stop in the day!

The trail continued between fields and we found another sign, an entrance into Galecia! We had started our trek in the province of Asturias and the provincial line was right at about halfway, so that was exciting! They did have fancier signs showing not just direction (to the meter), but also the distance of Santiago. However they had to use arrows since the shell no longer always pointed in the right direction, like they standardized on it pointing to the left so they had to add the arrow! Confusing.

As we were walking along some of the fields, Mr. S noticed something strange about the fences. The trees had actually grown around the barbed wire!

As we were going past this little church we had to stop for a few photos. Of course Mr. Wander had to sneak a picture of Mr. S taking our picture!

It was such a lovely blue sky it made for some wonderful photos of the landscape, and even some cool looking mushrooms! We were a little over halfway when we made it to a cool little cafe that had tortilla y patatas and a fruit cocktail juice for a delicious beverage.

Most of the day was a general rolling uphill that had enough breaks we didn’t notice too much. We did have a significant downhill where we dropped 1000ft in about an hour, but we were rewarded by the stop at the little cafe. We enjoyed a bit of rolling up and down for the next bit until we reached the big climb of the day, a good 500ft in about a mile. Mr. S used his level app more than once checking the incline and I think he got near 20% in one of the areas! My lungs never slowed me down on these hills like they did in Wales but I was past my 8 mile point where the feet started to give me troubles again, despite taking some ibuprofen. Mr. Wander offered to take my pack up to the top, and I was very tempted but also very stubborn. Soon we could hear the road and from the map it meant we were near a town where I hoped would be a place to sit and rest! Finally we made it out of the trees could peer out over the valley, to get our reward for so much climbing.

I was so greatful when I saw the little cafe with nice tables outside in the shade, I was ready to sit and get off my feet! We ordered a round of beers and relaxed, chatting with another pilgrim at the next table who was from Texas, and watching a few cats roam around.

While we were only a few miles away from O Cadavo, there was another 500ft or so to climb and I was at the point where I didn’t think I should keep pushing through the pain. So, we called a taxi and ordered another round, but this time they brought us tortilla y patatas to go with our drinks! The taxi arrived, and funnily enough she owned our hotel in O Cadavo. We got to the hotel and unfortunately there was some confusion with our reservation, I’m not sure what happened but eventually they gave us a room so we were able to go upstairs and have a shower.

What had become our usual schedule, the 3 of us had a beer in each of the restaurants in town, including the one at our hotel. Just as we were ordering our second round in the third restaurant, several Pilgrims came in for dinner but apparently they had ran out of the Pilgrim menu already, so either people could order pizza or go somewhere else. We were fine with pizza so we stayed and told Mrs. S to join us when she was ready.

This time they gave us little open face finger sandwiches to go with our beers that really hit the spot. We each ordered our own pizza of different types. They were nothing too special, likely a frozen pizza they had cooked and mine was a little underdone in the middle but at the time I thought nothing of it. We wandered back to our hotel for bed. 

Day 9: The Forgotten Kindle

Today would have been the longest hiking day according to the route planner in the app we were using, it recommended almost 19 miles! I knew my feet wouldn’t handle that, so we decided to take a taxi to about halfway as it is easier to order one from your hotel than from a random location in the middle. It is possible to get one part way through if needed, you can call Taxi Camino, or even message them on WhatsApp but you need good signal which didn’t always exist, and this hotel had it’s own taxis so it was even easier.

We were dropped on these small gravel roads between fences of horses and sheep. A few miles down the road we reached this field where there were several benches out of old stumps, and a really cool log bench with the camino shell carved into it, plus a few purgolas set up for shade with picnic tables. A man was offering sliced melon and waters for donations. Mr. S got a tray of it and he figured he overpaid, because the man came and insisted on giving us a second tray of melons. We took a few pictures on the bench and the guy came over and took our picture as well, and told us to find it on the “El Oasis Camino Primitivo” Facebook page, and I found us, so here we are:

The host even had a sello, but as I was digging out our credentials to be stamped, I realized my pocket for my computer was unzipped, which meant I never put back my kindle and rezipped it! I knew I wouldn’t have packed it anywhere else. I asked Mrs. S if she would call back to the hotel and ask them to look for it given her superior Spanish skills, and we asked them to put it in one of their bags that were being transported between hotels if they found it.

Mr. Wander and I have a history with forgetting our kindles in hotels. The first time was as we were driving out to Montana for our wedding but we got it back since my parents were driving through that town just a few days later and picked it up. The next time he was not so lucky when we left it in Cyprus, but we were already in Egypt before we realized. We got him a new one once we got to the UK, and he was happy to get a bit of an upgrade to the newer version!

It was maybe an hour down the trail and we were for some reason talking about if they had found it when the trail turned alongside the highway. Suddenly we heard honking behind us and funnily enough, it was that taxi driver! He was driving back from that next town and saw us so he pulled in and got our attention. They hadn’t been able to reach us since we were out of service but they were struggling with finding it and the bags had already been taken by the mail company. I gave the taxi driver better instructions of where to find it int he room and he said he would be travelling to Lugo later that day and said he would leave it at reception. What an amazing group of people, I am so thankful for them!

The trail took us across the freeway and we knew we were getting close as Lugo is one of the bigger towns on the route. Finally got to the edge of town but we had to go down hill quite far to a bridge to cross the river, and then climb our way back up the other side to our hotel.

Mr. Wander was navigating us off the camino trial to our hotel and it was in the last 300 meters or so that I suddenly started to feel nauseated. It was getting bad enough I was starting to take in surroundings to find trees or trash cans nearby just in case I needed them. We managed to get upstairs, checked in, and we made it into our room with only a few minutes to spare. Mr. Wander found a grocery store and got me some crackers, sparkling water and something like a Gatorade. While he went out on the town with Mr. and Mrs. S. They found a cool restaurant where they served a special pork that had been fed with chestnuts and they got a few rounds of tapas with their beers. I’m really sad I missed the last night out with them!

Meanwhile, my body did its thing and then it needed to rest, so I slept until Mr. Wander returned. After they came back they went to the lobby to play some cards so I came down and brought the beverages and crackers. After a full game of (three handed) hearts I had only managed to nibble on a cracker, and was still so drained so we went up to bed. Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. S they managed to get my Kindle for me from reception after a bit of tracking it down with that taxi driver, it might have been there all afternoon but we think the night shift receptionist didn’t know where it had been hidden and I had forgotten to ask when we checked in.

Day 10: The Farewell and an Unintended Rest Day

The next morning, my stomach was feeling fine but I was very drained as I had no calories in me. I was convinced it was the pizza from the night before since I noticed one part wasn’t as crispy as the rest and no one else seemed to have any issue, it was the only thing recently that wasn’t shared. We all had some toast and coffee or tea for breakfast and then packed up and met just before checkout time in the lobby to say goodbye! I am so glad they decided to join us for this adventure and thankful for all of Mrs. S’s amazing Spanish, not only was it so helpful for logistics, but I learned so much more Spanish and about the culture and area thanks to her. They were staying another night in Lugo at a different hotel and then were going to rent a car and explore more of Spain near Madrid before their flight out in a few days.

As I was not in any condition to be hiking that day we took a taxi, and we got to our hotel in Ferreira about a half hour before check-in opened. We spent the day sleeping and eating plenty of snacks as my appetite returned.

Day 11: A Croquette of a Different Color

There was a pretty good breakfast spread this morning and with my hunger back in full force I took full advantage. I was feeling back to normal and enjoyed the breakfast, and even catching up with those pastors from ND a little bit that we had met several days ago.

We started out pretty fast today, and made it 9 miles in the first three hours! There was a little bit of rain today but not enough to feel we needed to cover the packs. We stopped to get coffee and tea while eating some of our snack stash and watched some fish in this little reservoir that may have been used to wash clothes back in the day. We started noticing new people on trail today and I think it was because we joined with Camino del Norte.

Just as we were getting into town it started sprinkling and we made it to the albergue only 15 minutes before check-in opened, but there was already a line. Pretty soon we were in our room and we each had a nice warm shower and rested a bit. My feet weren’t actually too bad today after getting extra rest and perhaps by going a bit faster they didn’t have as much time under the weight. These last several days had no major hills like most of our previous days, any ascent was sprinkled throughout the day so that helped things go much quicker.

We went to a spot nearby for a mid afternoon dinner made up of a few appetizers. We ordered a tortilla y patatas and croquettes to share and even though they said the tortilla was small, it was almost too much to eat for 2 people! We were surprised too that the croquettes were half with ham like we were used to seeing, and half of them were black! They were colored with squid ink and even had a few small pieces of calamari. I should have known since half the menu was filled with different ways to cook calamari or squid as appetizers! As much as I like calamari sometimes, it was a little too much fish flavor so it was hard to finish them all.

After eating we ventured to a grocery store to stock up on some snacks and then went back to relax for the evening.

Day 12: And Then There Were Thousands

Today we grabbed a few snacks from our stash for breakfast and headed out around 8:30. After getting back on the trail in the town, we were a bit taken aback by all the pilgrims! There were SO many. In our first few hours of the day we were much faster than most so we were constantly passing but sometimes it was hard when they walked 2-3 wide on the trail. It was difficult to find a few minutes without people until we were well over half way.

We realized that in Melide we joined up with the Camino Frances, which is one of the most popular routes, and probably one of the more popular options for those just doing the last 100km, so now you have 3 main routes all together! The one advantage to this is that more services have been setup over the centuries as there were more customers that could support them. I noticed that more people were stopping at some of these early spots though, and we liked to get at least halfway before we’d stop once. The trail traffic thinned out considerably after we passed 2-3 of these stops.

Today was the first time that most of the people didn’t always say buen camino back to you. I think it is because there are so many that are new to the trail they aren’t used to this, but it made me a little bummed like the trail lost it’s magic. 

Apparently we should have stopped more often becuase we made it to our hotel well before checkin, but it was less than 9 miles and we were walking fast so my feet didn’t have time to start hurting much. We spied a nearby convenience store so Mr. Wander watched our bags while I found some caffeine and chips. By the time I returned we could check in, get a shower, and relax a bit. For dinner we tried a few places around 6pm but most seren’t serving dinner until after 7 and only had drinks available, and I was too hungry to wait.

We went back to the grocery store and found a few frozen meals and other goodies and used the microwave at our spot to enjoy some pasta for dinner. We also had to eat early because we had a watch party with our fellow bikers to watch the first video of our bike adventure that went live at 7:30pm European time. It was great fun catching up with everyone and sharing our different perspectives from the bike ride. Pretty soon it was time for bed to rest up for the next day. If you haven’t seen the videos yet check out the links in our cycling post here.

Day 13: Hitting our Stride

Our penultimate day on trail was much more pleasant than the day before. We decided to sleep in a bit later so we wouldn’t arrive too early and the crowds seemed a bit thinner. It was a nice sunny day and more people were saying hello or “Buen Camino”. I enjoyed a nice conversation with a couple that was originally from Philippines but had immigrated to Belgium.  They were doing the 100km minimum which I know some of the Pilgrims who do the full trail might look down upon them, but honestly it’s a great option if you cannot take a longer trip. You could do the 100 km in less than a week and still have time to recover from jet lag and explore one of the major cities.

About halfway through the day we stopped at this little cafe and split a bocadilla, and got coffee and a fanta. The bread here is so delicious it makes just a simple sandwich really feel like a treat! The pop also really hit the spot so I went back for another before we headed back on the trail. Today the trail seemed to mostly wander through the trees on small gravel roads or as a wide hiking trail. After one of the road crossings we heard a bagpipe who had a sello and was selling some other items. That is something we started noticing more too, there were more popup stalls and selling shells you can attach to your pack, or sellos.

Once again my feet started to hit its limit after about 9-10 miles and I had to find a few extra benches. We deviated a little from the trail at the end since it doesn’t go right through the town where our bed for the evening was located. There was a nice path on the side of the road that we continued on to get to our Pension, and we were able to check ourselves in. After cleaning up, we ate some of the snacks we had and relaxed before venturing out for a pizza and cider dinner. This time the pizza was very crispy and really hit the spot!

Day 14: The Finish Line!

Even though there was no one there for check in or check out at our Pension, they still supplied fruits, yogurt, pastries, and juice for breakfast that were very tasty, you just had to get it out of the fridge. You could make tea or coffee if you wanted to but we decided to skip it to get on the trail. 

We got going a little earlier today, and decided to continue on the road instead of cutting over to the trail since the trail would cross in just a few miles.

Despite the traffic on the road it was kinda peaceful to have 2 miles to ourselves. Right when we got back to the trail two women recognized us from the Primitivo. We had never chatted but back on the hill after Pola de Allande we had leapfrogged each other going up the switchbacks. They didn’t speak much English and my Spanish while getting better, is still limited to ordering food and asking for the bathroom, so all we could really say is “Primitivo!” and “Buen Camino!” Still it feels like you are greeting old friends among all the strangers!

It was very misty in the morning, but it made for some cool pictures with the trees. There was one point where it was so misty it was almost like you were seeing blurry if you tried looking in front of you! I have never seen visibility that poor, perhaps 10 feet, and am so glad I was not trying to drive in that!

We decided to go a bit farther than 6 miles before we stopped for a snack but there was a dead zone of a few miles without any food that I hadn’t expected, so I might have been getting a big hangry.

Finally we arrived somewhere that served a their bocadilla warm! I was getting cold enough I had to put on my coat when we stopped but still seemed to sweat a bit while walking so I didn’t dare keep it on, but it made the warm sandwich really taste like a luxury.

It wasn’t long before we were coming into Santiago and noticed a huge group in front of us. As we got closer we realized that it was a large group of about 50+ high school students. They can apparently earn school credit for doing a camino. We still had a mile or so to go so we managed to make it around them and then pretty soon hit the older part of town.

I don’t think I realized just how large the town of Santiago would be, but given that all the trails come together here, and people likely stayed for some time for the past several hundreds of years the town would naturally grow. Finally, we caught a glimpse of the tower from the cathedral! It really helps boost you when you can see your quarry.

The last few feet there were stairs in a tunnel where we were serenaded by another bagpipe, but no kilt. It also sounded different than ones I heard in Scotland and when i looked more closely, he just had one pipe sticking up instead of the 3-4 I am used to seeing. 

Finally we made it! The last two weeks of walking across northern Spain was done and it was time to celebrate!!

We found seats on the edge of the square and watched as other hikers took pictures and celebrated their accomplishment. Before we got too chilled, we decided to make our way to our hotel which was another half a kilometer, just on the other side of the old town. We decided to splurge a bit on a fancier hotel than what we had experienced the last few weeks, just look at the size of that bed!

We opted for a grocery store dinner because we didn’t want to interrupt our relaxing. Just before we were going to break into the food, someone from the hotel dropped off this bottle of rose cava (like a Spanish champagne) as a gift from the hotel. We’re not sure why, maybe because we had them stamp our credential so they knew we had just finished the Camino.

We enjoyed the beverage, our snacks, and I even had a hot bath for my aching feet. We did some laundry since we’d have two nights for it to dry and settled into the comfy bed for the night.

Becoming Official

We had one full day in Santiago, so we decided to sleep in before we ventured over to the pilgrim office to get our official compostela. You first have to register online and you get an email with a QR code. Then when you arrive you get a number and stand in line. There is a screen that tells you when your number is called and which desk to go up to, much like some of the larger DMV’s I have been to. They scan your QR code and take your credential with all of your stamps, here is ours:

Mr. Wander got asked a few questions but I was only asked where I started from and he checked that you have enough stamps and the dates for each one. There were two days I forgot to get two stamps but they were farther than 100km away so I wasn’t too worried. Once approved, they print out your compostela right there with your name written in Latin, which was fun to see. The Compostela is free, but you also have the option to buy a certificate of distance for 3 Euros, but we didn’t feel we needed that.

It was raining so we hurried to find a cafe nearby to get some breakfast. We got nutella filled croissants and coffee and tea, but they also brought these other treats that honestly was a bit too much sweetness for me that morning! We went to the cathedral entrance to see if there was a line for the 12pm pilgrim mass, and was surprised it was already so long, and it wasn’t even 11:30 yet!!

Behind us in line the ladies from Texas from the Primativo joined us so it was fun chatting with them. They told us that the pastors from North Dakota had been included in one of the masses the day prior! Too bad we didn’t get in town earlier to see them! By the time we made it in to the building it was standing room only. We found a decent spot by a pillar, sometimes interrupted by people popping in front of us for a few minutes and leaving. They have four of these masses per day but I’m guessing this is the most busy one because it’s easy to get to if you arrive in the morning or before you have to leave town that day. As part of the mass they said how many people from each country ahd finished that day but while I recognized “Estatos Unitos” I didn’t catch the number they said, but it sounded like a large number. 

After the mass we headed back our hotel and spent the rest of the day relaxing, eating snacks, and resting our feet!

Reflection

I have to remind myself that even if we did take taxis, we still hiked well beyond the minimum 100km, and for that we are extremely proud. Our goal was not to get to Santiago by only walking, no matter the cost to our health or sanity, and I honestly don’t know how well I would have done had I tried to hike 10 miles after getting so ill.

One of our goals was to see how we’d like a Multi-Day hike with carrying all our luggage as a sort of a test for a longer backpacking trip we’re considering. Another goal is just to experience the culture, the landscape, and visit with some other pilgrims we met along the way. Both of these goals were accomplished, plus we got the amazing bonus of getting to catch up with some great friends that I had missed this past year! I am so grateful they decided to join us and they really enriched this entire experience. Thank you both and I’m excited for the next time we get to see you!

Next Time

To help entice us to the goal at the end of Santiago, we planned our recovery in the wine region of Portugal! We stayed in the Duoro Valley. which is most well known for producing Port wine. We stayed there for several days and visited a few wineries before heading to Lisbon to prepare to leave Europe! Until next time, Adiós!