Day 15: Arca to Monte de Gozo

The same taxi man who brought us back yesterday picked up the group and took them back to Casa de Comida where they started walking to Monte de Gozo.  There were black clouds sweeping across bringing rain every half hour.
The taxi then came back for Irish lady and me.  He dropped us off just past the RTVGE centre on the way to Monte de Gozo and we started walking. Every now and then someone would want to take her photograph.  We stopped for a coffee at the last café bar and then walked the last few m to San Marcos chapel.  We took shelter inside when it started raining again.

When the rain stopped we walked through the complex to the reception which is about 500m from the entrance at the top.  There were army vehicles and tents on the field behind San Marcus. We heard that they had marched from Tui in Portugal to Santiago in less than 24 hours breaking a previous record.
Once we were settled in the rooms I walked back to the top to see the two statues of pilgrims pointing the way to the cathedral.  In the far distance you can see the triple towers of the cathedral about 5km away.
When the others arrived, a bit wet and bedraggled, we decided to visit the pilgrim statues and then have a snack in the cafeteria. When Finn walked with us in 2007 se had the best meal on the whole Camino in the buffet restaurant here.
We met later in the cafeteria for dinner and had a short meeting about our walk to Santiago tomorrow. Johnnie walker had texted me to please let him know when we arrived as he wanted to take us into the cathedral.
The Irish lady would meet us at the Porto do Camino and we would all walk in together. I gave them each a little wire pilgrim with snail made by a homeless man outside San Marcos.

It was an exciting thought that the Caracoles would make it to Santiago after 16 days of slow walking.

Day 14: Pedrouzo-Arca to San Paio

Doing the extra mileage meant that I had to redo the stages again for the next three days.
We decided to split the 20km into 7.5km today, 7.5km tomorrow and 5km on the last day.
San Paio is 8km from Pedrouza so we planned on walking to there.
The Irish lady thought she might try walking a little later in the day.  I gave her a few options of walking through the forest to the main road and getting a taxi back if necessary or waiting for us to come back so that I could walk with her through the forest and back again.  She thought she might wait until we got back.

We started walking at 9am, through the lovely forests to Amenal where we had our first stop.  Then on to San Paio, past the fence with all the wood crosses on the outskirts of the airport, and the famous Santiago stone marker where we had a group photo taken.  Reinette took a photograph of snails on the ground - Caracoles, just like us - inching across the landscape!

At Casa de Comidas we stopped for a drink and then called a taxi to take us back to the Pension. The first taxi man said we would have to wait 2 hours for him.  I phoned a second number and he said we would have to wait an hour. So I phoned a third man and he was able to come right away. Reinette and Adrian decided to walk back so we only needed one taxi.
When we got back the Irish lady showed us photos she had taken in the forest, and the white house at the end of the forest path. She had bravely walked up the hill and onto the Camino path through the forest. She also walked into town on her own - more than she had done in over a week.  We were all proud of her.   Bob, Adrian, Reinette and I had dinner in town.

Day 1: Barbadelo to Morgade

Day 1
It is 4.5km from Sarria to Barbadelo.  Miguel Angel, the taxi driver we had used from the bus station to the pension, came with 2 other taxis to take us to a point 49m from the last Casa in Barbadelo where the 106km to Santiago waymark is.

The Irish lady was exhilarated to be walking with her Trionic Veloped walker. The path started off flat and not too difficult to negotiate.  Pilgrims walking past clapped, called her 'valiant' and most took photos.

We thought she might manage a couple of km but we kept going after the 2km mark, even when the path became difficult with stone slabs up a torrent course.  Adrian and I carried the Veloped while she walked up the path using her sticks. After about 2 km of partly walking, partly pushing we came to a very basic stop with a table bearing a thermos flask of tea and coffee and a few packets of cake.
We stopped for a lukewarm and then she sat on the walker's seat while Adrian pushed her along the road.

We stopped again a bit further on for a hot cup of Cola Cao and then after another difficult section, Negotiating stone blocks alongside a river, she started to flag.  Pushing, walking and being pused we had covered about 4km.  She had never walked 2km in her life and was exhausted by the effort of walking, pushing and being pushed.  I called a taxi and she and I went back to Sarria while the others continued to Morgade.
Although it was only 6.2km today to Morgade, the others returned quite tired from their walk. Adrian was still feeling the effects of his long flight. Bob was proud that he had taken the first day in his stride (quite a long stride too with his long legs), Pat and Janet were happy that their feet had held up and Reinette was euphoric having loved every moment of walk.
Besides the weather not being very kind with almost freezing temperatures and cold winds we hadn't had any rain and our Caracoles had done well and were looking forward to the next stage on this slow Camino.

Slow Camino reconnaissance walk

5th May - Checking out the paths and trails
After two nights in Santiago I caught the bus to Lugo and then  a taxi to Sarria.  Gordon Bell was at the Pension Escalinata to meet me.  Gordon took me to the Casa Nova rente in Barbadelo where I was to spend the night. I had dinner with a delightful French couple.  They couldn't speak any English and my French is abysmal so we used sign language and drew pictures and maps on the paper tablecloth during conversation.

6th May  (Barbadelo to Vilacha)
I had breakfast the next morning and started walking, turning my pedometer to 0.00km
The apple trees are all in blossom but there are not many other wildflowers out yet.   I decided that we should start our group walk 49m beyond the Casa at the small road crossing where the 106km marker to Santiago is.

The path was mainly gravel, with some rocks until the large water fountain with the 2004 Holy Year logo that looks like Mickey Mouse.  At the 1.5 km mark the path went steeply downhill to the river which had a concrete path on the side for pilgrims to cross.

The path then joined a tar road again after 2km and 1km further on, one has to step on large blocks in the torrent course.  I realised that this could be difficult for the walkers, especially the lady using her Veloped walker.

After walking for two hours I reached Morgade and the end of our first stage.
For the next 4km the path undulated steeply uphill and downhill on tar and gravel with a few muddy places in between.  After 10.2km the path became difficult with deep mud and shale slopes. I reached Mercadoiro which would be the end of our 2nd stage and stopped for lunch.

 

At the 13.35km mark I started on stage 3 of our walk.  It went downhill on a gravel and sand path and then steep downhill on a concrete path into the forest.  It was a fairly easy stage on tar, concrete, and a forest path all the way to Vilacha where I spent the night with Gordon Bell.

There was a lady from Holland who was planning on walking to Portomarin but it was raining hard and when she saw the sign STADIG (slowly) on the road just before Casa Banderas, she took it as a sign from above and stopped for the night.  A German pilgrim arrived, then a couple from the US who I shared my overnight stops with so that we met up each evening from then on.

7 May (Vilacha to Ventas de Naron)
The path from Vilacha was being resurfaced so was closed.   I walked on the road into Portomarin.  I climbed the hill to  the Albergue Ultreia to check out the rooms which were all upstairs - no good for the lady with the walker.  We decided that she and Reinette could share a room in the Pension Caminante around the corner.

I continued down to the bridge and decided to walk on the road instead of climbing through the forest.  The Camino path continues over the bridge but one can turn right onto the road which re-joins the Camino path at the Brick Factory and from there on it was pretty much alongside the road for the next few km. I stayed on the road until I reached Gonzar which is the end of stage 3 for the Slow Camino.  I arrived at Ventas de Naron and booked into Casa Molar

8 May
The path from there to Pevisa was easy walking and one could do most of the route on the road which shadows the path for most of the way. I caught up to Tom and Nancy, the American couple from Vilacha, at the cafe bar after Ligonde.  (We walked together on and off from there to San Xulian)

 

 

9th May
The next day to Rua was my longest day at 24km.
At Palas de Rei the yellow arrows lead down a flight of stairs from the Bar Crucero but one can stay on the road to avoid the steps. Closer to the main road is another short flight of stairs or an impossibly steep ramp.  There is another way around the side where one can reach the main road. (Our Pension was on that side road.)

I popped into the Pension Bar Plaza to check on our rooms only to find that our rooms were up a steep flight of stairs. They called, Antia, the woman who runs the pension and she took me to a Pension Ignacio around the corner where all the rooms are on the ground floor.
When I got to San Xulian I found that I would be sharing a room with Tom and Nancy.  We were given a 3-bedded room at the albergue. We had a wonderful meal with other pilgrims and then sat outside the albergues chatting to pilgrims and the local women.)

 

9 May
From San Xulian the path disintegrated and I resolved to phone San Xulian and ask whether there was a road route for our lady with the walker as she would not be able to negotiate the path between here and Casanova.

At Casanova I did a 2km detour to O Bolboreta to confirm our rooms and a 2km walk back to the path. At Campanilla I stoped for a Cola Cao and bumped into Tom and Nancy. They had phoned the Pazo de Sedor and had booked a room so I knew I would see them again at Castaneda. 

On the way to Melide the path became a road of crazy paving, also not easy for those that are unsteady or for a Veloped.

 

I saw that the Hotel Carlos was quite far from the main centre.  I thought of cancelling the rooms there and finding something closer to the centre of town but so many places are full, I decided to leave things as they  are .  It started to rain and I stopped to take out my raincoat.   All the tape covering the seams was hanging like streamers so I stopped at a sports shop and bought a poncho type raincoat.  It is bright orange and all my clothes are pink and purple so I'm not going to get lost on this Camino!

I walked up to the church and down to the road following the Camino arrows and realised that the group wouldn't be able to walk down that steep path.  We will walk on the road rather.
The next Slow Camino stage is from Melide to Boente on an undulating path through the forest. ± 2km further there are large stepping stones across a small river. The terrain going up from the river will be impassable with a walker so the lady with the walker will have to stay on the road.  From here the path joins the road with a short break back into the forest.

At Boente I stopped at Os albergue for lunch. I spent the night at a fabulous Pazo de Sedor at Castaneda.  Tom and Nancy also stayed there and we had dinner with a group of American ladies walking the Camino.
From here it was very steep down hill and under the road, then a very steep uphill: the group could stay on the road and join where the ramp goes up to the bridge. There is quite a steep downhill to Ribadiso. 
Coming out of Ribadiso, I will suggest to the lady with the walker that she gets a taxi to Ribadiso Carretera higher up.

 

The walk into the town of Arzua is long and dreary. I found that the Suiza is not in town but way out on the other side. However, it is 30m from the Camino the next day.
It was uphill for about 500m then onto a small road on tar to a road.   After passing under the road there was a flattish section then lots of rocks and mostly up hill. To the 32.5km mark.  There was a place selling fruit and cakes on an honesty system  where I bought a banana for €1 -over R12.

 

Two years ago a large section of the forest here was felled to make way for a new road between Santiago and Lugo.   They ran out of money and the construction site was left as it is now.
From Calzada there was an easy path -a little rocky through the village and with large stepping stones across the river.  It will be better for the lady with the walker to stay on the road.  The walk from  then on is fairly easy.

From Salceda the path mirrors the road and it appeared that one could take a side path down to the road every 500m or so. You pass Empalme and St Irene. When you reach Rua there is a recorded greeting that is activated when you walk by.  The info kiosk for Santiago is on the right.

From here you pass the turn into Pedrouza-Arca and can continue into the forest on an easy path.

You go up hill and over the road . One could stay on the road for most of the way around Lavacolla.  I thought it would be best for the lady with the walker to be taken to Neiro where the Tv Galicia centre is and to walk from there to Monte de Gozo.

After  visiting the Monte de Gozo reception to confirm our rooms I walked on the road to avoid the flight of steps down to the main road.  It was then the long, dreary walk through the outskirts of the city into Santiago.

There are as many reasons for walking el camino

We are only 4.5kms from Santiago and can almost smell the incense wafting from the Botafumeiro! But, we have curbed our enthusiasm to rush the last day and will stay here at the huge complex of Monte do Gozo tonight. We arrived at about 12h30 but couldn't check in until 13h30 so we had a sandwich and a drink before checking in. This complex will provide a free bed for one night to 800 pilgrims (they never have that many though) and still has beds for 2000 more people at 7 euro a bed. It looks like a military barracks with rows and rows of dormitories, a cafeteria, self-service restaurant and a few shops. One of the statues is of pilgrims pointing the way to the city. This is the only spot left on the Mount of Joy where you can actually see the steeples of the cathedral. Right now we are waiting for our washing cycle to finish. It costs 3 euro for a wash (E1.80 for the powder blocks) and 2 euro for the dryer. Sharing between 4 people makes it worthwhile - especially if your accommodation is for free. After a surprisingly good sleep on Wednesday Finn really got into his stride! It was his 5th day of walking and his competitive spirit kicked in - passing poor struggling peregrinos and chalking them off as successes - 43 pilgrims so far! He even counts those who dare stop to take a photograph, looking back at us with a triumphant smile. On Wednesday we decided not to stay in Santa Irene as we arrived early and read that the albergue only opens at 2pm. So we decided to walk 4kms further on to Arca. (Joy-belle, that is where we made a meal for Elsabet and sat waiting for the albergue to open whilst the backpacks piled up to the top of the driveway). When we arrived at the albergue we saw that it was similar to the one in Melide - a huge municipal albergue with no doors on the showers and reported to be in a poor state in 2006. We decided to find a Pension instead and Finn and I left Marion and Anneliese in the line whilst we walked into the small, one road town to find rooms. Eventually, at the far end of the town, we found a beautiful place that gave us two rooms for 30 euro per room. The owner very kindly drove me back to the albergue to fetch Marion and Anneliese and we were soon checked into lovely clean rooms with a shared en suite bathroom. Only a pleasure! There was a cafe-bar downstairs (owned by the same person). We had lunch there and bought rolls, ham, cheese, tomato and lettuce to make our own supper in the sitting room provided for guests. Today's walk was mainly up steep, short inclines which somewhat curbed Finn's need to pass every backpack in front of him! Marion's shin splint has crept up her shin and she groans at every downhill while Finn moans, "Bugger me!" at every uphill. We will leave at about 8am tomorrow so that we arrive in Santiago just after 9am. Hopefully Marion Bowles will be waiting for us and will take a short video of the intrepid four walking into the Obradoiro Square up to the cathedral. I have fallen in love with the Horreos - little structures on stilts used to store corn. They are now protected and many have been restored and preserved.

Lil Parker asked the other day, "Why do you do it?

There are as many reasons for walking el camino as there are pilgrims, and over 100 000 will earn the compostela this year. Although the Santiago pilgrimage is a Christian one, many pilgrims profess to walking it for spiritual reasons rather than religious. Many say that they don't know why they walk it, that it 'called to them'. You would think that any sane person would have a really good reason to leave their comfort zone, their family, friends and home (and their country) to go and walk 800kms across a foreign land, staying in humble, shared accommodation, eating strange food and struggling with a foreign language. They do all this with a backpack containing everything they posses for a month and will continue walking with blisters, tendinitis, cellulitis, shin splints etc. It is amazing! Perhaps the common denominator for all pilgrims is their 'humanness' - we are all pilgrims journeying through this life and when millions of fellow humans follow a particular path, we feel the urge to join the stream. The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela was the most walked path in medieval times (even more popular than to Rome or Jerusalem) and today it has almost reached the same levels of popularity as the 14th and 15th centuries. It is said that pilgrimage is a metaphor for life and perhaps the camino is life in microcosm. One experiences joy and sadness, ups and downs, easy days, difficult days, sunshine and rain, weariness and wonder, hunger and compassion. When we reach Santiago we have learned what we are really capable of. Some pilgrims succumb to injuries, or to tiredness whilst others find it impossible to keep to their planned schedule and end up catching a bus or taxi to stay on track. Those who persevere on foot to the end will have the joy and sense of achievement that all the millions of pilgrims before them have experienced through the ages. Tomorrow we will join those pilgrims when we walk into the square and see the cathedral for the first time. Tomorrow we will feel the souls of pilgrims past through the soles of our feet. I will let you know about our time in Santiago in another post. Till then, love to all.
S A M and Finn