Camino Ingles Day 7: Sigüeiro to Santiago de Compostela, aka the end!

We left Sigueiro at about 9:30 and had 15km to walk to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.

Apart from a few spots of rain the worst of the weather was just a lot of cold wind, which made walking easier.

I kind of expected the path to be quite industrial as it was so close to Santiago but, either by luck or design, it was mostly forest and fields for all but the last few kilometres.

We saw many more pilgrims than previous days but only really talked to one, a lively Italian lady named Leah who told us she had left her husband at home and decided to do the walk by herself at the age of 70. She didn’t have any aches or pains and wished Danny improvement with his feet.

At about 11:30 we stopped off at a food place that was right next to the trail in a forested part.

It was a big open cement area and a huge echoing hall that looked like the world’s saddest wedding venue. It had a tiny bar and food counter set up so we had some coffee and sandwiches.

We have been told that the government is using money to promote this route but it would be nice to spend some money on making it safer as often footpath just runs out and trucks almost clip you as you walk.

The amenities and businesses along the trail (or lack thereof) have been a constant source of bemusement. The traffic along this branch of the Camino has been increasing drastically over the last two decades (from under 100 people to over 22,000 last year) but there’s quite long stretches of road with no footpath, no places to get food and not one public toilet to be seen along the whole route, which Danny says is typical of Spain. Anywhere that sells food is expected to let people use their bathroom but quite often there’s nowhere open.

Coming into Santiago from the opposite direction to the most popular trail meant that it was just right into the older part of town.

The industrial estate part of the walk wasn’t pretty but had excellent wide footpaths.

Our first sight of the cathedral??

How about now?

Then Danny said that we would hear bagpipes when we got close, an instrument that is traditionally Gaelic, so they are played here as well as in Scotland and Ireland. I completely neglected to take a photo of the piper, but eventually we heard them as we continued through the lovely ancient streets.

It was great to finish, and it felt like Danny might not have made another day with his blisters as they were getting worse.

Seeing all the groups of pilgrims getting photos and looking so excited was very nice, I imagine that if you’d come here just for this and if you’d finished one of the longer walks – quite a lot of people walk from France or further – the sensation of relief and achievement would be overwhelming.

Having just spent twice as long walking through much more dramatic countryside in England, this was fun but it didn’t particularly make me want to do other Camino routes. I’m not against the idea either, I just have other places I’d like to walk.

Danny and I did discuss what we’d learned from the experience. I’d totally agree with Deb that four days got me into my stride, so doing a longer trek would definitely be possible and if I’d put more effort into preparing I probably wouldn’t have had such sore feet in the beginning.

I felt a bit hamstrung by not speaking the local language and I think a lot of my enjoyment from travel comes from meeting people so that was a down side. We didn’t really meet many people who spoke English confidently.

I think if I’d done this years ago I would’ve been part of the ‘get up and on the road by dawn’ crowd, but going slower and making decent stops has increased my enjoyment. I don’t think I could ever walk ten hours a day so there’s no need to be up and out so quickly.

The time of year we’d chosen was really good. None of the days were too hot or too cold and we had luckily sat out the rainiest day. The time of year also meant that there were lots of flowers in bloom and the farmers were yet to spread manure on the fields. I always forget how much of country walking is accompanied by the smell of manure but it wasn’t too bad this time.

Despite being surrounded by long green grass most days my hayfever was fine. I really don’t understand why it’s so bad in England and not here where the plants are almost identical.

Collecting the stamps along the way was fun. Who doesn’t like stamps? I think the stamp system would be a great thing to institute on other long walks around the world. It’s an easy and fun reminder of all the places you stop at.

We did 122km or so, 100 is needed for the certificate at the end. We did get the certificates but I think the stamps are actually a better souvenir.

So that was our Camino! Probably the least impressive in terms of length but a very nice walk and Danny and I managed to get along very well, both being very patient when the other needed to go slowly or take a break.

To finish, here’s a series of photos of us in front of highways and derelict petrol stations. It’s not all forests and fields!

4May2023

Camino Ingles Day 6: Segueiro to…. Segueiro

by Miss Penny Black

I hope you’re all appreciating the fact that I haven’t posted any photos of Danny’s blisters but they, and the weather, are why we are taking today off.

We have sat ourselves in a cafe that is pretty much below last night’s accommodation and have been phoning people for chats (Luke’s parents are currently on a cruise in Germany) and watching the world’s slowest window cleaner.

He took over two hours to do these windows.

He did do an excellent job but the rate was glacial.

It’s been kind of interesting watching people come and go. The cafe has an extensive menu but mainly seems to sell bread from the front end of the counter and beer and coffee from the back half.

Hardly any cafes display their menus or even have them out on tables. Approximately half of this menu was translated into English, the other half is for locals only!

The vast amount of tiling and cold lighting in Spanish cafes make them all feel a bit cheap and basic but this place has stools and clearly is a regular haunt for many retired men. There’s a row of them at the bar with their newspapers and beers.

Half the houses here have benches out the front so I imagine that all their wives are sitting out neighbour-watching between housework while the men are in here.

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. This is one of the less disgusting ones. Poor Danny.

We’ve spent the rest of the day with our feet up and Danny trying to get me to look at his disgusting feet. Danny has been enjoying Ted Lasso for the first time.

The highlight of my day was saying I’d race Danny the four flights downstairs, him taking the lift and me on the stairs. The stairs circle around the lift and I hit every ‘door open’ button on the way down and could hear Danny shouting at me from the lift. I nearly died laughing by the time I got to the bottom.

For dinner we went back to the same cafe and had the same arepas as last night. When we walked in the owner and bartender gave us big smiles and right at the end I talked to a girl at the bar who told me they were all from Venezuela. They were all so lovely, if you’re ever in Sigueira I highly recommend stopping at this place, just look for the little square with the fountain on the west side of the main street.

Also we’ve generally found that the cafes that line the busiest roads are nowhere near as friendly or pleasant as going a street or two back.

In the evening, between Ted Lasso episodes, Danny booked all our travel and accommodation in Pontevedra (two nights) and Porto (three nights). After that Peter and Ash arrive and we will meet up in Santiago de Compostella and properly see the city that is the official end of the camino.

Ok so this morning Danny told me how much this apartment is worth. It’s on the fourth floor, there’s a lift. Here’s some photos before I tell you how much it’s worth.

Within the apartment was a second floor, the bedrooms were upstairs.

There’s a separate lounge and dining, three bedrooms and three bathrooms plus a car space and a fee of 52 euros a year for the body corporate. the town is also pretty close to an international airport.

Double-double glazed windows with those amazing roller blinds that you never see in Australia but are everywhere in Europe.

169,000 euros! 277K in AUD. Time to learn Spanish!

3May2023

Camino Ingles Day 5: Ordes to Segueiro

by Miss Penny Black

Most pilgrims stay in Bruma but we had missed out on accommodation so we had walked off trail to Ordes. I don’t know if I really spent enough time in my last post emphasising precisely how many trucks were driving through the main street of Ordes, where our hotel was. It was like a truck convention had come to town.

It was pretty much a constant stream of loud traffic. The town had a strange vibe, with half the businesses clearly closed down but also a lot of fancy cars and richly dressed pedestrians. All the buildings were soot stained… basically we weren’t sorry to leave. If Pontedueme was 4/5, this was 1/5.

I cannot complain about the staff at our hotel, who were so so friendly and helpful and apologised all the time for their English (this is so embarrassing for me and my ten words of Spanish). Breakfast was … tomato on toast!

Plus a special treat.

Mum, I know exactly what you’ll say when you see this photo! Coco pops was my special treat cereal as a kid.

Hotel decor was a bit dramatic for breakfast.

As we left the hotel I noticed something significant – a pile of bags with tags. This meant the bag transfer service was available! I got out my little backpack, we put all of Danny’s heavy stuff in my big bag and left it for pick up. Having an AirTag on my bag made it easy to check when it reached its destination and helped us navigate to the right place.

Walking out of town was a pleasure and quickly took us away from the grotty part of town and into the countryside. Along the way was some great graffiti.

Five kilometres out of town was an excellent little cafe with an owner who spoke not only perfect English but with a West Sussex accent despite being clearly Spanish. she has been born in England then moved back to Spain with her Spanish parents to look after her grandmother.

We asked her if pilgrims were annoying and she said ‘only the Spanish ones’ and when we asked how they were annoying she said ‘in every way’ and the gist of it seemed to be that they were very entitled and acted like they were doing her a favour and didn’t realise her business was mainly supported by locals, pilgrims were ‘holiday money’. It was really interesting to be able to talk to someone about the local side of living on such a popular route.

People had left pilgrims messages so I left the orange one in the middle letting people know that the little boxes on stilts were for corn. Later on we met some British girls who had also been wondering. It wasn’t just us who was mystified!

The lady in the cafe had said the walk from then on was easy and she wasn’t wrong. Either that or Deb had been right about day five and onwards being easier… or the cooler weather made a difference. Maybe it was all these aspects combined?

Most of the walking was by fields, through trees and on roads.

There were definitely more people on the trail today as both routes had properly joined. We kept leap-frogging groups and saying hello … well, hola! When everyone says hola it’s really hard to work out who speaks English.

We had a nice chat with some Spanish men who spoke English at a rest stop by the second last pilgrim bath of the day.

The last part of the day was beside a highway but behind a hedge, thankfully. Also it was a gentle downhill for once.

Then through industrial estates but they seemed quite new and busy.

Apart from Danny’s epic blisters we both agreed that it was by far the easiest day. Most of the other pilgrims had walked further than us though as we had stayed at a town that wasn’t exactly on the trail. We had wondered if towns not on the official route would still give us stamps but it turned out to be fine no matter where we went.

Walking into Sigueira was lovely with a nice park and an open cafe.

As we sat with a snack under some lovely wisteria, too early to book into our accommodation, the weather turned a bit.

Danny was not happy about getting out his raincoat.

My bag had been taken to a different hotel so we had to pick it up before our accommodation. The AirTag was a super handy way to find my bag. The lady at the hotel was very annoyed that my bag had been sent there when we weren’t actually staying at her hotel and she said ‘maybe it was there, maybe not’ but a nicer member of staff went to look and found it immediately. If I hadn’t been able to track my bag with my phone I would’ve had a proper panic!

Our apartment was on the third floor so after we lugged our bags up we went out for food – delicious arepas at a bar that was playing almost nonstop Adele videos.

I will admit this photo doesn’t look great but it was actually one of the best things I’ve eaten so far on this trip.

We highly recommend this bar, not just for the food but the staff were lovely.

We bought some wine and snacks and by 7pm we were on the couch watching Drag Race.

Danny’s feet had been hurting so much that we decided to book another night in Sigueiro. It turned out to be a great decision as it started raining during the night and hasn’t really stopped since!

2May2023

Camino Ingles Day 4: Beche to Ordes

by Miss Penny Black

We set our alarms early and were on the road by 8:30. Danny left his sunglasses behind but otherwise it was a good start.

Our continual conundrum is where to stop for food. Since we started early we stopped at the first roadside cafe/general store where we saw lots of other pilgrims.

When Danny ordered sandwiches the lady brought the whole giant loaf/ring of bread to ask how much we wanted.

This is a style of service I could get used to.

God knows how she works out a price for this.

She made us take lots of photos – of her with us but also of her with other pilgrims.

She had a box of little flags and things and even found me a tiny clippy koala.

We also spoke to an American man from Kansas who was in Spain for a couple of months and was on his fourth Camino of the trip. He started on the primitivo Camino but wildfires blocked the path so he changed and had been doing bits of several.

Eventually it was time to hit the road. Today is a 17km walk and by lunch we had done 12km. The afternoon was a lot of hot walking in the sun. I employed my festival survival hack and socked my cotton scarf in water. At one point I saved my giant ice cubes from a cafe and wrapped them up for my neck, which worked well.

A transfer station is an inspiring reminder of man’s ability to generate electricity. Also I know I look sunburned but it’s not as bad as it seems and I am wearing a hat and sunscreen all day.

A pilgrim bath that was the first we’d seen that actually looked clean enough to put your feet in, even though we didn’t.

Authentically Spanish afternoon snack;-)

Sitting in a dirty bus stop watching trucks go past.

My hip pain came back a bit in the afternoon but only in short spurts. We had our worst walking right before our hotel in Ordes, right beside a highway with only a narrow strip and heaps of trucks. It was pretty grim but the trucks very kindly moved over as far as they could, probably cursing us all the while.

When we got into the town we stopped at a pharmacy to buy ibuprofen and more foot plasters.

The towns seems to have some interesting street art.

Our hotel with generic tortured trees. Why do they cut all the branches off?? It looks awful and there’s no shade.

We arrived about 4:30 and decided to relax and shower before seeing where to eat this evening and do some laundry. Exciting stuff!

Action shot of our pilgrim passports being stamped. I don’t think I’ve mentioned them before. You have to get at least two stamps a day to prove you’ve done at least 100 for a certificate at the cathedral. We keep changing our minds about whether we want the certificate or not.

My room has a bit of a weird smell but whatever.

We went out to do laundry and have dinner.

An entire meal of salad was very exciting.

I took a photo of this bin truck outside the restaurant where we had dinner to remind myself of all the trucks they drive through Ordes constantly. I’ve never seen so many trucks in a small town.

A note regarding yesterday’s post, we discovered the tiny sheds on stilts were actually for storing corn.

Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler and we are going to set off around 8am as the hotel breakfast is at 7:30. it’s another day that’s just under 20km. It’s worked out well they we arrive at our destination in time to shower, rest, then enjoy the evening somewhat. I can well imagine that doing this for weeks on end would result in much improved fitness. Im not sure I’ll see any benefit but it’s nice knowing we are succeeding at something that seemed quite daunting initially.

1May2023

Camino Ingles Day 2: Pontedueme to Betanzos

by Miss Penny Black

I am not sure I’ll have a lot to write about today because I am completely exhausted but here’s today’s walk in brief.

First, it’s Sunday, so Pontedueme was pretty quiet. We had tomato on bread for breakfast but with ham this time.

The path out of Pontedueme, starting from our breakfast table, went up, up, UP.

Still, we consoled ourselves with the amazing views as we sweated through our clothes. Or as I sweated and Danny lightly dampened his clothes. It turns out Danny doesn’t sweat much, which somehow seemed quite unfair.

One the first day of our walk we had discovered pilgrim fountains everywhere. They have running water and foot baths with a bench around. On this day we saw a few but nowhere near as many. I would be interested to know if they are a feature on other routes.

During the first half of the day we walked through forest and along some very pretty trails. Thankfully not all the forests were eucalypts.

We saw a lot of grape vines on trellises. This was probably the most impressive.

The roadside verges were full of flowers and there were many lovely scents along the way.

The path took us through very varied scenery, including beneath massive pillars that held highways above wetlands.

We saw beaches and waterways.

For lunch we stopped at a very pilgrim-themed place to have a bite. There was a cute and very tiny dog.

The lady running the stop was lovely and very welcoming. We left after having a very restful sit and picking some wild strawberries from their garden.

Just a short way down the track we saw a huge mural featuring the woman from the pilgrim stop. If only we’d had a photo with her!

I bought an apple in the next little town and we came across a large group of women pilgrims walking so slowly that they ended up being the first (and probably last) people we would overtake. Sure, they overtook us later on but it did feel nice to not be the slowest for a short while.

The path continued to be very hilly.

Towards the end I was really struggling. My right hip was hurting, particularly on the uphills, which was doubly annoying because on the downhills the soles of my feet really stung. Across the day I took 5 ibuprofen tablets and I’m not sure they helped much.

This is a photo Danny took of me struggling;-).

The second half of the day was through countryside that felt almost deserted and was also lacking the plentiful benches of the morning so we stopped and sat in a gutter at one point to eat our snack nuts (snuts) and biscuits.

Classy!

The sandals I bought in England were a nice change for my feet in the middle of the afternoon as we climbed the last hill. A lady pulled over as we were halfway to the top and told us it wasn’t much further. At the tip we found her with her husband manning a little pilgrim stop with cold drinks and a donation box. They asked where we were from and then pointed to all the eucalyptus trees, telling me they were from Australia. Yes, I had noticed that half of Spain looks exactly like the trees around my house, thanks.

We got a stamp and then sat down for a rest. A Dutch fellow came along and sat down for a chat. He had done many Camino trails and usually came with his family.

The couple at the stop took a photo of Danny and I together before we left.

Eventually we made it to Betanzos. The hotel was nice, we had Japanese for dinner and used the laundromat. My feet were pretty swollen and my blisters worse than I’ve ever had in my life! We’ll see how tomorrow goes!