Camino walking day 6

Again we had decided on an early start with the alarm going off at 6. Breakfast was available from 6 and was being provided by the cafe next door to our hotel. Actually, the hotel and the two eateries along from it appeared to be being run by the same people as they kept popping up at each one.

After the taping of feet and donning of boots it was out for breakfast. The staff serving us were very friendly and welcoming. Suitably set for the day it was a final pack, teeth, toilet and out the door.

There was an amusing notice in our bathroom. Can you decipher the meaning?

Having been warned to be careful crossing the main drag through town we were pleasantly surprised at how quiet it was. There were quite a few groups of pilgrims heading out of town ahead of us. The sun was just coming up as we were trooping through the last of the town.

Today we would reach our destination ... the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. We had also been warned that the distance indicators on the way markers would stop ahead of our arrival in Santiago. Knowing that many of the distance plates had been stolen from the markers we decided to take a photo of the first one we found ... as it could also have been the last!!!

Ripper ... less than 19kms to go!

We walked through some pretty country and cool, shaded forests. Some of the eucalyptus trees were mighty tall.

Here is an example of the many straight, tall trees we encountered

We made good time and took advantage of a couple of the cafes along the route to grab a drink. It is amazing just how many places there were and how many were open.

The track continued its ups and downs. There was hardly a level strip along the route but, by now, we were used to this.

Throughout our walk we had come across a couple of vans that were supporting groups of walkers. On our first day one of them managed to collect most of their group of walkers as Jen and I had walked on in the rain. The vans, one green and the other white, punctuated our walk for the whole 6 days. I wonder what would have happened if we had asked for a lift.

When we reached Lavacolla, the place where traditionally pilgrims washed themselves in the river (more like a creek!) before reaching Santiago de Compostela, we stopped to wash ourselves (well, our hands) in the water. At least we managed to clean ourselves each day and change our clothes. Many of the earlier pilgrims would have walked for months in the same clothes without bathing either.

Jen doing the ritual cleansing

The next point of interest was the small chapel of San Marcos and Monte do Gozo. The latter rise was the first place at which pilgrims saw the city of Santiago de Compostela.

The chapel of San Macros

The interior of the Chapel of San Marcos

New monument at the top of Monte de Gozo

View over Santiago de Compostela from Monte do Gozo

If we thought that it would be all downhill from Monte do Gozo we were in for a surprise as the terrain continued to bump up and down.

Once into Santiago the signs to follow changes. There was still the odd yellow arrow. There were also street signs on posts. In addition there were shell signs on the footpath.

We finally reached the Cathedral.

Where we were staying appeared to have disappeared. Once I managed to connect to the internet I tracked it down and realised that we had walk right passed the entrance as we were distracted by people being turned way from entering the cathedral through and exit only door.

Once at our hotel we collected our bags which were dutifully waiting for us near reception, retrieved the bag of dirty clothes and other stuff not required over the previous 6 days, dumped these in our room and headed out.

We dutifully lined up and visited the tomb of St James the Apostle whose relics are supposedly housed in the Cathedral.

While there is a no photo policy for the tomb of St James I was able to take a photo of the entrance to this part of the cathedral

Having completed the walk we went off insearch of the place that issues the certificates to pilgrims who comply with the minimum requirements for recognition. It was no easy feat but we did eventually find it so  we obtained our certificates. Yes, we both proudly hold certificates stating that we had walked 116km.

Jen having a celegratory drink

How often have we come across famous buildings and other object that are encased in scaffolding and plastic? The Cathedral in Santiago was no exception. The front facade is undergoing a facelift ...

Throughout the old part of the city we encountered musicians/buskers providing a variety of musically treats.

Indeed, after returning from dinner we were treated to a concert that wrafted into our open window.

We had a great view from our hotel window.

Jen looking out our window

All good things come to an end our our 6 day pilgrimage was no exception.

On our final day we walked 19.8km to get to the cathedral (and many more around the old town during the afternoon and evening). Our elevation gain was 745m with a loss of 810m (compared to the predicted 150m gain and 186m loss).

Apart from the first walking day the weather had been fine. The mornings were generally pleasantly cool with the temperatures rising throughout the day.

The places we stayed were good. The food was more than acceptable and some was excellent.

The natives were friendly and helpful and did their best to understand and help the non Spanish speaking tourists.

Camino walking day 5

After finishing the blog for day 4 I managed to take some additional photos.

View from our hotel window as the dropping sun hit on a row of buildings across the valley

As the weather promised to be warm, high 20s, we decided to get an early start and were up at 6am, dressed, feet taped and otherwise attended to and booted up for the day by 7 o'clock and dashed down only to find that the dining room was not yet open for breaskfast. Bother! We had a short wait before we were able to get in and tackled breakfast in short order.

We were on our way by 7:50am along with quite a few other pilgrims:

Most of the day's walking was through woodlands, small quiet villages and along streams although stream hardly described the small waterways we encountered.

As we were trundling out of Arzua we came to a stamping point that was operated by three nuns. We had not encountered many members of religious orders during our first four days of walking so this was quite novel.

Conditions early in the day were ideal for walking. It was still cool and much of the route protected us from the sun. We made good time.

The outline for the day had promised fairly level terrain. Well, it was sort of level except for the ups and downs. Supposedly there was only 50m elevation gain and 130m elevation loss for the day. Hah!!! Let's try 521m up and 627m down. This makes a huge difference to the walking ease.

We crisscrossed the N-547 a number of times. Crossing at road level was a bit of a game of picking the breaks in the traffic as cars and trucks flew along at breakneck speed. I much prefered cross underneath the road through an underpass. Unfortuntely they were not always available.

From time to time we came across water troughs. Sometimes the water looked fresh while in others it looked decidedly green. Yesterday we did come across a couple of young men making use of one such facility to wash their clothes.

The type of surface over which we walked continued to vary. Today we had

Cement

Rocfks set in cement

Dirt littered with fallen leaves with the odd protruding tree root

There were some lovely vistas when we were clear of the trees:

Small cafes continued to pepper the trail although a number had obviously closed as the main prilgramage season was over. At one of today's stop paella was an option and this was available from a huge pan. while the place was doing a good trade in paella it really was a little early in the day for lunch.

If you are looking for a place to buy and renovate Spain has many options. Here is todays selection of renovators delight:

This property had a for sale sign. Ivy and other greenary spilled out of the windows and doorways and completely coverered the roof 9which may or may not have still been attached)

One of the cafes we passed had taken advantage of a passing stream to offer patrons the opportunity to soak their feet while having a beer:

The chairs stradle a stream while the umbrella, complete with hanging beer bottles, provided shade

In 1985, when we were in argentina, we saw freeways that had been started and then terminated in mid air. Today we came across a variation on this theme. As we crossed the bridge (pictured below) we noticed that it was one of a series. In all we could see five other similar bridges. Below the bridges was a cutting that appeared to have been prepared for a freeway or other major road. Work on the super road had obviously stopped as weeds were now invading the road bed. A definite statement about the stte of the Spanish economy, I suspect.

Eucalyptus trees are very common in this part of Spain. Today we walked through a forest that could have been Aussie bush.

Tall gum trees and bracken ferns!

Jen and I made good time today and arrived at our destination shortly after lunchtime (our lunchtime ... not the locals!). we were able to get in to our room which was good. This allowed us to attend to our feet, do some washing, do this blog and have a rest.

Tomorrow is our last walking day.

Today we walked 19.13km with an alevation gain of 521m and loss of 627m.

Camino walking 4 days

Our overnight in Melide was punctuated by lots of noise until well into the early hours of the morning. Loud voices was a feature. As the room was not airconditioned we had opened the window to cool it down so we had a choice hot or noise. We choose noise. When you are tired enough noise becomes irrelevant and we both ended up asleep.

When we awoke for the 4th day of our walk all was quiet.

The early morning sky (7ish) as seen from our window

The street (as seen from our window) in the quiet of the morning

The Camino promised a number of streams and the rio iso as well as a number of medieval villages and churches. It did keep up its side of the bargain.

Here are some of teh churches from todays walk:

The church in the main square at Melide

The interior of the Chapel of St Anthony, Melide

Note the crow od people in front of the church (bottom left)

Chapel Magdalena, Arzua

Chapel Sata Maria, Arzua

The earliest of the churches/chapels dated back to the 13th century. Neither of the chapels in Arzua were open which was a pity.

much of the walk today was through farmland. This is diarying copuntry and there were lots of farms with cows. None of the herd were big - a dozen cows appeared to be the maximum. The cows are mostly barned. The lucky ones get to go out into the fields and the fresh air.

This was the biggest herd tthat we saw. Note the bell on the cow nearest the (electric) fence

we came across a couple of chaps taking four cows out. They were about to cross a road. at this stage they were all on leads.

We came across the same group a short time later. They were off their leads withno vehicles to contend with - only pilgrims

This herd consisted of black and white cows ... and there were five all told.

As we walked along we were confronted by a persistantly ringing bell. We finally came across the source which turned out to be a stroppy cow who was constantly shaking her head. I don't think she was happy about wearing the bell.

We have come across quite a few dogs over the past four days. Some were wandering around the towns, villages and hmalets. Others were on leads. Some were on the pilgrimage with their masters. However, dogs following pilgrims is obviously a problem as the following sign attests:

We came across one chap who travels with a donkey. apparently they have done quite a few prilgrimages together. The donkey and his master even rate a stamp for pilgrim passports.

I had better explain about the pilgrim passports. People travelling along the various Camino trails, there are four or five all told that end up in Santiago de Compostela, carry a special passport. At many places along the routes who can get stamps that confirm where you have been. These are important as they establish the pilgrims bona fide to claim a Compostela pilgrim certificate from the Pilgrim Office at the end of your journey provided you have completed a minimum distance. The required distance is different for walkers and those on bikes. Yes, there are oddles of people who do the Camino on bikes.

The surface of the trails vary considerably. Here are some from today.

Jen standing on one of the gravelly surfaces we walked on

Areas paved with rocks were hard on our feet

There were a number of stream and river crossings today. Here is one the had large stepping stones.

The River Iso was more like a creek than a river ... perhaps it does carry a lot more water than this some of the time.

Some of our fellow pilgrims took a paddle in the Rio Iso ... a great way to relieve tired feet.

We arrived in Arzua in time for lunch. Jen and I found a place in a shaded plaza:

We both had paella for lunch as this is not usually included on the Menu of the Day and our dinners since we have started walking have been included in our package and are the menu of the day.

Some of our fellow pilgrims took advantage of the cool, shaded plaza. Note the dog between the two prone bodies.

As we walked around Arzua we noticed that the sides (not the fronts) of many buildings were clad in corrugated iron. We ended up figuring that this was a temporary measure just in case another building springs up and abuts the wall.

There were some delightful vistas today, once the low cloud cleared away althought this also meant that the temperature shot up and walking became a much hotter business.

Todays statistics.






According to our trip notes the distance we were to walk should have been 13kms. This was pretty close to the mark. We did an additional 400m at teh start of the day as we doubled back to the plaza to take photos of the church and chapel.



Supposedly the elevation gain should have been a mere 40m with a loss of 180m. Now, that was a laugh! In all we gained 381m and had a loss of 452m!!!! There was a lot of ups and down.