Today I want to make a final post on my hike on the Camino de Santiago. I pick it up after my last El Camino de Santiago post where we just entered Santiago.

Walking into Santiago is really like any other city with roads, traffic, etc. However after about ten to fifteen minutes you cross into the old town of Santiago or the old part of the city. This is very noticeable as it gets very beautiful very quickly.

You eventually walk down on the last parts of the Camino before you come into the square in front of St. James Cathedral which is a truly beautiful site.

The square was filled with Pellegrinos all lying about on the ground or wherever they could get some reasonable comfort and rest, many of them exhausted after five hundred miles of hiking the Camino. It’s quite a sight to behold.

After taking in the beautiful vista of the Cathedral, I walked around the side to enter the Cathedral. It’s interesting as I have been in many major Cathedrals in the world, for example St. Peters in Rome. I always find that all Cathedrals usually have an air of piousness or a somber twinge to them. However, St. James was really quite different.

Because of the nature of the Camino, Pilgrims arrive in with large backpacks, hiking boots hanging off their feet and looking tired and tatty. That is of course to be expected after hiking over five hundred miles. However, I found that this added a much different atmosphere in the Cathedral. It was much more relaxed as people sat on the floor stacking their backpacks against the walls.

There really was just a sense of quiet relief all round from people who were just happy to have finished it. This gave a relaxed feel to the cathedral which I found really infectious and it was a really nice feeling.

As all the group came in bit by bit, we assembled at an agreed time at the right side of the Cathedral and some of us went in to sit down and wait for the Pilgrims mass at noon. As it is always so busy, it is advisable to get into the Cathedral earlier to be sure to get a seat. I highly recommend sitting in one of the sides of the altar in the cathedral. The main reason for this is that for some of the masses, the Botafumeiro is swung in the cathedral and so if you’re sitting on either side of the altar, it will swing directly over your head.

The Botafumeiro is a massive incense burner that hangs on ropes. Four men come out and using the ropes swing the Botafumeiro from one side of the church to the other with the incense smoke flowing out if it. It really is quite a sight, you can get a sample here.

The story goes that in centuries past, Pilgrims would arrive in for the mass after walking the Camino and they would, for want of a better way of saying it, be quite smelly. They would do their best to wash up in the troughs of water around the Cathedral but this wasn’t really sufficient so to help alleviate the smell, the Botafumeiro would send incense out across the cathedral easing the smell of the many pilgrims. Incense of course has a purifying purpose in a spiritual sense too so perhaps they could cleanse the air whilst cleansing the soul!

For the Pilgrims mass I attended the Botafumeiro wasn’t used. However, we were told it would be used the following evening at the seven thirty mass so I did get to see it in action and it really is a spectacular sight.

The other thing I remember about the mass was the nun who sang throughout it. She came across as really kind and friendly as she encouraged the whole congregation to sing along with her in Spanish. Her voice was truly amazing, I can still hear it in my head.

Getting your Certificate (Compostela)

After the Pilgrims mass, the next thing to do was to head around to get the Compostela (certificate of completion). This was handy enough to do and the queues weren’t too long when I got there early Friday afternoon. The people really do check your pilgrims passport so remember to get at least two stamps each day while doing the Camino. There was one lady across from me who only had two stamps in her passport. She obviously didn’t know that you needed two per day! The officials refused to give her, her certificate of completion. She was heartbroken. Make sure it doesn’t happen to you if you do the Camino!

The officials will ask you to sign your name and mark why you did the Camino. You have three options which are roughly 1. For religious reasons 2. For religious and / or spiritual reasons and 3. For recreational reasons. After you select, they give you a certificate in Latin with your name on it. They will try to find a Latin version of your name, if it exists, for the certificate too.

And that is that! The Camino de Santiago complete, pilgrims mass finished and Certificate in hand.

Lot's to do in Santiago

I was staying in Santiago the next two days so I had a lot of time to have a walk around the city. It really is beautiful. There is a lot to do in the Cathedral itself like hugging the status of St. James, viewing his tomb and of course the many tours that are on offer. You can get one of the talking accompaniments to take with you and go at your own pace or you can join one of the many tour guide groups available in multiple languages.

I highly recommend the tour of the Cathedral roof and the Museum. Great way to kill a couple of hours. While on the tour, the tour guide lady told us about a mass in a church beside the Benedictine monastery where mass is sang every morning by the nuns at eight o’clock. That sounded amazing so I got up to attend and it was amazing. The majority of the mass is sang by a choir of nuns, was really beautiful.

There are of course many beautiful restaurants to sample in Santiago and you can kill happy hours strolling around the city watching the many street performers or sampling a coffee or the hot chocolate and churros in one of the many cafes.

The city park is worth a visit, there’s a beautiful view of the city from the main viewing point in it and there is of course plenty of bars and night life with live bands, clubs, etc.

I was staying in a converted monastery called Hospederia San Martin Pinario just on the left hand side of the Cathedral. It was really nice and very cool to stay in an old monks room converted with modern amenities.

Finally, I highly recommend a coffee or a bite to eat in the five star Parador hotel just on the left hand side as you’re facing the Cathedral. A bit of luxury is nice after all that walking. If you can stretch to stay for a night in the place, all the better. Oh and don’t worry about looking scruffy in your hiking gear after walking, while not normal in most five star hotels they’re well used to it there. A pilgrim is a pilgrim!

The Camino Shell

There is one more thing I just realized that I forgot to mention about the Camino. Most Pilgrims you see on the Camino will have a shell on their person or ties to their backpack.

This shell is the symbol of the Camino. Legend has it that it was used symbolically to show that all roads lead to one and practically as tool for scooping up drinking water from the troughs and wells as the Pilgrims travelled the Camino centuries ago. It’s an interesting thought and I do like the symbolism.

Conclusion

So that is the end of this series of posts on the Camino de Santiago. I hope you found them useful if you plan to hike the Camino yourself. I do recommend it, it really is an experience unlike any other I have ever had in both hiking and general terms.

Remember to always have the right hiking gear with you. If there was ever a time when you needed to have the right hiking boots and hiking socks on, a comfortable back pack or a good rain jacket, this is it. Walking long distances repeatedly day after day brings its own unique challenges and so you need to be prepared with the best hiking gear available to ensure you have as comfortable and safe a hike as possible.

Have you hiked the Camino? What experiences did you have along the way? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

And so, we come to the last stage of hiking on the Camino de Santiago!

This stage runs twelve and a half miles from O Pedrouzo to Santiago. As with my previous blog entry, the group I was travelling with actually did this stage over two days but I will be combining both days into one post.

O Pedrouzo to Santiago

We started from O Pedrouzo and headed for Lavacolla. This was about six and a half miles in total and so was completed in a very short time. People who had been having trouble with their hiking boots and blisters were now pretty hardened up so this was a cake walk in hiking terms.

It was another sunny day and again we walked through dense eucalyptus in shade and peace and quiet. It really was a very serene walk. As we were only going a short distance, we didn’t set out till much later than previously so we were not on the road till about nine in the morning. By that time the normal caravan of Pellegrino’s who set out early in the morning, to take advantage of the cool morning air, were long gone.

We were staying in Lavacolla and I want to make a special mention for a really beautiful country house we stayed in on this night. It’s called Xan Xordo. It’s located in the quaint countryside of Lavacolla and it really was a beautiful place. I had a beautiful four poster bed and a proper full sized bath! A luxury I can tell you as even though I had been staying in hotels the whole journey to date, so far from roughing it, they all only had showers, no baths. I’m not normally a big fan of baths, much more a shower type of guy but after all the walking of the previous days the opportunity to stretch out in a long hot bath was just divine!

As mentioned, the location was just beautiful. There’s a small courtyard in front of the Xan Xordo with a table and chairs for resting in. There’s a canopy over the table and it was so cool as it is actually made from grapevines with real bunches of grapes hanging from it! Totally awesome. As well as that, at the very front of the courtyard there was a tiny little church. This would have been owned by the family who were of means going back generations. It really was something special. A private little church in your front yard, how about that!

The next morning, the final day of hiking, we started out around eight in the morning to make our way to the beautiful city of Santiago. We wanted to be there for the Pilgrims mass which is on every day at noon so this gave us plenty of time to get there.

As we approached the city, we expected hoards of pilgrims on the Camino and things did start to crowd up the closer to Santiago we got. The first major place of note between Lavacolla and Santiago is Monte do Gozo. There’s a long hike uphill here which can be tiring but I found it fine on the cool overcast morning that it was.

You will also find many of the one day bus tours starting from this point. They drive and drop off bus-loads of people who then walk back into Santiago to St James Cathedral.

Overall the hike was pleasant and as expected we arrived in good time to Santiago for the Pilgrims Mass at noon.

Conclusion

In my next and final blog post on the Camino de Santiago I will go into a bit more detail on arriving into Santiago, St. James Cathedral and the Pilgrims mass, acquiring your ‘compostela’ (certificate of completion) and so on. Much to review!

But that was that as far as the hiking was concerned. We had all reached our destination successfully! There were some casualties along the journey with blisters, swollen feet, sore backs and the like but overall everyone did a great job to get there. Approximately seventy miles walked over eight days. Not bad going!

If you want to go to the start of this series on the Camino, click here. If you want to read the next installment, click here 🙂

Have you hiked the Camino? What experiences did you have along the way? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

As with the last blog entry in this series on the Camino, I am combining my two actual days, five and six, into one post here as normally, most people would do what I and my group did over two days in one day.

This is the penultimate stage before heading along the final part of the Camino for Santiago. The stage covers twenty or so kilometers from Arzúa to O Pedrouzo.

Arzúa to O Pedrouzo

For most of the day we walked on natural paths that were sheltered well from the sun by the many eucalyptus trees. The end of the hike for the day saw us climb around the alto de Santa Irene. Before that we walked on largely level pathways crossing three small shallow river valleys.

At this point we started to notice the Camino was starting to get a bit busier. This is because we were of course drawing closer to Santiago but it is also because many tour operators operate shorter walks for tourists in from some of the smaller hamlets and towns closer to Santiago.

You can’t get your Compostella for doing these tours but it does give people a small flavor of walking the whole Camino.

The weather held again for this part of the hike with the sun poking its nose out from under the clouds across the morning.

This day I had put on a pair of freshly washed hiking socks from day one. I had hand washed them with me in my shower in the hotel, the previous day! I wasn’t entirely sure if this would work but that’s the advice I was given from another Pellegrino.

You will notice as you walk the Camino that many people are effectively a walking clothes line. They wash their dirty gear in the hostel and then attach it to their backpack walking the next day to let it dry in the sun. This is why a good tip for doing the Camino is to bring a few clothes pegs with you!

There’s another general point I should mention here that I have not mentioned in any of the posts on the Camino yet to date and that is to do with the cost of things.

As with most of Spain, Northern Spain is very reasonably priced. When you are buying food in any of the many café’s in either the small towns along the way or the many beautiful little ‘middle of nowhere’ farmhouse cafes along the way, the prices are very good.

Prices do increase, as with any city, as you approach Santiago but even there I found everything to be very reasonable.

To give you a few examples, in the smaller towns a standard glass of red wine was about sixty cents in Euro, approximately eighty cents in US Dollars.

A coffee maybe one euro, approximately one US dollar twenty five.

A Bocadillo, or sandwich, on the Camino is usually a very large affair and will cost you about three euro, approximately four dollars but Man do you get one hell of a sandwich for that price. See the bad boy below as one example and I’d already ate a big chunk off of it!

You will also find that in the many small towns and restaurants along the Camino, they will have what is called a Pilgrims menu or meal. This usually involves a three course meal with a few options for each course. While you will generally get offered similar items in each location, as nice as Galician tart is by day three I was very tired of it, the food is generally pretty good. This will cost anywhere from nine to twelve euro, approximately eleven to fifteen US dollars.

So, as you can see, food prices are very reasonable as is accommodation.

Conclusion

All in all, another very pleasant day's hiking on the Camino and I certainly didn't go hungry 🙂 Well, I will leave it at that for today. Tomorrow will be the final entry on this series of posts on the Camino as we head for Santiago!

If you want to go to the start of this series on the Camino, click here. If you want to read the next installment, click here 🙂

Have you hiked the Camino? What food experiences did you have along the way? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Day three on the Camino de Santiago took us from Palas De Rei to Melide. Now, this stage should actually be from Palas De Rei to Arzúa but the group I was with decided to split some of the last stages down into smaller chunks.

This was due to some people not being able for the demands of the full stage in one day which was fair enough. This was a little frustrating from my point of view as being a regular hiker, and after having nearly thirty two miles under my belt from the first two days, I was itching to keep on walking to Arzúa when we got to Meilde.

I should add that this plan was well established in advance of the trip and so therefore it was more of a miscalculation on my part.

Not having hiked large distances over more than two days before I wasn’t sure how I would react to it either so I erred on the side of caution. Always a wise thing to do when hiking but in this instance I was probably too cautious and was more than able to continue on the long day hikes day after day. Some people were starting to have blister issues from either having listened to bad advice on hiking socks or having the wrong hiking boots or shoes with them.

Because of this I will combine what actually happened over days three and four for me into one post here as it is normally how most people would approach it.

Starting from Palas De Rei

We started from Palas De Rei crossing six river valleys. About half of this stage was on pathways mostly through woodland. This helped keep the noise of passing traffic down and energy levels up as we walked through the fresh morning enveloped by trees and the fresh aromas of the various trees and brush. Melide makes a good half way stop on this part of the stage.

As mentioned above, this is where we actually stopped for the day after completing about ten miles. I should add that this is a perfectly valid option for those wishing to take a slower pace to this particular stage of the Camino. Melide is a big enough town which is renowned for its octopus pulpo a la Gallega. This is a nice option for lunch if you are continuing on to Ribadiso or dinner if you plan to stay the night.

It is worth mentioning here that there are many beautiful little churches dotted all along the small little towns and hamlets along the Camino. Therefore there are many chances to stop for a quiet moment of thought or reflection if desired in many serene and peaceful places.

As walking the Camino is a very spiritual journey for many, a lot of people will take time to do this. The architecture in many of these places is very beautiful. I was walking with two fellow Pilgrims from the group. We were well out in front of everyone and as we approached Melide, about three miles out, the skies opened up!

When we got into the outskirts of the town we took refuge in the beautiful little church pictured above. There was a little girl with her Mum at the door who were all smiles and ready to stamp our passports as we walked in. We were soaked to the bone and a little frustrated so their warmth and smiles only helped to cheer myself and two fellow Pellegrinos up!

At this point we’d more or less reached the halfway point for our journey. For every kilometer you complete on the Camino you will see a little pillar like the one at the start of this post telling you how many kilometers are left to Santiago, so you always have a good idea of how far you are away from your next destination.

On to Arzúa

The following day we set out early to head the last twelve or so kilometers to Arzúa. This day was probably the shortest of all days as we only did about twelve kilometers. The sky was overcast but the weather held while we were walking so all was good as we reached Arzúa and drew closer to Santiago.

If you intend to detour off the route to visit Pambre Castle or the famous Pazo Ulloa, between Palas de Rei and Melide, you should leave early in the morning especially if you are aiming to be in Arzúa by evening. Starting early is good advice every day regardless! Just before entering Ribadiso, just before Arzúa, we passed out of the Galician province of Lugo and into La Coruna.

If you want to go to the start of this series on the Camino, click here. If you want to read the next installment, click here 🙂

Have you walked the Camino or had the famous octopus pulpo a la Gallega in Melide? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Day two saw us set out early, 6am, to start the journey from Porto Marin to Palas De Rei. Generally speaking, we got up with the dawn every day to set out walking as early as possible.

This was the standard among most pilgrims and the Camino would be starting to get busy from that time on. The main advantage to doing this is that the mornings are so fresh and cool that you can easily walk in them before any sun gets up later in the morning.

It also means you should get to your next destination by afternoon or early evening which will at least give you some time to relax, rest and eat before setting out again the next day. Definitely a good way to do it.

Terrain for Day Two

This was a day of differing terrain covering twenty seven kilometers. We walked from Porto Marin, through the small hamlets and towns of Gonzar, Hospital, Ligonde, Eirexe and Portos to get to Palas De Rei.

We started by skirting the reservoir Embalse de Belesar climbing up through woodland to move back and forward from the main road before leaving it to climb the ridge beyond Ventas de Narón Sierra Ligonde, dropping down to portos.

Then there was a pleasant climb around the side of Rosary Heights, Alto Rosario, to drop down finally to Palas De Rei. If you intend to take the detour to Vilas de Donas, an option on this stage, prepare for an early start. The detour adds a level four or five kilometers but there are several uphill stretches during the rest of the stage.

The weather held throughout the day. It was a little overcast at times but all in all it was pleasant and good conditions to hike in.

As it was day two, the legs were a bit stiff from day one so I think this was probably the hardest day for most people and everyone was grateful to see the bridge into Palas De Rei stretching out in front of them as we arrived in.

Conclusion

By this stage some issues were beginning to develop for people, mainly developing blisters. This was also the day my choice to wear brand new socks straight from the packet also caught up with me. It had started the day before but the remnants where still with me, that is a swollen ankle. Thankfully no pain though so just a matter of time for it to ease off.

I’ll leave this for today. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the next stage of the journey from Palas De Rei to Arzúa. If you want to go to the start of this series on the Camino, click here. If you want to read the next installment, click here 🙂

Have you hiked the Camino before? I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.

A few weeks back I returned from the beautiful region of Galicia in Northern Spain where I undertook the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James). It was a great time and I want to add some detailed posts on my hike there over the coming days.

It really is a lovely walk. I use the term walk purposely here as before I went a sister of a colleague of mine corrected me at a party when I used the term ‘hike’ to describe it i.e. it’s more a ‘walk’ than a cross country ‘hike’ as such.

Now, calling it a ‘walk’ is open to debate as while I only started from Sarria and walked one hundred and twenty or so kilometers to Santiago, the minimum amount to get your completion certificate or ‘Compostela’, many pellegrino’s (Pilgrims) will do the whole thing starting from St. Jean.

That’s a hike of approximately eight hundred kilometers or five hundred miles, part of which is through the Pyrenees so I would expect that to be pretty tough. While much of the Camino route is very well marked out on easily accessible paths and so maybe not really ‘hiking’ cross country as such, the sheer distance alone to me means it should be defined as a very long hike indeed.

Getting Started

We flew into Santiago de Compostela and then got a coach out to Sarria for the beginning of our journey. We flew in the day after the tragic train crash on 25^th July so needless to say the atmosphere was somber from a city and country in mourning.

The trip was organized in such a way that our main bags were transported to our next place of accommodation so we only needed to bring a day pack with us when walking. We started on the Camino on Friday July 26^th and walked twenty two kilometer’s from Sarria to Porto Marin.

The first thing that surprised me was the weather. I have been in Northern Spain before and so did know it can be quite mild, similar to the United Kingdom and Ireland. However for mid-July, I did expect it to be a bit hot. This wasn’t really the case. The mornings are fresh and cool and really ideal for walking in. The paths were very dusty on the first day as it hadn’t rained in a few days so my hiking boots (I opted for boots for the trip rather than my hiking shoes but they would have been fine) and socks were like two big lumps of dust on my feet!

This leg was nice enough with some detours through country roads and natural pathways. Most of the ‘stage’, as such, was along tree lined roads which offered good shelter from the sun as the day progressed. The weather held and the sun shone for the whole of this part of the journey.

As we walked we passed through many little hamlets and passed many small cafes where you could get your Camino passport stamped to acquire your certificate at the end. It’s a minimum of two stamps from two different places each day to ensure you get your Compostela.

This is easily done as everywhere, from the cafes to the restaurants, hostels to hotels will all be able to provide you with a stamp. As with any hike you need to ensure you have the right hiking supplies with you, so adequate water, etc. is important as there can be significant gaps between hamlets and therefore cafés.

Conclusion

So, we had day one under our belts and by making it to Porto Marin we had twenty two kilometers in the bag. The group I was with were generally in good shape but talk of a few blisters was bubbling among a few folks.

I need to sign off on this for today so will continue on from day two it in the next blog post!  If you want to read the next installment, click here 🙂

Have you hiked the Camino? Share your experiences below, I'd love to hear about it.

Tomorrow I am flying out to Spain to do the pilgrim’s walk of ‘El Camino de Santiago’.

El Camino de Santiago, also known as the way of St. James, is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia Northern Spain.

The way of St. James was one of the most important pilgrimage routes in medieval times. Legend holds that St. James's remains were carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain where he was buried on the site of what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela.

The Camino can be split into three main parts, the hillls of the Basque country, the hot and flat section of the ‘meseta’ and the beautiful green hills of Galicia. I will be starting in Galicia and hiking approximately 100 km’s, give or take a few kilometers.

The pilgrimage can take any number of routes but I will be starting in Sarria (See Red arrow on the map below). This is the minimum distance to start from Santiago to enable you to get the certificate of completion of the Camino De Santiago. The minimum requirement is that you either walk 100 kilometers on foot or cycle 200 kilometers.

To get the certificate you need to acquire a ‘Pilgrim’s passport’ in advance, also known as the credencial. These can be acquired on arrival in Spain but you can also get them in major cities before going to Spain.

You need to get the passport stamped in locations with the official St. James stamp in each town or village you pass through. When you get to Santiago at the end, you hand your passport in to get a certificate of completion, also known as the ‘Compostela’.

I plan to enter more blog posts on this hike on my return. The Camino has a great reputation for being a fascinating hike as many people do it for all sorts of reasons. Some just for the sake of doing a beautiful hike but many for religious, spiritual or personal reasons. One can expect to meet a lot of interesting people on it and I am really looking forward to it! The scenery will be spectacular and the temperature in Northern Spain should be pleasant in and around 25C / 77F.

I will be wearing light shorts and convertible pants and a good pair of hiking shoes while hiking there. The most important thing will be good pairs of hiking socks and appropriate underwear to prevent any chafing! Oh, and I mustn’t forget the sunscreen either!

I’m not sure if I’ll get a chance to add any new posts while away hiking, so if not, until my return, Buen Camino!

Have you hiked El Camino de Santiago? Share your experience’s below, we’d love to hear your comments!