Altitude: Start at 386 m(1,266 ft.) and ascend to 711 m(2,333 ft.) and go up and down gradually descending to 566 m(1,857 ft.).
From Sarria all the way to Santiago, there was a noticeable rise in the amount of people and it became annoying quickly. We woke up around 6:00 a.m. and started getting ready quietly. There were a lot of people also getting ready and being quite noisy about it. One lady started screaming for someone to turn on the lights. When she was told others were still sleeping and to go outside, she screamed louder for someone to turn on the lights. We quickly packed our things and headed out to get away from her and the others like her. We headed back through town, down the stairs, across the bridge, and up into the mountains. We passed through the town of Gonzar, which was basically a stopover point for pilgrims and headed on up to Ventas de Naron. The trail went through the woods for most of our walk to Ventas. We even overheard a couple coming out of the woods telling someone on the phone they had lost time because they had to find a secluded place to poop in the woods.
The sky was beautiful for most of the morning. We passed by many farms and fields of sunflowers. It was Sunday and many people who lived along the trail were out for a morning stroll. We also saw many taxis with cheating hikers. Apparently, it's not an uncommon practice on this part of the trail to pay a taxi to slowly drive you along the Camino. Of course, the only taxis that were acceptable were the ones with blacked out windows.
We passed through Ligonde and Airexe before getting to Palas de Rei. We met a nice Italian guy who worked in England as an Egyptologist at a museum. I talked with him for several hours as we hiked about what he did. He'd been to Egypt many times and had some interesting insights into Egyptian history and the current state of affairs. He also told me how he'd walked the Camino del Norte and the Portuguese route from Lisbon. He was planning to do the hike from England that involved taking a boat from Southampton to La Coruña. He was very patient and waited with me while I waited on Izzy who stopped to snack on blackberries that grew along the trail.
Just outside of Palas de Rei, we came across a tourist desk. They had great information and maps of the town. Nearby was a large albergue but they informed us we could walk on into town to find another municipal one. Since it was Sunday, we didn't wonder if someone had left a pot or two by chance in the kitchen because we wouldn't be able to purchase anything from the stores. Everything was always closed on Sunday. We checked in after waiting in line for a while. We were starting to feel pressure to walk fast throughout the day so we ensured ourself a cheap bed.
The town has an interesting history. The legend of the towns name says it came from the name of a palace built by a Visigoth king in the 8th century. Most of the Romanesque architecture occurred after the establishment of the Camino de Santiago in the 10th - 12th centuries. We walked around the town for a bit and visited some churches and small shops that were open. We had a delicious lunch with our Danish friends and Shawn from Colorado just up the street from the albergue. The restaurant was called Meson A Forxa and had delicious cider chicken. Our only complaint was they advertised a nice custard dessert but brought out pudding cups. The waitress then gave us attitude when we requested a change. The only downside to Palas de Rei was the bathroom in the albergue. The room they put us in had enough beds for twelve people. In the bathroom, the showers were unisex with no shower curtain. Everyone eventually came to the agreement that two at a time would shower and someone else would guard the door. It's one thing to have separate sex bathrooms that have no shower curtains but a unisex one was a bit over the top.
Day 29: Palas del Rei - Arzúa
Distance: 28.7 km(17.8 miles)
Approximate Walking Time: 7-8 hours
Altitude: Start at 566 m(1,857 ft.) and descend to 423 m(1,388 ft.) and go up and down gradually descending to 385 m(1,263 ft.).
We got up early and out by 6:30 a.m. I finally had a great night sleep amidst a sea of snoring thanks to my Danish friends giving me some earplugs. We followed the yellow arrows out of town but we'd have ended up in the same place had we just followed the N-547. I guess they wanted us to see some more houses. We turned back into the woods as directed by the yellow arrows and found it difficult to navigate. It was really dark and our iPod lights weren't helping us find where to go. We walked up and down a road looking for arrows in places where they normally were but found nothing. Thankfully, our Danish friends showed up with flashlights and helped us find our way. We walked with them the rest of the day.
We walked through the villages of San Xulian, Casanova, and Furelos. The trail was a paved road with a fresh layer of cow dung. Most of the morning was overcast and cold and to boot, we had to stop often to pick small rocks out of our shoes.
We crossed a medieval bridge to enter Melide. The eastern part of the city was quaint and more historic than the modern part. We walked on into town and searched for a supermarket to reload on food supplies.
Above is an horreo in the historic part of town. Below is someone's mailbox.
As you can see from more of these pictures, the newer, modern part of town lacked the charm of the historic part. We found an Eroski market and stopped to get lunch and dinner for the next two days. We lost our Danish friends as they continued on but we knew we'd see them later in Arzúa. The supermarket took us a lot longer than we anticipated due to the one person working the register and a line that stretched to the back of the store. When we finished, we walked through the town and rested on a bench at the edge of town to have some breakfast. We almost got run over twice crossing the streets in Melide. A lot of people stopped there for the day and we thought about it but it was only 10:00 a.m. and we were right on schedule to arrive in Santiago on Wednesday.
The trail dipped back out into the countryside. We walked for a bit until our friend Shawn and his mother caught up with us. I walked and talked with him and a Spanish guy about basketball for a while and Izzy walked with his mother. After being worn out by his mother, Izzy slowed down and walked with Shawn and I walked with his mother. Her pace was unbelievable. I kept waiting on her to stop and she finally did 20 minutes after I'd already been saying in my head, Stop! Stop! Stop! We let them go on and continued on at our own pace.
This entrance into the forest had one of the worst smells of the entire Camino.
Along the way, there were some beautiful buildings.
As we neared Arzúa, our feet grew very tired. We figured out a couple of short cuts and took them. I felt bad at the time but when we arrived to the albergue, I didn't feel bad at all. Just outside of Arzúa was another small town called Ribadosa. There was an albergue there and it looked like a nice place to stay for five euros. A bunch of people were calling it a day and forming a line there.
When we got to Arzúa, we walked through most of the town and took the fork off to the left and down a hill to the municipal albergue. We got in line and as we waited, we saw our Danish friends there. They were telling us how nice it was. As the line wound down, we realized that they were running out of space. We shared some exasperated looks until we were told we would get the last two beds in the albergue. Wow. It was crazy and we couldn't believe that a town that is the convergence of two Camino trails would have such a small municipal albergue. What do they do in the summer when the number of hikers is double or triple? The town owes its existence and survival to the confluence of the trails and yet they don't do enough to provide for them. Some other people we met told us that Spanish law requires them to find you a place to sleep if you don't want to go to a private albergue. We walked around the town a bit but it was boring and didn't have much to see other than the nice places right around our albergue. We wasted away the afternoon having wine and beer with our friends and chatting about what we were all going to do once we finished in two days.
We were getting so close we could think of nothing more than finishing. We washed our clothes and had a nice private shower at the albergue. We spent the evening having cheese, chorizo, chips, and wine with our Danish friends and chatting about each other's cultures and countries.
Day 30: Arzúa - Arca do Pino
Distance: 18.8 km(11.7 miles)
Approximate Walking Time: 4-5 hours
Altitude: Start at 385 m(1,263 ft.) and go up and down and descend to 357 m(1,171 ft.).
We woke up early and were out of the albergue by 6:30 on our second to last day. Our excitement was growing but it usually dwindled after two hours of walking and reality setting in that we were still quite a ways from our goal. We had bright moonlight but the trail quickly entered a forest outside of Arzúa and it was pitch black. We walked for a while and wondered if we were on the right path because we couldn't find any yellow arrows for a while. Our Danish friends caught up to us as they always did and provided light until the sun rose. It revealed a beautiful, cloudless sky and made us think that our arrival to Santiago would be a beautiful one. We passed through the town of Sarceda and kept going until 9:00 a.m. when we stopped for breakfast and to empty our shoes.
The villages along the way to Arca do Pino had some of the most beautiful flowers of the whole Camino.
For the most part, we all chatted about movies and things that interested us. It really helped having fun people walk with us. Meeting people was the best part of the whole experience.
We stopped here just outside of St. Irene to take a break. The tall windmill was beautiful and the weather continued to be very cooperative. At one point, a German girl whom we'd seen two weeks earlier in León passed us by. As she passed us, we noticed a strange odor that seemed to come from her. We passed it off as just another rank Camino smell until we saw her pass other people and all of them smelled themselves and the air around them. I don't know how she went without showering because they were definitely the highlight of my day.
Near the windmill we found this monument and fountain built for the pilgrims. Thank you to whoever made sure that there is always a fountain of fresh water for pilgrims.
When we got to the town of O Pedrouzo, it took us a bit to realize we'd made it to Arca do Pino. At one point, you can cross the highway or turn left and head up into town. If you want to find the municipal albergue, turning left is the way to go. Otherwise, you'll just bypass the town. We waited in line for a bit and it turned into a nightmare as people were simply remembering who they were behind and that was how the line flowed. One smug guy cut off the line and subjected us to his frantic making out with his new found girlfriend. The albergue had a real kitchen with pots, pans, dishes and foodstuffs. It was a nice surprise. We bought some things at the grocery store and made dinner there. The inside of the albergue was nice and had lots of nooks with several beds. The showers had some privacy but not a lot. The town itself wasn't very exciting and only had a one or two nice things to see. The most exciting part for us was seeing our friend José, whom we hadn't seen since Santo Domingo de la Calzada nearly three weeks earlier. We had lunch with some hikers who'd been walking the Camino del Norte and asked them all about their experiences.
More than anything, we were excited to be near the end. We all tossed and turned and did our best to sleep as we prepared for our last day and arrival to Santiago de Compostela.
Trying to sleep the night before the last day's walk was impossible. I think I woke up at least 7 times throughout the night and each time, I was more intent than the last that it was time to get up. Around 5:00 a.m., I quit fighting the excitement and rolled out of bed. Izzy was already awake. Our Danish and Korean friends were already starting to stir so I knew that they were excited as well. We all washed up and dressed quickly and were out the door by 5:30 a.m. We cut through town instead of backtracking and picked up the trail near a public pool. The part where we entered the woods was a bit confusing because there seemed to be several forks in the path. We had to look carefully to find the yellow arrow but it was there. For the next two and a half hours, we wandered through the woods with the occasional bit along paved road on our way to Santiago. Nothing took away from our excitement.
The trail entered Santiago from the northeast and looped around the airport. As we passed by, a plane taxied out and took off. It definitely woke us up. Around the airport, we saw that there was a thick fog everywhere but we hoped it would burn off as the sun came up. As you can see from the pictures, it didn't at all. It was hard to take pictures because the camera couldn't find a focal point.
Previous pilgrims left words of encouragement on the stop sign. Funny it wasn't in Spanish. About 5 km outside of Santiago was the small town of Monte do Gozo. It had the biggest albergue of the entire Camino at 400 beds. Many people hiked there the previous day and woke up to take a leisurely stroll into Santiago. The houses in the town were made of stone and were beautiful.
There was a huge monument just outside of the albergue. We tried to find a way in to get a stamp but it sat out in the middle of a fenced off field and we couldn't find a way in. Many albergues closed daily for cleaning at 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. after the pilgrims left.
After a couple of long roads, we started to get closer and we could make out the city in the distance. The number of people walking seemed to increase exponentially the closer we got.
We crossed over the highway and followed the signs through town.
As we passed more and more buildings and we found ourselves in the city proper, the excitement was palpable. We were a mere few minutes from finishing our 800 km hike.
Around 10:20 a.m., we reached the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. 31 days after we started hiking in Saint Jean Pied de Port, France. We took some pictures then walked around the corner to Pilgrim Office to get our compostela. The line wasn't very long. After a 10 minute wait, we were able to get our final stamp and our names in Latin on a certificate that verifies we walked the Camino de Santiago. While we were there, we saw our Italian Egyptologist friend.
