If one year ago someone told me that I would one day walk the holiest pilgrimage in Catholicism, I would have said they were crazy. But last week, I somehow found myself filling my backpack with clothes, water, and a sleeping bag, preparing to embark on the Camino de Santiago. The final destination of the Camino is Santiago de Compostela in the northwest region of Galicia, where the bones of St. James the Apostle are buried. The journey can begin wherever you want to, but there are several established paths, the most famous--el Camino Frances--beginning right at the French-Spanish border and continuing along northern Spain to Santiago; it takes just about a month to complete. As cool as it would have been to do the entire stretch, I unfortunately didn’t have the time to do it.
Amanda, Bernabé, and myself started in Ponferrada, a city that sits about three-quarters into the Camino Frances, or about a week away from Santiago by foot. Many pilgrims obviously walk for the Christian aspect, but my reasons weren’t quite so religious. The reason I even thought to do this trip was because my friend Amanda had mentioned it a few times, and I thought walking together would be a great way to spend time with her before we head our separate ways at the end of the summer. Our friend Bernabé came along also. I didn’t know him too well before the Camino, so I got to make a new friend as well. Another reason was that I had barely seen any parts of Spain north of Madrid, so actually walking through it, not just bussing to the major cities, would be the best way to really see it. And then of course there was the whole “this-is-something-really-difficult-and-I-want-to-do-it” mentality that was a driving force as well.
After an inadequate weekend trip to País Vasco, the three of us departed Bilbao on a seven hour train ride to Ponferrada. We only had 5 full days to complete a walk that should take 7-8, so we began that evening. The inns for pilgrims have a special name, albergues, and usually cost only €5 to spend the night. All pilgrims have a special little “passport” that gets stamped at each albergue to show in Santiago you’ve walked at least the 100km minimum.
The first two days were passed eating wild cherries, trying not to vomit from eating said cherries, and lot of walking, walking, walking. Initially the landscape was mostly agricultural, a sea of orchards and vineyards. The towns we traversed were unlike anything I’ve ever seen, too small to even be called pueblos. Many of them were only one block long and nothing more. The dilapidated stone houses and eerily empty streets gave the feelings that these were cities abandoned decades ago, but the few signs of life (cooped up chickens, recently tended vegetable gardens, an open bar) proved the contrary. But every time we did cross paths with someone, they always gave the conventional “¡buen camino!” to encourage us along the way.
The third day started with a 10k climb through the mountains where we crossed the border of Castilla y León into Galicia. Despite the difficult ascent and progressive rain, the inconsistency of hiking through forest kept us riveted. The entire time I felt like I was journeying through Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings. Not only is this leg the supposed hardest part of the Camino, it’s also the day we walked the most, almost 50km. My legs were shaking by the end, and I had no idea just walking could cause so much pain.
Day 4 drew us out of the forest and into the most quintessential spring time landscape you could imagine: the sun and bright blue sky over an endless view of meadows. The hills rolled like the restless ocean, a moving sea of green with bright yellow and violet flowers exploding at every turn. Walking during the spring was the perfect time to do it, and I can’t imagine it being any more beautiful than it was. The next day we finally met some other people on the Camino and walked with them (an Irish couple and a Spanish couple, which was so appropriate since the Spain-Ireland game was later that night). It was nice having more company and meeting some fellow pilgrims, though unfortunately we couldn’t walk with them to the end. Friday we were still 64km away from Santiago, and the train ticket home was for Saturday morning. Bad planning on my part forced us to take a bus the last leg of the Camino, but we still walked over the 100km limit (141km to be exact).
It was kind of a bummer to not walk into the city as I had expected, but it was a great Camino nevertheless, and I still rewarded myself with a plate of Galician octopus upon arrival despite the cheating. It would be great to come back one day and walk the entire thing from St. Jean in France, but honestly if I had an entire month of free time and could choose to do anything, I don’t know if I would re-do something I’ve already partially done, especially since we already walked through the best parts (according to others we met). But still, it would be a great experience to do it all, and 30 days of non-stop walking would really be a challenge. It’s all about having the right travel companions, however, so anyone who wants to join, just let me know.
Amanda, Bernabé, and myself started in Ponferrada, a city that sits about three-quarters into the Camino Frances, or about a week away from Santiago by foot. Many pilgrims obviously walk for the Christian aspect, but my reasons weren’t quite so religious. The reason I even thought to do this trip was because my friend Amanda had mentioned it a few times, and I thought walking together would be a great way to spend time with her before we head our separate ways at the end of the summer. Our friend Bernabé came along also. I didn’t know him too well before the Camino, so I got to make a new friend as well. Another reason was that I had barely seen any parts of Spain north of Madrid, so actually walking through it, not just bussing to the major cities, would be the best way to really see it. And then of course there was the whole “this-is-something-really-difficult-and-I-want-to-do-it” mentality that was a driving force as well.
After an inadequate weekend trip to País Vasco, the three of us departed Bilbao on a seven hour train ride to Ponferrada. We only had 5 full days to complete a walk that should take 7-8, so we began that evening. The inns for pilgrims have a special name, albergues, and usually cost only €5 to spend the night. All pilgrims have a special little “passport” that gets stamped at each albergue to show in Santiago you’ve walked at least the 100km minimum.The first two days were passed eating wild cherries, trying not to vomit from eating said cherries, and lot of walking, walking, walking. Initially the landscape was mostly agricultural, a sea of orchards and vineyards. The towns we traversed were unlike anything I’ve ever seen, too small to even be called pueblos. Many of them were only one block long and nothing more. The dilapidated stone houses and eerily empty streets gave the feelings that these were cities abandoned decades ago, but the few signs of life (cooped up chickens, recently tended vegetable gardens, an open bar) proved the contrary. But every time we did cross paths with someone, they always gave the conventional “¡buen camino!” to encourage us along the way.
The third day started with a 10k climb through the mountains where we crossed the border of Castilla y León into Galicia. Despite the difficult ascent and progressive rain, the inconsistency of hiking through forest kept us riveted. The entire time I felt like I was journeying through Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings. Not only is this leg the supposed hardest part of the Camino, it’s also the day we walked the most, almost 50km. My legs were shaking by the end, and I had no idea just walking could cause so much pain.
Day 4 drew us out of the forest and into the most quintessential spring time landscape you could imagine: the sun and bright blue sky over an endless view of meadows. The hills rolled like the restless ocean, a moving sea of green with bright yellow and violet flowers exploding at every turn. Walking during the spring was the perfect time to do it, and I can’t imagine it being any more beautiful than it was. The next day we finally met some other people on the Camino and walked with them (an Irish couple and a Spanish couple, which was so appropriate since the Spain-Ireland game was later that night). It was nice having more company and meeting some fellow pilgrims, though unfortunately we couldn’t walk with them to the end. Friday we were still 64km away from Santiago, and the train ticket home was for Saturday morning. Bad planning on my part forced us to take a bus the last leg of the Camino, but we still walked over the 100km limit (141km to be exact).
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| Champions! |
It was kind of a bummer to not walk into the city as I had expected, but it was a great Camino nevertheless, and I still rewarded myself with a plate of Galician octopus upon arrival despite the cheating. It would be great to come back one day and walk the entire thing from St. Jean in France, but honestly if I had an entire month of free time and could choose to do anything, I don’t know if I would re-do something I’ve already partially done, especially since we already walked through the best parts (according to others we met). But still, it would be a great experience to do it all, and 30 days of non-stop walking would really be a challenge. It’s all about having the right travel companions, however, so anyone who wants to join, just let me know.
