Camino de Santiago de Compostela

[Maybeth]

I am home from my 7 weeks on the Camino Ingles, Finnisterre/Muxia, Camino Ingles, and being a Hospitalera Voluntaria. I wanted to add a few more comments to my Sept post about my Camino Ingles experience as a sola peregrina.

I took the bus from Leon to Oviedo, then the FEVE train from Oviedo to Ferrol to start my Camino and enjoyed this little commuter train trip along the coast. It literally stops at every whistle stop along the route.

In Ferrol, the people at the Hostel Zahara were very helpful and friendly. My first day of walking from Ferrol to Pontedeume was tough due to heat. I would have enjoyed it more by stopping at the albergue in Neda and giving myself time to adjust to being on the Camino again. However, I do not carry a cell phone and I was too embarrassed to make a phone call since I do not speak Spanish. As a result, I walked too far and too long for such a hot day.

In Pontedeume, the people at Bar Louis were really kind and helpful to this exhausted, very hot peregrina. I enjoyed the second day walking through the countryside to Betanzos, despite all the ups and downs of the terrain. In Betanzos, I stayed at the hostel owned by the man at the Chocolateria Betanzos. Yummy chocolate and a wonderful vibrant town with lots to see including an excellent internet location.

Day 3 was Betanzos to Bruma. I should have carried some snacks that day because the first food in sight was at 22 kms at Vizona. The kind senora made a beautiful comida for this very hungry peregrina! In Bruma I had the 25 bed albergue to myself. Since there had been no markets or shops enroute, I fortunately ate leftover tortilla from my lunch for my supper and breakfast. I lacked the energy to walk on to Meson do Vento where I surely would have found some wonderful food and company. So I enjoyed the lovely solitude in Bruma.

Day 4 was Bruma to Sigueiro. The walk was beautiful but no food again and nowhere to buy anything! I hoped for a bocadillo at Calle de Poulo but everyone from the entire region was in the church for a festival and the bar owner was too busy to make anything. I arrived in Sigueiro too late for comida but found a good sandwich and cake at the pasteleria across from the very basic Hostal Miras. This sounds like a food tour of the Camino but let's say where to find my next meal became a priority this time.

Day 5 walking brought me into Santiago where I received my second compostela (my first was in 2003). I feel I really earned it because, despite it being only 5 days and 117 kms, I experienced all the physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges of a longer route. I am sure that distance is "as the crow flies" and does not include all the ups and downs of elevation! Since I am a Canadian from the West Coast, hiking in the mountains are part of my way of life, so looking at the maps now, I wonder why I am surprised to cross some good sized ones on this route. Hmm.

As a woman walking alone and meeting no other pilgrims in 5 days, I am really grateful for the "code of honour" that is part of the psyche of Spanish bar/hostel/cafe owners along the route who I felt were "watching out for me". It can be very intimidating for a woman alone to enter such a "male" world even for a cafe con leche. There were some times when I felt very vulnerable walking alone surrounded by many kilometers of forest where anyone could be out there. Only once did I actually feel afraid and that was near a community where I walked past a group of 5 young men drinking beer and shooting guns at targets beside the trail. I tried to keep cool, aware, but was in a potentially dangerous situation.

Thank you again to all the folks who love this route and who help us along our Way by creating detailed guidebooks.

[cmsmith]

Congratulations!

CMSmith

[wawpdx]

What a great post.
Thanks for taking the time to write this.

[Arn]

Maybeth,

Yes, a great post and direct and to the point!

Often, the Forum will get a question on "a woman walking alone" and, in that you were not only starting out on your own...you were quite literally "alone" for most of your CI.

The added info on the availability of food, on some stretches, is very key and worth noting.

Welcome back...now start planning your next Camino. It's calling you know!

Arn

[ivar]

Great post! Thanks for sharing Maybeth!

[daesdaemar]

As a two-time veteran of the CI, I enjoyed your post. It brought back pleasant memories.
Thank you...