I've travelled a lot in my life but I have to admit that walking the Camino Inglés from Ferrol to Santiago was one of the most uplifting experiences I've ever had.
First of all thanks to Bill Murphy for the excellent guide he provided and thanks also to the many tips I picked up from the forums from experienced pilgrims regarding what to take (and not to take) etc.
I actually took a little longer than Bill to complete the walk but mainly because I wanted time to explore some of the wonderful places on the way like Pontedeume and Betanzos. With regard to the weather, it was extremely hot all week, not a drop of rain and I saw several fires on the way.
The first day I walked from Ferrol to Pontedeume. Getting out of Ferrol is a nightmare due to the construction of a new road which has more or less obliterated the Camino. One of the locals pointed me in the right direction I am glad to say and once I got out of Ferrol everything was much easier. As Bill says, the scenery is very reminiscent of Devon. I got to Neda where the first albergue is at midday but decided to push on to Pontedeume where I arrived at about 5pm. Pontedeume is a nice little place in spite of the horrendous climb out of the town to continue the Camino. The next day I got as far as Miño which was a relatively short walk but decided to spend the night at the albergue. There was also a lot of construction work going on just before arriving at Miño which made things a little difficult sometimes as there weren't that many way marks I. So far I had been completely on my own and hadn't met any fellow pilgrims on the camino so I was very pleasantly surprised when a group of three people came into the albergue, to be followed a bit later by two girls and finally by two young men on bicycles. What a crowd!!! The following morning six of us decided to continue the Camino together and in fact we stayed together until Santiago. I didnt mind being on my own and having read previous accounts of the Camino Inglés had convinced myself that I would probably have to do all of it on my own, but I must admit that having company made it easier especially when it came to looking for way marks which are sometimes quite well hidden. From Miño we made our way to Betanzos where we stayed overnight so we could explore this very pretty small town. It is definitely worth doing a bit of sightseeing here, the tourist office will give information about the things to see. After Miño it was on to Bruma and this is certainly the hardest stretch of this particular camino. It really is necessary to take plenty of water and something to eat here as most of the walk is in very isolated places and it is hard going in some places. However, getting to the albergue in Bruma which has only been open a couple of years makes up for the effort. Be advised that there are no shops/bars nearby to get food. It is quite a walk to the nearest supermarket. The next day we did the Bruma to Sigüeiro part of the Camino and this was rather a relief as it was quite flat compared to previous days. Some beautiful countryside on this part of the walk too. In Sigüiero there is no albergue but a sports centre is available for pilgrims who wish to spend the night in this town. Nothing of historic interest to see here, but there is a swimming pool near the sports centre which was great for relaxing after the walk. The last day!!! Sigüiero to Santiago. The beginning of the walk is fine but there is a very long stretch of road with no shade at all and it takes about an hour more or less to walk it. It was very sad to see the damage left by the forest fires, in some places it was the Camino that stopped the fires from spreading even more. When we finally came within sight of Santiago the problems began…they are constructing a new industrial estate exactly where the Camino enters Santiago so in order to get on the main road into the city, we had to do a very long roundabout detour which probably added on about 4 or 5 more kms. Very few way marks here, just keep going towards the city. Once we got to the city there were no way marks for the Camino Ingles, or we didn’t see any, we just followed the signs to the Cathedral. Santiago is a beautiful city, although obviously in August it is full of people, not just pilgrims but also holidaymakers.
I would like to advise people considering doing this route that they make sure they have plenty of water, not many fountains on the way although the local people are happy to fill up water bottles if asked. Also, in some places there are very few way marks but at the beginning of the camino out of Ferrol there are some white and red arrows painted on the ground which in fact can be followed without problem. During the later stages of the Camino, the arrows were black and sometimes green. According to the person in charge of the albergue at Bruma this is because they ran out of yellow paint!!!! As I said we did the whole camino in particularly hot weather but I think it would be quite hard going in wet weather as it would be extremely muddy in many places.
If anyone would like more info please contact me, I will be more than happy to pass on my personal experience of the Camino Inglés. I'll also post some photos here as well.
BUEN CAMINO to all future pilgrims!
