Day 35 - Portsmouth and Home

Back in the UK and it's raining! However, it's been a really great trip, so we can't complain too much. We've now got 3.5 days at home before heading off to Asia for the next leg of our travels. We will resume the blog then.

Summary of our Camino trip:

Overall: 917kms cycled over 21 days; 15,175m up; 15,300m down.
Biggest climb: 1240m (first day of cycling, over the Pyrenees). 7 days with >900m.
Longest day: 56kms (Day 22: Astorga to Ponferrada). 10 days >50kms.

Best section: Leon to Muxia. Also the hilliest section.

We were 2 of 3,442 people arriving in Santiago on 6th Oct (and registering at the Pilgrim Office). 1,808 did the Camino Frances, but only 243 started from St Jean Pied de Port and did the whole of the Camino (like us). Most of these people walked.

Memorable moments: Mark cycling through the wet concrete; being advised by the baggage transfer company to "leave half the household at home next time"; arriving at Santiago Cathedral (to the sound of the Galician bagpipes); the chaos of the Logrono Wine Festival.

Other things we enjoyed or will remember:
- Being part of the Camino community and seeing hundreds of other 'peregrinos' from all over the world.
- Collecting stamps along the way, stopping at numerous cafes for very small cups of 'caffe con leche'.
- Spending the first hour of every day constantly ringing our bells and shouting 'Hola!' and 'Buen Camino!' as we tried to outpace the walkers who had generally started a couple of hours before us.
- Eating lots of Spanish tortilla (for breakfast and lunch).
- Trying Pilgrim Meals (three course set meals + wine, served ~19:00 rather than the normal 21:00, costing about 15 euros).
- Joining up with friends for the last sections. Meeting up with Paula for coffee and picnic lunches at the van. Also, 'Paula Porterage' provided a great luggage transfer service.
- 34 days of great weather, with only 5 minutes of riding in the rain.
- Great and varied scenery starting with mountains and vineyards; then the flat, high, open vistas of the Meseta (with miles of dead sunflowers, wheat fields, wind turbines, and historic villages); and finally the hills and rural communities of Galicia (the land that time forgot). Nearly all of the route was off-road or on very quiet roads, with some great mountain biking in parts.

We're already discussing doing another Camino at some time!Read more