To the End of the World

heinäkuuta – elokuuta 2022

Pamplona to the end of the world. Lue lisää

Luettelo maista

Espanja

Luokat

Reppumatkailu, Vaellus, Itsensä löytäminen, Hengellisyys

1,0tajetut kilometrit

Kuljetusvälineet

Lento-kilometriä
Kävely-kilometriä
Patikointi-kilometriä
Polkupyörä-kilometriä
Moottoripyörä-kilometriä
Tuk tuk-kilometriä
Auto-kilometriä
Juna-kilometriä
Bussi-kilometriä
Matkailuauto-kilometriä
Karavaani-kilometriä
Neliveto-kilometriä
Uima-kilometriä
Melonta/Soutu-kilometriä
Moottorivene-kilometriä
Purjehdus-kilometriä
Asuntolaiva-kilometriä
Lautta-kilometriä
Risteilyalus-kilometriä
Hevonen-kilometriä
Hiihtäminen-kilometriä
Liftaus-kilometriä
Cable car-kilometriä
Helikopteri-kilometriä
Paljain jaloin-kilometriä

Uusin ensin

Jalanjäljet
Valokuvat

Mikka To the End of the World
- Näytä matka
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- Jaa
- Päivä 28
- lauantai 13. elokuuta 2022 klo 21.46
- 🌙 21 °C
- Korkeus: 367 m
- Espanja Portomarín 42.80592, -7.61818342°48’21” N 7°37’5” W
Portomarin
13. elokuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ 🌙 21 °C
Portomarin is all my deepest Camino fears and dislikes come alive. I am sleeping in a room with 129 other pilgrims, 95 percent of which started this morning in Sarria and are celebrating their time away from parents or spouses with copious amounts of alcohol.

The Way echoes hiking sticks without rubber caps (why one would need hiking sticks in suburban Galicia is beyond me). You're on the Camino, not in the Arctic, get some rubber caps.

There are boom boxes playing Spanish rap, groups blocking the way, lines in front of toilets, and more. Oh and prices have quadrupled.

It's the final test before Santiago. I shall not fail.Lue lisää
Katso käännös
MatkaajaNot much sleep coming tonight I fear. Get up early and run!!!
13.8.2022Vastaa
4 tykkäystä
Mikka To the End of the World
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- Jaa
- Päivä 29
- sunnuntai 14. elokuuta 2022 klo 22.00
- 🌙 17 °C
- Korkeus: 617 m
- Espanja Palas de Rey 42.874048, -7.85617342°52’27” N 7°51’22” W
1
Palas de Rei
14. elokuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ 🌙 17 °C
While Palas has some industry to its name, the majority of its current wealth stems from pilgrims. There's very little more to say, it's a thoroughly boring, pilgrim conveyor belt town.

The probably best thing about this town is Zendoira, an albergue I have stayed in a few times in years past and did again this year.

Oh and meeting the Dutch nurse from Navarra again, together with a host of cool peregrinas from Vancouver, Australia, Iceland(!!!!!!!!!!), and Germany over dinner.Lue lisää
Katso käännös
Matkaaja That's really cool😎
16.8.2022Vastaa
4 tykkäystä
Mikka To the End of the World
- Näytä matka
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- Jaa
- Päivä 30
- maanantai 15. elokuuta 2022 klo 10.54
- ⛅ 18 °C
- Korkeus: 469 m
- Espanja Remonde 42.882338, -7.95452242°52’56” N 7°57’16” W
Another vegetarian food truck
15. elokuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Run by an American woman from Seattle, this is the kind of oasis I enjoyed in 2017 and have missed on this one.
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4 tykkäystä
Mikka To the End of the World
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- Päivä 31
- tiistai 16. elokuuta 2022 klo 7.29
- 🌧 14 °C
- Korkeus: 300 m
- Espanja Arzúa 42.930405, -8.13168342°55’49” N 8°7’54” W
Rain
16. elokuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
I seriously doubted we'd see any of it this year. But here it is: rain on one of the more exhausting days on the Camino. No peaks to climb, no deserts to cross, just staccato hill walking, 300 up, 300 down.

Tonight is my penultimate night before Santiago. A short walk to the Monte do Gozo tomorrow, a night outside the city as the pilgrims of old did (the name of the town before the Monte is "Lavacolla" which translates to "wash your balls" and harkens back to a time when pilgrims had to bathe and delouse before entering town).

Last night I feel into bed straight from dinner. The 30 days are taking their toll.Lue lisää
Katso käännös
5 tykkäystä
Mikka To the End of the World
- Näytä matka
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- Päivä 31
- tiistai 16. elokuuta 2022 klo 9.12
- 🌧 14 °C
- Korkeus: 398 m
- Espanja Arzúa 42.929475, -8.154442°55’46” N 8°9’16” W
Arzúa
16. elokuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
It feels totally weird to have less than 40 kilometers to Santiago. I am so used to the triple digit way signs with impossible serving distances.

But here we are.
Katso käännös
MatkaajaThe closer you get, the more sad I get. I've really enjoyed watching this journey
16.8.2022Vastaa
MikkaWe’re still going to Fisterra and Muxia together 😀
16.8.2022Vastaa
4 tykkäystä
Mikka To the End of the World
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- Päivä 32
- keskiviikko 17. elokuuta 2022 klo 6.59
- 🌧 14 °C
- Korkeus: 286 m
- Espanja Arca 42.90442, -8.36314242°54’16” N 8°21’47” W
O Pedrouzo
17. elokuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
The less I say about this town, the better. Tourigrinos (tourists cosplaying as pilgrims) and greed rule the one street everything happens on, food is expensive, portions are small, and quality is low.

It rained all day, which had the beautiful effect of bringing all the eucalyptus trees alive. The smell was at times like an olfactory sledgehammer to the brain. Despite not being native to Galicia, the eucalyptus tree has become its regional symbol and a major source of income (after pilgrims). Oaks have all but disappeared in favor of the tree.

Today’s walk will be short and sweet. See you on the hill outside of Santiago.Lue lisää
Katso käännös
3 tykkäystä
Mikka To the End of the World
- Näytä matka
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- Jaa
- Päivä 32
- keskiviikko 17. elokuuta 2022 klo 16.59
- ⛅ 19 °C
- Korkeus: 335 m
- Espanja San Marcos 42.8875, -8.49842°53’15” N 8°29’53” W
Monte do Gozo
17. elokuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
There is a simple but sad truth about the Camino Frances. Commerce and pilgrimage always live hand in hand, but their proportions change.

True, the bars and cafes, albergues and supermarkets everywhere on the Way benefit greatly from being on the Camino, but they’re living in a sort of friendly symbiosis with the pilgrim. They provide services, transport backpacks, rent space and bicycles, always have a happy “Buen Camino” for those passing by, and in return pilgrims leave their money.

The closer one gets to Santiago, the less the Way is about pilgrimage and the more it is about commerce. As pilgrim numbers increase, so do prices into the almost predatory. Friendliness and welcome disappear, replaced by grim greed and open disdain for the hordes of cash cows passing by.

The last 100 kilometer to Santiago are a stark reminder, that there is nothing spiritual or religious about this former penal walk. Santiago itself is a Disneyland for Catholics, insert 5€ to confess here, pay €25 to see St. James, €450 and we’ll swing the Botafumero. Beds are 4x the cost of a cot in the Meseta, food is mediocre and served in small portions at prices that feed two for a week elsewhere along the Camino.

I do not walk the Camino for those final 100. Tomorrow morning I’ll be passing through Santiago as fast as I can, heading into the hilly hinterlands towards the Costa del Morte and the End of the World, Fisterra. Here, long before Christianity, our ancestors buried their dead, believing their souls to be closest to whatever is behind the endless angry sea that never returned ships setting out to explore it.

A dark and angry sea awaits me. And, more to the point of my post, humans who gladly trade good food and accommodation for a pilgrim’s coin. Out there, the soul roams free, uncaged by screaming advertisements luring it into expensive traps.

To me, those last four days and the walk through Santiago tomorrow are challenges like the rain, wind, sun, and dust. Things overcome with happy thoughts that eventually steel the mind and free the soul once they become an ignorable background to the beauty that is the Camino.Lue lisää
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4 tykkäystä
Mikka To the End of the World
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- Päivä 33
- torstai 18. elokuuta 2022 klo 10.11
- ☀️ 15 °C
- Korkeus: 240 m
- Espanja Praza do Obradoiro 42.880542, -8.54585842°52’50” N 8°32’45” W
Santiago de Compostela
18. elokuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
My pilgrimage isn’t over, but this is a major stop along the way. Arrived this morning in Santiago, had coffee, pushed my way past tourists, and had another coffee, for good measure.

My albergue in the hinterlands confirmed they’re open, so I only have 12 more kilometers to go today. The terrain will become decidedly more hilly (“looks like arterial fibrillation” as a fellow medic remarked) and lead me up into the highlands before the Costa de Morte.

And there are miracles on the Way: I bought a hoodie. I walked 800 km in the night and rain in a T-shirt, but now it’s time. Want to be comfortable on the rocks in Muxia.Lue lisää
Katso käännös
MatkaajaCongratulations on getting to Santiago. Enjoy your journey west to the coast...
18.8.2022Vastaa
4 tykkäystä
Mikka To the End of the World
- Näytä matka
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- Jaa
- Päivä 33
- torstai 18. elokuuta 2022 klo 15.46
- ☀️ 24 °C
- Korkeus: 99 m
- Espanja Covas 42.885612, -8.63356342°53’8” N 8°38’1” W
Ventosa
18. elokuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Right after Santiago the Camino calmed down again. Prices tumbled and tonight I am sleeping in an amazing albergue with bar and garden for 15€. They even have USB outlets in the cots. Yay!!

The forests are the same as they were in the three days past, but now I have the calm and time to appreciate them.

And it’ll get warmer the next few days. Just in case, there’s the hoodie.Lue lisää
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4 tykkäystä
Mikka To the End of the World
- Näytä matka
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- Päivä 34
- perjantai 19. elokuuta 2022 klo 18.50
- ☀️ 22 °C
- Korkeus: 182 m
- Espanja Logrosa 42.908955, -8.72889842°54’32” N 8°43’44” W
Negreira
19. elokuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Early on I’d made the decision to take it slow for the final walks to the ocean.

Remember that one time you were on an amazing date and dragged out the good byes because it was so good? That’s what I had planned.

Instead of 35s or 30s I’d walk 10s and 20s, just fast enough to enjoy an extra day in Fisterra before closing down this adventure in Muxia.

Except, that won't work.

Today I was walking to Najera after a great night in one of the best albergues on all of my Caminos. The sun radiated a mild warmth onto my skin, the forest smeller of life and summer, and I actually took until 9:30, four hours after my usual starting time, to leave.

There are much less pilgrims on this stretch. It is more lively than the Meseta, but most stopped in Santiago and will walk to Negreira, so I'll meet them tonight.

Turns out, though, that the only albergue within 25 kilometers has suffered the same Post COVID syndrome if many of its sisters before Santiago, not giving a crap syndrome, and not responding to calls or texts on WhatsApp, so I have to walk 27 uphill to Lago, where an albergue was able to accommodate me.

Still, it'll be an amazing walk, 900 altitude meters uphill, good for a bit of cardio 😛Lue lisää
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