Camino Frances

elokuuta - syyskuuta 2023

25-päiväinen seikkaillu — Uncle Woully Lue lisää

27jalanjäljet
2maat
25päivää
110valokuvat
36videot
818kilometriä

Seuraa Kalenteri Jaa Toivelista

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Matkaaja Camino Frances
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- 23.9.2023 klo 15.48
- ☀️ 21 °C
- Korkeus: 261 m
- Espanja Galicia Santiago de Compostela Alameda Park 42.877205, -8.54742442°52’38” N 8°32’51” W
Päivä 25
A car show and a wedding
23. syyskuuta 2023, Espanja ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Woke up in Casa do Boi, where I feel very much at home since I stayed there twice and it is the first element of familiarity since leaving Colorado. Breakfast with the dinner crew, Michelle at 78 is one of the most lively personalities of the Camino. Matt moves on. We might end up on the Shikoku pilgrimage in March next year.

It's admin day, but I still managed to ride 30km. Some required maintenance on the bici at Decathlon and a bus ride to Porto in the late afternoon.

It is summer today and it feels so good after the Atlantic weather patterns on the coast of Galicia. It couldn't be nicer and the people in Santiago are all bustling outside and enjoying it.

Coming through the plaza at the cathedral there is a car show stealing the thunder of the incoming pilgrims. I'm not sure how they feel about this.

On the way to the bus, coming back through town I catch a bride and groom ceremonially exiting the church. An awesome moment.

I have some further growth moments about life and I take some more notes.

I board the BlaBlaBus and sit next to an enchanting woman from Germany, named Melanie, and the conversation gets going in German, which I have not really spoken since 1981. She is kind about it and we make it through my stumbles all the way to Porto 3 hours later. She is a great to talk to and she's living a lot of new adventures as she is between jobs. It is the bla bla bus after all.

I'm in Porto and I'll start the Camino Portugues for another adventure. I might actually have to start another trip on Penguins.Lue lisää
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Matkaaja Camino Frances
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- 22.9.2023 klo 16.55
- ⛅ 20 °C
- Korkeus: 105 m
- Espanja Galicia Ames Covas 42.885755, -8.63364542°53’9” N 8°38’1” W
Päivä 24
The way back Fis-Stgo
22. syyskuuta 2023, Espanja ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Fisterra, the end of the known world in the middle ages. I left some more cares on the rocky ledges of this cape.

Under darkness I got away early, chased by clouds and drizzle. In Cee I find a wonderful cafe serving mini churros with the coffee so I had to have another. Properly energized I rode up to the intersection where people have to pick Muxia or Fisterra. I met one of the Dutch cyclist again and we talked for a while. Heleen left her house out the front door in Haarlem, the city nearby where I grew up, and rode her city bike with a small electric assist all the way to Fisterra. That's a pretty good feat, but Heleen is in her 70s and she is very adventurous.

A bit later in the lunch cafe I got great intel on the Camino Portugues from an Irish hipster. That group was alive and great fun.

I'm feeling good after the shorter days. Matt already made it to Santiago, I'm staying 8km out of Santiago at Case do Boi. It's the nicest albergue in Spain imho. It's my second time here. I talked Matt into coming over, so we'll have a nice reunion dinner.

I think reconnecting with Carla and Eric also has really high probability at the end of the Portugues.

Matt made it and we invited the winning to sit with us for dinner and it was a riot and time of great laughter. When you put the right people together it gets really great.Lue lisää
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Matkaaja Camino Frances
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- 21.9.2023 klo 14.47
- 🌬 18 °C
- Korkeus: 98 m
- Espanja Galicia Fisterra Insua Cabo Finisterre DGPS-Transmitter 42.8818, -9.27189442°52’54” N 9°16’19” W
Päivä 23
Km 0,000
21. syyskuuta 2023, Espanja ⋅ 🌬 18 °C
It's hard to put into words.

Too many new memories.

Met great people.

The yellow arrows led to the final sign.

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Matkaaja So what’s next?
21.9.2023VastaaKääntää
Matkaaja Camino Portugues, good one to let shin rest some more. Timing could be good to hook up with you and others coming into Santiago.
21.9.2023VastaaKääntää
1 tykkäys
Matkaaja Camino Frances
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- 20.9.2023 klo 16.49
- 🌬 20 °C
- Korkeus: 22 m
- Espanja Galicia Muxía Mugia Punta Lagosteiras 43.102252, -9.21799243°6’8” N 9°13’5” W
Päivä 22
Muxia
20. syyskuuta 2023, Espanja ⋅ 🌬 20 °C
Easy ride and just 33km. The weather is holding up until this afternoon and I'm enjoying this ride.

Suddenly, I see the dark blue of the Atlantic, breathtaking!

I have late breakfast in Muxia and share ride stories with two Canadians who rode up from Porto, which is a good possible ride for me from here.

I have a great time hiking all over the rocks along the coast watching the wind whip up the waves that crash on the rocky shores.

I get the feeling that I'm not hooking up with anyone for dinner tonight and I might just have to dig into some travel planning and reading instead. Yesterday evening I wrote a lot in my small inner work book. While it seems easy, implementing it is another story. It will need a lot of practice.Lue lisää
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Matkaaja Camino Frances
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- 19.9.2023 klo 18.03
- ☀️ 20 °C
- Korkeus: 280 m
- Espanja Galicia Mazaricos Colúns 42.966877, -9.0388342°58’1” N 9°2’20” W
Päivä 21
To the coast - slowly
19. syyskuuta 2023, Espanja ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
On the other side of Santiago things change a little bit. People don't really say buen camino they just say hola.

My own vibe is also more subdued. I set of early again, it's what I'm used to. It wasn't really all that cold but super wet and I soon needed time in a cafe where a young Czech explained the Primitivo to me, she had just walked it and the Norte. Being wet and chilled already, I'm not sure anymore that would be such a great plan. The beach keeps sounding better all the time.

I roll on, mellow and in thought, no zen. Wondering if I should have taken more time instead of gunning for a second Camino. Next to me I hear Dutch and I strike up a conversation with them. They stop in Olveiroa only 6km away. I could ride longer but I'd rather have a nice dinner conversation. It turns out to be a cool little village and a great dinner.

I have from now until October 6 to get my shin to heal, so going to slow down, see if I can hook up with some of my Camino friends at some point.Lue lisää
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Matkaaja Camino Frances
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- 18.9.2023 klo 16.06
- ☁️ 21 °C
- Korkeus: 105 m
- Espanja Galicia Ames Covas 42.885874, -8.63357242°53’9” N 8°38’1” W
Päivä 20
Santiago
18. syyskuuta 2023, Espanja ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
I woke up with all my possessions strewn all over the room and a school full of children happily and noisily entering the school yard behind the hotel. If it hadn't been for them I would have way overslept.

I chose to get a bite first and look at my plans as I am quite confused now. My shin acted up last night while walking a bit in town. So I need to stay on the bike. Finisterra first, Michel showed me some of his pictures last night, it's a must.

Lovely cafe, I wrap up still confused but just plain happy to be alive. I grab my credencial and head to the pilgrim office to get that last stamp and the Compostela. Then to the hotel and I make a bag of items to leave there, took out quite a bit of weight actually. Simple is always better.

Then I head out on the bike and go by the cathedral plaza first. It's slightly sunny and nice. People are hanging about, tourists, peregrinos and locals. I just sit there watching the energy flow. Peregrinos who have accomplished their task. All the emotions are showing and it is joyful to watch.

I turn to have a last look and I see two cyclists and I hear a loud yell; Wouter! It is Henk and Magda who just rode in. It's unbelievable timing. Three times we have fortuitously run into each other and it's always a great laugh. We tell our stories, as they had taken a train and I had put down heavy metal over the past three days. This completely made my day and the sentiment of arriving in Santiago now is completely satisfying.

It is going to rain again in two hours. I chose the closest albergue on the way to Finisterra and set out at 2pm. I poke along again in a feeling of love and peace completely unattached to any object or person. I suddenly find myself forgiving those who I felt had wronged me over the years. Quite an unexpected emotion.

I arrive at what is easily the best albergue in all of Spain and treat myself to yet another coffee and torta on a veranda with a view as buckets of rain drop from the sky. I could not be luckier. Ok, I'm by myself but that's alright.

Communal dinner tonight. I might just have to take an old man nap first. I sat with Laura and Reidvard from Latvia and we had a deep yet very funny conversation that went on for two hours. They have completed the Camino Portugues and had also met Michel who I had dinner with last night. Small world this Camino.Lue lisää
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Matkaaja Camino Frances
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- 17.9.2023 klo 18.43
- ☁️ 18 °C
- Korkeus: 441 m
- Espanja Galicia Sarria 42.78108, -7.41457942°46’52” N 7°24’52” W
Päivä 19
Sarria to Santiago
17. syyskuuta 2023, Espanja ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
6:45 start with the headlamp, the famous Sarria crowds were completely absent. Beautiful morning as the sun rose and a nice undulating landscape.

In Portomarin the crowds had woken up and they were out in force, including bunches of cyclists. I had my task ready for me; get to Santiago so I can start walking again. I'm encouraged by a much improved shin splint as far as I can tell. So it will be some 115km today. I'm motivated.

Due to the switch to the bike I have lost my Camino family from the start, but I have made new connections along the way. It works better to do shorter distances and have more time for conversation. Today is just not one of those days. I still met three wonderful Malaysian ladies as I slowed down to engage in that conversation amongst others. Previously, I had been told to visit Malaysia so they piqued my interest.

I had a good fueling stop in del Rey after 4 hrs of riding and a small one 2 hrs later.

All was well until the rain got serious and the wind picked up. At just over 100km I started losing body heat. In Santiago I was rudely rebuffed in the first bar while looking like a wet, cold shivering pilgrim. I guess they see it every day, no big deal. I did get food from the bank of vending machines, they didn't balk at my condition and happily dispensed multiple coffees and a sandwich.

Coming into the cathedral plaza in this state with that windy wet weather was completely anti-climactic. A veteran of multiple Caminos looking like a wayward gypsy who does nothing but travel the world took some pictures and we chatted for as long as I could without going hypothermic. Here I was, my official Camino complete and it was nothing like I had imagined. I got so much out of it so fast.

After a hot shower that must have drained all the hotel hot water for the next week, I skipped through the rain drops into the nearest bar to find another solo traveler, Michel from Switzerland, and we had a great conversation and meal together. On the way back musicians were playing in a bar and you know I had to hang out there for a bit too.Lue lisää
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Matkaaja Camino Frances
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- 16.9.2023 klo 18.58
- ☁️ 20 °C
- Korkeus: 532 m
- Espanja Castilla y León Ponferrada Río Boeza 42.543296, -6.58650142°32’36” N 6°35’11” W
Päivä 18
Ponferrada to Sarria
16. syyskuuta 2023, Espanja ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
I wake up at 3am to a thunderous amount of snoring coming from the three other old guys they stuck in a room together with this geezer. The walls were shaking. 4hrs of sleep and my brain gets going, I'm hardly in my fantastic new euphoric state anymore. Doubt creeps in, amongst other things decision time is still the big choice this morning. I'm all packed and ready to go, but where? 180km or so to Santiago - just bust it out and walk to the coast to test my shin for the next three days? The weather does not look great, I'd rather walk then ride in it. The Invierno is just so off track and with bad weather it has potential to not be very fun. Very different from the Frances. Let's stay on Frances, punch it out. Let's go test the walking while keeping the bike on hand. And let's go find that balance back!

Oh boy today. Started under heavy rain. Lucky it let up. The mood got better. My attachments let go, met Brazilian cyclists. Then British and a Dutch tandem husband and wife. Really fun I jumped on their wheel climbing the approach to Cebreiro pass. They stopped before the steep part, I went up ahead and followed a guy with a backpack and a shell up a step incline. I went the wrong way but I didn't know until I had climbed over 2000 ft. Stuck on the wrong road I got to add another 2000 extra for the day. Sometimes you just never learn.

But then again you do. I got to detach a strong feeling from it's object today and I was able to key back into the present when out of it. That's a win for today!

Oh by the way the chart in the albergue was wrong it was 235km, add the detour and that makes for an interesting day.Lue lisää
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Matkaaja Camino Frances
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- 15.9.2023 klo 15.51
- ⛅ 23 °C
- Korkeus: 876 m
- Espanja Castilla y León Astorga 42.454522, -6.05367142°27’16” N 6°3’13” W
Päivä 17
Astorga to Ponferrada
15. syyskuuta 2023, Espanja ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Today was a mountain biking stage, a lot of single track. Conversations were limited en route. I got a real wax stamp picturing the 'tree of life'.

It's a long grind up the mountain to over 1500 meters to reach the Cruz de Ferro and it is rocky single track. I am in a very thankful mood and I float on a cushion of joy. I did my little ceremony at the Cruz de Ferro and left my rock in the pole. A great roadside mobile cafe shortly after the Cruz de Ferro served the treat of the day.

Then a young Brazilian woman, stopped me and said "your face looks so peaceful". I suppose the vibrations are starting to go outward.

The downhill was exhilarating and I had to dismount twice to handle the wet rock and roots that my muddy tires could not hold on to.

On the old bridge in Molinaseca all the cyclists happened to be stopped at the same time. Great to reconnect as we all had encountered one another at multiple locations in the last few hundred kilometers. It's Ignacio's 60th birthday and we have a toast for him reaching the '6th floor'. A lively bunch they are.

A couple I had seen on the trail was at the plaza restaurant for a snack, they waved me over and I joined them for a beer. They had a lot to talk about and I had a great listen. Then on another lap through town on my bike, they were having dinner and it's like sitting down with long time friends at home. On the Camino life is so open and instant connections are made on levels that take years, if ever, in any other setting.

I'm at a crucial spot in Ponferrada, I must choose to either do the rest of the French route or change to the Camino Invierno which is 60 plus km longer and has multiple climbs versus one long one. Services are far fewer on Invierno but it is beautiful. I'll need to carry food. There are also very few pilgrims.

I'm not sure yet.Lue lisää
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Matkaaja Camino Frances
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- 14.9.2023 klo 18.46
- ☁️ 24 °C
- Korkeus: 848 m
- Espanja León León, Iglesia de San Salvador de Palat del Rey 42.596902, -5.56828642°35’49” N 5°34’6” W
Päivä 16
Leon to Astorga
14. syyskuuta 2023, Espanja ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
What a start for the day! I sauntered on over to the Church plaza and acted as photographer for pilgrims at the Leon sign. I sent of some 5 groups on their Camino for the day including the Chileans. Last night's dinner group also showed up and the mood was cheerful. I visited the inside of the cathedral which is astounding, a must see.

Had a great time meeting up again with Matt from Italy with whom I hiked so strong in the beginning. So great to see him again and our banter was as fun as ever.

I set off to no destination in particular as long as I follow yellow arrows. Ideal temps, a couple of absolutely huge croissants devoured on the Orbigo bridge and life is extremely good.

A wave of extreme happiness washes over me as I explore Astorga - The vibrations keep getting higher. Inner peace is happening.

Ran into Henk and Magda two Dutch cyclists who I met before Leon as they were just starting dinner and I was able to join and we had a very fun conversation in Dutch. Great folks those two.Lue lisää
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