Actually, it’s more like ‘The End’, at least for most pilgrims. A few of the diehards go on to Finisterre, ‘Earth’s End’, on the western coast, for another 80km hike. We had at one point considered doing the ‘walk’ and I have a good friend from school days who not only did it a couple of years ago but is doing it again as I write this, with his spouse. They are our age.
The El Camino de Compostela is a centuries old pilgrimage from various places to Santiago where supposedly the martyr St. James is buried. There are many ways or Caminos to get there (the German guy we met earlier was walking the Camino Portugués, north from the Algarve) but the one from France through northern Spain is the most popular. It’s about 800km and at 20km per day will take about 6 weeks. In the past this was mostly a walk for religious reasons but these days it has become a trendy thing to do either by walking, biking, or even horseback. You can walk this solo but most form small groups and travel together for part or even the whole way. I’m sure it’s a great way to contemplate life; finding oneself and new friends in the process. If you are interested, Netflix has a movie called The Way, starring Martin Sheen about one man’s El Camino walk and the changes he goes through. It’s quite watchable and worth the 1-1/2 hr.
Santiago de Compostela itself is a small pleasant town with lots of, you guessed it, churches and cathedrals, the main one being the Cathedral of Santiago, a very beautiful and imposing structure. There was a church on this site way back in the early 800s but the cathedral was started in 1075 AD and consecrated in 1211. A lot of history here. The interior is incredibly ornate and absolutely stunning. The square in front is the spot for the pilgrims. Here they collapse, after the long sojourn, tears of joy, tears of goodbyes for newly found comrades, and a lot of just plain emotional relief. Also, you get a certificate. The movie will explain it better. So, other than the tourists such as ourselves, the cruise ship dudes from Vigo and A Coruna, and a whack load of modern day pilgrims, there is not much here. The Galician region looks interesting though, the coastline is quite beautiful and the people here seem to have quite a different culture to the rest of Spain.
After the travelling we have done, doing the El Camino would we think be a bit of a hassle and possibly expensive. The accommodation along the way is usually hostels and dorms but you can stay in pensións, guest houses, and hotels. You can pre-book but that requires a lot of planning as to which towns you are going to stop in every day and maybe some days you might want to take a rest, or sit by a lake for several hours, or maybe go a bit further than planned because your new amigos are doing that. I think it’s a great wing-it kind of trip but we ain’t 18 anymore and we don’t do dorms. Call us wusses but the countryside from the Algarve to Santiago looks just fine from a train window.
