Day 40 - Boimorto to O Pedrouzo

Date: Wednesday July 24

Start:  Boimorto, Galicia

End: O Pedrouzo, Galicia

Daily Mileage: 19.4mi (31.2km)

Total Mileage: ~509.7mi (820.3km)

The penultimate day of our journey to Santiago de Compostela!

Today was another scorcher. 

Though it may have been wise to get up and get on the road early once again, the breakfast included with our hotel didn’t start until 8am... and so, we waited until after that. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all.

While yesterday morning had actually started quite cool before warming up, today heat up much more quickly. We definitely could not see our breath when standing in the shade, like early yesterday. Or was that the day before? It’s all starting to blur…

The miles also didn’t tick along quite so quickly today.

Starting out, we made our way back up the nice shaded laneway that had led to our hotel and into the town of Boimorto, where we rejoined the route. The hike to Arzúa would be mostly along quiet paved backroads. Fields. Farms. The occasional burnt popcorn.

After awhile, I saw that Shawn had caught up to two other hikers down the road and was chatting with them. As I got closer, I realized who it was.

During the first week or so on the Camino, we would see an older couple along the route once a day. They carried packs that looked a bit heavier than ours, maybe with some camping equipment. We always smiled and exchanged holas or a buenos dias, but hadn’t talked to them beyond this. At the albergue in Pobeña, they had bunked in the bed right next to ours. We had heard them speaking French at one point, so assumed they were from France. But beyond the first week and a half, we didn’t see them anymore. Not a single time. After awhile I had completely forgotten about them.

Now here they were. After so many miles.

We must have been revolving around each other relatively closely this whole time. I have no doubt that they got ahead of us during some of our double-day zeros, like the one in Santander, which was followed by a week of several other zeros - both planned and unplanned.

At any rate, here we all were now, set to finish tomorrow. 

It turns out they were actually from Belgium. Maria and Fernán. And we likely had heard them speaking French at one point. They also spoke Dutch, German, and enough English to chat with them for the next several miles. 

NATURE.

As we walked, Shawn and Fernán hiked ahead while I hiked on a bit more slowly with Maria, learning a bit more of their time on the Camino and their family back home. They had actually started their hike from their home in Belgium toward the end of March, making the walk all the way through Belgium, France, and now Spain – a journey of four months. They had met others doing the same, though Fernán had noted to Shawn that when the weather got tough – rainy or cold – the other people would always take the bus through those days. They were very proud that they had not once taken a bus or other transport. They had walked every step. No small feat. I’m not sure how old Fernán is, but Maria mentioned that she is 71. I hope I still have this kind of energy when I’m that age. 

A typical break for us.

And so, we walked along chatting until we reached Arzúa, where Shawn and I peeled off from the trail to grab an early fizzy water. It was already 11am and, having slowed down a bit to chat with the Belgian couple, we had only covered about seven miles. We were happy to chat with them for awhile, though we still had the bulk of our hiking day ahead of us and it was already very hot.

Arzùa was also where the routes of the Camino del Norte and Camino Frances intersected, and would remain together for the remainder of the journey to Santiago, really not that far now. 

The merging of the Caminos.

As we left Arzùa, rejoining the route, there were suddenly far more people. Heading out of Arzúa, the route was now also a nice wide gravel pedestrian path. Not a gravel road that cars also used, just a wide dirt path for Camino walkers and cyclists. A dedicated path for pilgrims. 

Soon we would find that small bars, restaurants, and cafes were set up along the route nearly every mile – sometimes even more frequently. All with signs out front advertising their menus. Cold drinks. Sandwiches. Pizzas. Paellas. Is this what the Camino Frances is like all the way? Never had we had so many options of places to eat or drink in such a short distance. Our stops had always been based around towns and cities. These stops seemed to be set up solely for the Camino. Never before had our journey felt so commercial.

Many places also had little tables out front with sellos. Stamps. You could just walk up to the table and stamp your pilgrim credential, without having visited the business at all. This was completely new to us. Only once had I found a random stamp stand set up along the Norte. Otherwise, we got them directly from hotels, albergues, cafes, restaurants, museums, and other sites that we actually stayed at/ate at/visited or supported in some way. 

Where before we would come across the occasional individual, pair, or small group of pilgrims on the Camino del Norte – more in the past stretch since Ribadeo – now that we were in the final kilometers/days, with two+ routes having intersected, there were pilgrims everywhere. 

I will have to get the 411 from others we know who have done the Camino Frances. Like...  is the Frances a wide dedicated path, like we had today, the entire way across Spain? And... are there always so many places to stop for food and drink? We feel like we’re on the Camino super highway right now. A dedicated path, much of which is nice and shady, food and drink whenever you could possibly want it. What a hike. Or maybe it’s just like this because several trails have merged and we are getting so close to Santiago.

Eventually we picked one of these little restaurants for our own lunch. We didn’t have to make a single step away from the route – it was just right on the Camino. We sat on a breezy back patio, shared a pizza, and ate ice cream bars. Très convenient, this Camino.

After fueling up, it was back to the Camino super highway. The afternoon kept us mostly on these wide, gravel, dedicated pedestrian paths, with the occasional jaunt across a road or down a back street to connect sections. While mostly shaded, there were still several stretches that were exposed and the temps had once again climbed to around 90ºF (32ºC+). 

As we continued on, the density of pilgrims seemed to thin. Most had likely gotten earlier starts or made more effort to avoid the heat of the day. Not us. We were melting. 

It was just after 4pm when we walked into the outskirts of O Pedrouzo, our stop for the night. Walking past some nice street art murals for the Camino, we continued toward the pensión. Only a block off the main street through town, there was still a field of cattle. Rows of corn. 

And just beyond, our lodging for the night, a small pensión just off the main street. The woman who checked us in explained a bit about Saint James Day tomorrow and what would be happening in Santiago de Compostela. What time the pilgrim masses were held, etc., before telling us a bit more about O Pedrouzo and giving us complementary agua con gas. Maybe she was taking pity on us for arriving so late in the heat of the day. Or maybe she just thought we smelled terrible and wanted to get away from us as quickly as possible, Either way it was very nice of her. 

Absolutely drenched in sweat, after our own showers, we rinsed out our clothes and hung them on a back fence to dry, which in this heat, probably only took about five minutes. 

Later in the evening, we ventured out for dinner. Rather than wait for Spanish dinner times, we were happy to see that there was a very well rated Mexican restaurant that was open – and serving food – all day. And so, it was taco time. Through I actually ended up getting paella, which was very good. It’s not often that paella is served as a size for only one person, so that was nice, since Shawn wanted a burrito. 

One of nice perks of the Mexican restaurant is that they did traditional wax stamps for your pilgrim credential. You picked a color, which they melted over a small flame before pouring the liquid wax into your booklet and sealing the stamp. Very cool. And unique. And, while you could get a pilgrim design, naturally we each went for the Dia de Los Muertos Catrina design. 

After dinner, we stopped next door for some lemon sorbet before making one last stop at the supermarket to get a couple of morning snacks for the road tomorrow. Our last day on the trail, we plan to set out early before the cafes are open.

No, I did not get this, but having just talked about colored popcorn yesterday, it made me laugh.

While I don’t think they will have the noon pilgrim’s mass at the Catedral de Santiago de Compostela tomorrow, since there will be a special mass for Saint James Day, we still want to get into town early in the day to see what’s happening.

And with that, it’s about time for bed. 

It’s hard to believe tomorrow is the last day. For most of the Camino, Santiago de Compostela has felt like some vague place very far away, something to think about later. But all of the sudden we are almost there. One more wake up…