900k, Pyrenees to Atlantic- Finished!

 

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Can't describe what an amazing feeling it was to stand on the cliffs at Finisterre! The moment I had been dreaming of for 5weeks! Of course arriving in Santiago was also amazing, although it wasn't the end for me as it was for most people, there was such an incredible atmosphere in the city- I arrived at the Cathedral at exactly 12 Midday, just as the Pilgrim Mass was starting and it was a beautiful and emotional ceremony, even for non-Catholics like me! It was so funny to see so many people in lycra and grimy trekking clothes in such an amazing and historic cathedral, however they didn't swing the 80kg incense burner that day- apparently they did the following evening but I missed it!.

 So after a bit of a break  I picked up my Compostela- proof of pilgrimage, hugged the statue of Santiago in the Cathedral for good luck (this is a tradition I didn't just do it randomly) packed my pilgrim pack again and headed off for the final 100k to the coast at Finisterre. For some reason I thought it would be a really easy few days- actually in my head I thought it would be all downhill! It was in fact a tough few days walking and very hot until the last morning when there were  supposed to be amazing views of surrounding mountains on the last stretch to the sea- it was incredibly foggy and you couldn't see anything! Until Columbus made his little voyage people thought that the cape at Finisterre was really the end of the world (hence the name Finis- terre) and descending on the path towards the sea in heavy mist you could definitely imagine the pilgrims of the middle ages feeling they were heading towards the end of the world. However the mist started lifting and the Atlantic eventually came into sight- the view I had been waiting for for so long! It was a few more hours to  reach the cape of Finisterre and by time I arrived it was glorious sunshine.

Another tradition (after more than 1000 years of people walking the Camino there are many traditions!) is to burn your clothes on the cliffs at Finisterre, to symbolise the end of your pilgrimage and that you were now a brand new person... and also people probably used to all have lice etc by the end of their pilgrimages! I had also been planning to do this for 5 weeks, but unfortunately another pilgrim 6 months ago burning her clothes started a forest fire and burnt down half the trees on the cape, so it is now strictly banned....grr health and saftey. But after 900 kilometres, 5weeks of borderline heat exhaustion, blisters, illness and injury, nothing could spoil the feeling of arriving at my destination- the END OF THE WORLD!

The Camino was an incredible experience and one I will never forget, thank-you SO much to everyone who sponsored me (page still open for the next few months everyone else!) and all the words of encouragement from back home really helped me keep going!  Of course thank-you to all the other pilgrims I met along the way- from Romania, Korea, Germany, Venezuela, Brazil, France, Canada, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Holland, Italy, Ireland...and the rest(!)-you're all amazing and congratulations to everyone else who completed their own Camino, however long or short. Everyone keeps asking what my next challenge will be, would I do the Camino again etc....having been fairly sure that I was done with walking for now and that my only challenge for the forseeable future would be surviving my Ryanair flight home...well I've read about a pilgrimage to a mountain in Tibet that is holy to 3 of the worlds religions and involves several days trekking to get to, then you walk the circumference of the mountain (60k or so) in one day....I'm tempted...Himalayas 2012 anyone?!

Countdown to Santiago!

I´m now in Melide, about 55k from Santiago-I´ve made up some time after my "break" and am now managing about 34k a day as it´s not so hot anymore so even at my slower pace it´s ok as can walk into the afternoon (still finding time for some siestas though!). I´m now in Galicia which is known as "Celtic Spain", and I can see why- there is gorse and heather everywhere, pine trees, it rains every day and I even arrived at a moutain-top village to the sound of bagpipes a few days ago! The area I´m in now is famous for it´s cherries which are in season now and ridiculously juicy and cheap- 1kg for 0.5euro from roadside stands! Although I would now add "Never eat 1kg of cherries in one sitting before climbing a mountain" to the list of things I learnt on the camino (heard about another pilgrim who made a similar mistake after not being able to resist 2litres of wine for 1euro from the vineyards a while back!).

It´s very popular for people to walk the last 100k of the pilgrimage to Santiago starting in Sarria which I passed through a few days ago, as this is minimum distance to receive the "Compostella" which I think means the pope wipes all your sins? It´s quite funny comparing all the people who start in Sarria to the people who have already walked nearly 800k- the latter being somewhat weather-beaten with giant backpacks weird tans (only on the left side of the body due to always walking in the same direction!) and very little tread left on their boots! The newbies meanwhile, fresh-faced in brand-new kit, doing warm-up lunges outside the pilgrim hostels, mostly walking in large groups only carrying tiny bags and 300ml water each as they have their kit transported for them by support vehicles which meet them every 5k to top up their water and give them energy bars etc! It´s a really good atmosphere though as there are slogans of encouragement written everywhere for various individuals "You can do it Maria!" etc, and also more general slogans- "No dolor no gloria!" (no pain no glory!) as well as several shops and bars playing motivational music for the pilgrims passing by.

For most people the Cathedral in Santiago is the final destination and I should arrive there on the 1st of June, which is good timing as one thing the Cathedral is famous for is the worlds biggest incense burner (solid silver and about 80kg) which on special occasions they light and swing out from the ceiling of the cathedral; I´ve heard the 2nd of June is such an occasion- let´s hope it is well secured to the ceiling I don´t want to come all this way to get squashed by a giant incense burner! Everyone is talking about what they will do when they arrive in Santiago- get a massage, check into a spa, sleep for a week, but I will be walking another 100k to the coast and my final destination, Finisterre, so that will all have to wait a few more days!

Cruz de Ferro, just after Rabanal del Camino

Call the pope!

I´m finally on the road again after being grounded for 3 days and have had an amazing day, crossing through mountains again (some with snow still on top!) which are covered in fragrant bushes so everything smells beautiful, and also everyone in this area (I´m in Molinaseca) seems to really love the camino; all along the way are dotted people giving out cakes, biscuits, tea, fruit etc to pilgrims so lalala everything is great.
Unfortunately I´m only able to walk again with the aid of painkillers and anti-inflammatories, (maybe the painkillers are why everything seems so lovely?!) but I´m trying not to dwell on that, I´m just very happy to be walking again!

After leaving Leon with the nuns´blessings and being so sure that surely, I had suffered enough to be a pilgrim, I was determined to ignore the fact that my left leg had started really hurting whenever I had to walk downhill...and also I couldn´t see the bones of my ankle anymore it was kind of assuming a balloon shape...and I sort of couldn´t move my foot up or down...Someone I had met several weeks ago had told me "Tendonitis is the worst injury you can get on the Camino, as the only way it gets better is if you stop walking, and nobody wants to stop walking, so they just ignore the pain until they can´t walk anymore".
So I continued in denial and somewhat in pain for 2 more days...putting anti-inflammatory gel on my burgeoning mutant leg, putting ice packs on it etc...Until I found myself on a short downhill stretch completely unable to take another step, and had to sit down right in the middle of the path. Was there for some time contemplating how I was possibly going to continue on the camino (rolling=tricky with rucksack), and wondering if I could design some sort of double-layered trousers that I could fill with ice to enable me to continue walking.

After a while a Spanish man came past "Are you ok senorita?" Me: "Yes fine, I just can´t walk as my leg hurts, but it´ll be fine in a bit so don´t worry" "Do you normally have one leg bigger than the other?" Me:"Well no..." (is it ever normal to have one leg bigger than the other???) "Can I help you? I feel bad to leave you sitting here" Me: "No honestly I´m fine, you carry on" "Ok...but hang on I give you a number, if you still can´t walk please call this number-you have a mobile?" (writes on paper)...The number was 112- Spanish equivalent of 999! "If you still can´t walk you call this number and they send an ambulance, I think a doctor should look at your leg".

So a little worrying that I looked like I was in need of an ambulance! I did manage to continue for another 28k in complete agony, and by the end of the day at least my legs were the same size...the right one was massive as well! Finally acknowledged that someone was not right and went to a most unsympathetic Spanish doctor who yanked my foot up "dolor aqui?" (pain here?) and down "dolor aqui?" (Me: "Si si si, mucho mucho mucho!") and diagnosed anterior tibial tendonitis. "Ok what can I do, I´ve tried everything, anti-inflammatory gel, ice, ibruprofen, what else can I do?" "Did you rest?" "Well noooo...I´m doing the camino and I´ve got 300k to go" "People on the camino always get this problem and they never listen. You must rest 3days minimum, no trekking, not even shopping, no sightseeing or city-tour, sit with you legs elevated and icepacks on and then maybe you can do the camino."

So established myself in Astorga as the pilgrims hostal´s resident cripple (every village has one!), and spent 3days ridiculously bored...many of you will receive postcards from Astorga! As each day new people on the camino came and went I was massively frustrated by how behind I was getting, and also subjected to everyone´s opinion on the best way to recover from tendonitis...One guy squeezed my arm really hard "does that hurt?" "Err yes" "Ah you have too much fire, the problem is nothing to do with you legs, you need to eat more leeks" (random!), another lady insisted I have a reiki session in front of a whole room of people, and another man said "all you need to do is drink twice as much water and walk half the speed" (ok for a man but in an area where trees and bushes are sparse this sounds like a recipe for disaster to me!).

One woman finally convinced my that the doctors advice was best...she was doing the camino on crutches. At first I thought, how admirable, she obviously has some disability but she´s still doing the camino...however it transpired she wasn´t on crutches before the camino! "Ah yes I have tendonitis too, the doctor also told me the only way to continue was to rest, but I don´t want to rest so I bought crutches and now I continue!". Ok so not wanting to go down the lunatic crutches route...I did the 3days rest...and yesterday managed 20 slow kilometers and for the first time could see the bones of my ankles again! Today 27k, and no need for ice-trousers! It´s a camino miracle! So I´ve rambled on enough again...I will have to save the story of the mental man in the mountain I met today who claimed to be the last of the Templar Knights and the tale of the pilgrim who´s foot went gangrenous underneath a compede...for another time!

Sick on the meseta/Sick of the meseta/finally off the meseta!

I´m a little worried this blog is becoming a catalogue of disasters and ailments, but arriving in Leon yesterday 3days later than anticipated was hopefully the end of my disasterous jaunt across the dreaded meseta, where the villages are ghost towns, and where you can walk for 20K without seeing a single feature, no water, no shade, no buildings NOTHING! After recovering from the heinous pus in the foot, I was struck down with the most horrific vomiting bug- they do say you must suffer to be a pilgrim! I caused some drama when I arrived at the convent where I had planned to stay  and nearly collapsed (hiking in 30deg heat when you are massively dehydrated is not advisable). "Oh dear, she seems very ill, do you think it´s the heat?" "Maybe she is tired, are you tired senorita?" Me: "Bleuugghh", "Ah, I think she is ill!".
So I got myself a private room with TV and bathroom (what a treat!) and a nurse came to see me who entertained me with some elaborate miming before realising I speak Spanish (imagine a 60 year old Spanish lady miming "did you eat seafood") and after 2 days I was more or less recovered and had come to 2 conclusions:
1.Spanish TV is really weird.
2.People who are fussy/careful about what they eat abroad are perhaps not, as I always thought, boring and paranoid, but maybe sensible, and maybe, maybe, my "if it smells good, eat it" philosophy needs reviewing.

So was ready to hit the long, long straight, flat, hot dusty NEVER ENDING road across the meseta again, and met up with a girl I had met on the first night which was nice. We then managed to get lost which was less nice. People say it is impossible to get lost on the meseta as you just go in a straight line, but if you go in a straight line in the wrong direction, it is very easy to get verrry lost, as it turns out, one endless expanse of brown  looks very much every other endless expanse of brown. We eventually found our way again after retracing our footsteps, but I have to say there are few things more depressing than arriving at the village where you started at 10am having started the day at 6am!

So I´m now in Villadangos del Paramo having finally passed Leon yesterday and I´m so glad to have escaped the meseta alive! I got blessed by nuns last night too, so now nothing more can possibly go wrong!

Starting to morph into a real pilgrim!

Father Christmas is real and gives out free coffee to pilgrims!