Day 37 - Finisterre to Muxia

 

My last walking day! I fell so relieved to have completed my 2 Caminos. 

Last night, I had been thinking about whether to walk this extra (28km) leg to Muxia, or take the bus. I was really undecided. I think yesterday’s soaking at the lighthouse (and still damp clothes) and the experience at the first albergue had got me down a bit and I was tempted to go for the bus, as an easy way out. ‘I’ve done the Camino, so why not take the bus?’ I even went and took a photo of the ‘official’ bus timetable, in case I wanted it in the morning.

I said that I would see what the weather was doing in the morning, but Adrian, my new Camino buddy from the bunk below, from the Netherlands, said that he would be walking it whatever the weather. If I was honest with myself, it was that comment that tipped me into the walking option.

I could hear the rain on the roof of the albergue through the night, although by early morning, it had died down. I made two decisions in the night, 1. To wear my favourite walking socks, despite still being wet from the day before. I figured that they were most comfortable, and a dry sock would soon be wet anyway, from the still waterlogged boots. 2. I would leave the walking poles, that Chris had given me, behind in the albergue. As I have only used them on steep uphill sections, I wouldn’t need them today. Also, I would be unable to take them home on the plane, so I might as well leave them here in Finisterre and save the weight of carrying them and the hassle it causes me with the poncho when they are strapped to my pack.

Adrian started to get up before me and this stirred me into action. I packed my gear with my poncho left out of my pack and my jacket strapped to side of it. My thinking at this point was, ‘So, I was definitely walking then? It looks like it!’

I think I was the first out of the albergue. It wasn’t a very nice morning, dark with heavy drizzle. I pulled my poncho on at the second attempt! It was definitely easier without the walking poles. I got my phone out to find the map and route to Muxia, and it wasn’t long before I was making my way out of town, at this stage, all on the roads. In fact, for the first half of the route I stuck to the quiet country roads, rather than take the footpaths through fields and woods. I thought the roads, although longer, would be quicker and less chance of me tripping over in the dark.

I found a lot of these little newts but unfornutaely they didn't make it accross the road

After an hour, the rain eased off and became intermittent. In another hour it was daylight and only occasional squalls convinced me to keep my poncho on. By the half way mark, the skies were definitely brightening, so I took the poncho off and had a bite to eat. The route was off the roads by this stage and it wound its way through woods and lanes much like in the UK. Eventually, the route took me down the hill and then along a road into Muxia.

In contrast to my experience at the first albergue of yesterday, the albergue manager couldn’t have been more kind. He got my name, my passport and the log book stamped and then took me straight into the dorm. I protested that I hadn’t paid yet but he said you need a rest first. He showed me the showers and toilets and left me to it.

After showering and completing my chores, I went outside and down to the Muxia lighthouse, a church and the rocks with the sea breaking over them. The sun was out now and it was a beautiful afternoon. This was the spot from the film ‘The way’, where the father scatters his son’s ashes at the end of the film, after he has walked the Camino de Santiago in his son’s memory.

 

 This was my last walking day and all of a sudden, I felt that I had finished – something I hadn’t felt in Santiago or Finisterre. It was a lovely feeling of achieving what I had set out to do, just over 5 weeks before, and had been planning for 2 years.

I fly home next Friday, which leaves me 4 days of rest and a bit of sight seeing in Santiago. The bus leaves at 6:30 tomorrow morning, so no lie-in for me just yet.