Camino de Santiago: Final days in Galicia

Take a step on the way and you are immersed in a stream of pilgrims heading westward. You meet the people you’re meant to meet. I met some more ‘philosophical’ pilgrims in these stages compelling me to ponder the meaning of a lost journal, a chance encounter, or asking questions like “what is your favourite Camino saying?” The first one that comes to mind is “The true way begins when the Camino ends.” A close second is “the Camino provides.” In these final days I felt lucky the Camino provided me with new pilgrim friends and a delightfully cosy albergue nestled in the woods.

Palas de Rei to Melide – 15.1 km

Melide to Taberna Vella – 19.3 km

Taberna Vella to O’Pedrouzo- 15.3 km

On the way to Melide I stopped at a woman’s cooperative. The señora and her 3 sisters produced hand/face creams, lip balms and natural oils from local herbs and milk. I loved the smell of the hand cream so I bought a small tin. She also showed me the hórreo on her property – a stone granary up on stilts to prevent the ratons (rats) from getting inside.

It was a short walking day (15 km) to Melide. While I was briefly tempted to continue after a stop in one of the city’s famed pulperías, my albergue beckoned. I had a leisurely afternoon in Albergue O’Candil, pleased to find a yoga mat so I could have a proper stretch. My roommate had been in Melide for 5 days, delayed by a bad hip and long wait for an e-bike so she could complete her journey on wheels. Talk about perseverance! She could barely walk. I had dinner with another of my bunkmates, an Italian pilgrim that had been walking the Primitivo route. He started off by telling me his “best moment of the day”, an unhurried break under the shelter of a tree as the rain cleared. Each day he makes a point of pausing and savouring these best moments.

It was a nice quiet walk the next day leaving Melide. Inspired by my Italian dinner companion I let my mind rove back to “the best moment” of days past. Often there were many. Often I had to think hard to recall the stages I had walked! There were lush forests, moss covered tress, vines climbing up the trunks. Birds chirping. Cows and farm animals out to pasture, the air quite pungent at times.

I had a good break for a hearty sandwich in Arzúa before getting back into the lush greenery. A few more kilometres of walking to Taberna Vella. On the way I spotted someone sketching the picture perfect scene of black and white cows grazing on vibrant green fields.

I stopped at Heidi’s Place for the night. A cosy 8 bed Albergue in a peaceful setting in the forest. Extra cosy as it started to rain late afternoon (after I was inside thankfully). I was surprised to see someone I knew in this tiny remote place, a pilgrim from the Netherlands I briefly met a couple days prior (amongst all the crowds leaving Portomarín). I really should not have been surprised, this is how the Camino works. We all enjoyed a fantastic communal meal cooked by our host Heidi, one of the best on my Camino, creamy zucchini soup, tasty turkey stew over rice and an airy chocolate mouse. She also did our laundry!

I took my time leaving the next morning, no rush with the rain coming down. It was short walk into O’Pedrouzo, my final stop before Santiago. Moments of beauty along the way: luscious rose bushes, fresh scent of eucalyptus trees, and a trail of inspiring quotes. Beautiful moments of connection too. I was delighted to run into my Japanese friend (who I had not seen since Villafranca del Bierzo) as we sheltered from the rain at the same café. I struck up a lovely conversation with a woman from Mexico over lunch, both of us pleased to end up sitting across the table from each other. No es coincidencía, es diocidencía, she remarked. Such chance encounters or coincidences can be have a bigger meaning, if we are open to seeing it. And I was reunited with my friends from Northern Ireland over a delicious dinner of braised beef cheeks and roasted potatoes. We all ordered the same thing so they served it to us family style.

On this penultimate day I was amazed and thankful, once again, how a day on the Camino unfolds.

In the lead up to Santiago I have noted a change in the question asked when you meet someone: from “where did you start?” to “what Camino did you walk?” Camino Primitivo joined up with Camino Francés in Melide, and Camino del Norte in Arzúa. It’s a merging of Caminos for these final kilometres as we all head into Santiago de Compostela. Tomorrow.