Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Olveiroa to Cee, 22 kilometers in rain then sunshine Walking Day #34
Today it rained in the morning. The hotel in which Ben (from Taiwan) and I stayed last night was off the Camino, and they picked us up from the Camino in Olveiroa and this morning they dropped us back at the same place. We started walking from Olveiroa at about 8:30 AM and it was already raining, so on went the poncho. It was not a hard rain, but steady, and had the personality of rain that might fall all day.
Leaving the town, we walked by this rather nice old stone wall. Most of the stone walls in the farmlands are stacked rocks, with no grout to hold them together, just carefully stacked rocks. This wall could be dangerous if not held together, and we could see grout or something holding the wall together as we passed.
Soon we were out in the country and into mostly forested lands. We have several long kilometers of mostly uphill walking ahead of us. We have to get over the coastal mountain range, then down the mountains to the coast, into the town of Cee and then on to Finisterre. I have a hotel in Cee, and will walk the final 14 kilometers to Finisterre tomorrow. Ben is going on the Finisterre today for a walk of over 35 kilometers.
The first part of the walk was uphill but along or parallel to a river valley. The river is quite far down below us, and we can hear it all along the first part of the walk. Recent rains have really increased the flow of all rivers.
We took a break at a town called Hospital (there are number of towns named Hospital along the Camino) just six kilometers from our start because there are no more bars or cafes for the next 15 kilometers to Cee. After the break, we found this Camino way marker with an indication of the distance to Finisterre at 29.353 kilometers.
The rain had stopped some time before our break, so, hoping for no more rain, I removed my poncho and jacket. As we continued up the hills, the clouds were somewhat dark and threatening. Fortunately, it did not rain, and the weather became quite nice with the sun peaking out between the clouds more and more as the afternoon came.
Part of the walk on the mountain was along this stacked-rock-wall in the forest. The path had just enough small gravel and coarse sand that we seldom encountered mud today. A little unusual, but welcome.
And sometimes the forest gave way to open fields. Quite striking and beautiful. This was a very beautiful day in Galicia, even with the morning rain
And then we would be back in forest along some land being farmed.
Ben got a shot of me where we rested for just a few minutes. We were walking very fast today. I am pretty sure our pace was averaging a little over 4 kilometers per hour even with the uphills sections. The path was mostly very good, so it made walking easy. And Ben was motivated - after a 34 kilometer day yesterday, he wanted to get to Finisterre today to see the sun set over the end of the earth, which meant another 34 kilometer day for him.
And over a rise, way off in the distance, we could see the outskirts of Cee and the Atlantic Ocean. This was even more exciting than walking in to Santiago de Compostela. I cannot explain it, but seeing the ocean for the first time since my drive from San Diego to Los Angeles on April 14 was exciting and felt very special. This felt more like an accomplishment than arriving in Santiago de Compostela. Maybe because when in Santiago, so many people were celebrating with their friends, and I saw none of the people I had walked with over the past four weeks, so perhaps I felt a little left out. I do not think so, but maybe internally there a glimmer of that feeling.
In contemplating the anti-climatic feeling about arriving in Santiago more, I think the feeling hit me was that the Camino de Santiago is more about the journey, and not as much about the destination; and arriving in Santiago meant that the journey was over. I would be walking on to Finisterre, but very few make that final part of the walk; most end their pilgrimage at Santiago de Compostela.
On the long, steep downhill into Cee the town and the ocean are quite visible through the trees at times. Really dramatic, and the picture does not do the view justice.
And as we got closer, it was still quite a way down, but we were excited to see the ocean. We were both getting hungry; it was lunchtime, and we had little breakfast in the interest of getting started as early as possible.
An old Camino way marker of a stone wall in Cee. We arrived. We had lunch, walked around the bay, and I bid farewell to Ben as he headed on to Finisterre, and I headed up into town to find my hotel. I shall miss Ben; we walked together well, at about the same speed, and talked some, but generally we left each other to their own thoughts. A very good two days of walking. Thank-you, Ben.
I found my hotel, showered, changed clothes, and headed up the street to a laundromat. The first part of the day under the poncho leaves one sweating, so basically my clothes really needed washing for that. And later, it was sunny, and we sweated more, adding to the need for washing clothes better than in the sink. It was a good laundromat, and I even washed my hat and gloves. I'm pretty clean now for my final day walk into Finisterre.
Check e-mail, updated this blog, and I am now set for dinner.
The journey home is never a direct route; it is, in fact, always circuitous, and somewhere along the way, we discover that the journey is more significant than the destination, and that the people we meet along the way will be the traveling companions of our memories forever.
“The journey is more significant than the destination…” Yes, absolutely! And what a great journey this Camino de Santiago has been! I am so grateful for this journey, and all of the truly wonderful people I met all along the way.
Next: The final walking day into Finisterre, the "end of the earth"
Great job Jim!
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