Mio el Camino de Santiago de Compostela -19

Day 19 Arzua --> Santiago de Compostela


I felt somehow invigorated this morning after a full night's rest. My stomach was still upset though.


I left the hostel as early as I could after eating a sandwich with hot tea for breakfast at the bar below. Even though I was pedaling in a hurry, from the corner of my eyes, I still managed to find a fruit stand off the road. So at last I bought my dream banana and ate two pieces at once. Surely enough, soon after, my stomach started to settle down.


There was no fog this morning so the sun got hot early after a couple of hours and it immediately slowed me down. I took the walk path today and it was tough for a bicycle. I thought that it would have taken me more time than the additional three hours I calculated yesterday had I decided to complete it as I originally scheduled. Now I realized it would have been too dark to see the path. But on the bright side, today I was able to see not only the way but also the surrounding beautiful sights in broad daylight.


It was no doubt Santiago de Compostela was getting nearer. I encountered the most pilgrims today. Having spent long days on the road, it had become easy for me to spot a pilgrim by just looking at their backpacks and the way they walked. I could also somehow estimate how far they have walked for their pilgrimage.


I reached the city of Santiago de Compostela. I was hoping to catch the 12noon mass for the pilgrims but I didn't arrive on time. As I entered the cathedral grounds, I began to slow down. Not because I got tired, but because I realized I had reached my goal and I was trying to take it all in. I stooped down from my bicycle and I walked, pushing the bicycle, towards the main facade of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. I was thinking that a couple of weeks ago I was in Lourdes, France, worrying if I'd make this journey. Now, I made it. I stood there with my bicycle in front of the cathedral for a while, speechless, savoring every moment that I could. There were actually many other pilgrims and tourists around but it seemed it was only me, my bicycle and the towering cathedral that existed at that moment.


I went to the nearby pilgrim's office to claim my Compostela, the certificate that shows you completed a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Inside, I saw some pretentious pilgrim high school students. I may sound rude but the girls were wearing make up and the guys wore the latest brand sneakers sparkling clean. Almost all of them with headphones in their ears probably listening from their mp3 players. I saw some of them earlier today on my way, with their cute stylish backpacks. I couldn't see in their eyes any hint of sacrifice they have done or hardship encountered if ever they took the real Camino. Again, I reminded myself that I was there for my pilgrimage, my own Camino de Santiago.


I showed my credencial to the lady at the counter. The credencial served as evidence that you passed by a certain route covering at least a hundred kilometers walking, or two hundred kilometers by bicycle, horse or pony. I was asked some questions like where I started. After a while, I was given my Compostela with my name written in Latin. I thought I was being cool and composed. I thought I won't be emotional but as soon as I got hold of the Compostela, tears started welling up. I had to pretend looking for something around the office in order to hide my emotions. I almost cried. The hardships I encountered along the way suddenly flashed before my eyes. The aching knee from pushing too hard at the beginning of my journey, the aching ankle that followed, getting sick just before the end of the road, the snow and freezing cold mountains, the strong winds that kept pushing me back, the rain that left me and my bicycle covered in mud, the scorching heat that almost knocked me down. All these against my faith and determination.


I went back to the cathedral. I tried to pray inside but my mind felt nothing. I couldn't think of anything. My mind was in repose. I guess it was emotional fatigue or maybe I was experiencing a true and real emotional and spiritual serenity. There I was, just sitting...


After what felt like a moment of eternity, I left the church. I went out to look for something to eat. With my stomach back to normal now, I suddenly felt so starved. So I had a very fulfilling seafood lunch at 2:30 in the afternoon. After that, I walked around the old, maze-like narrow streets of Santiago de Compostela.


I went back to the cathedral in time for the opening of the doors that went up behind the altar where the statue of St. James was. I visited first the burial place of the apostle under the altar. Then, in line, I went up to touch the back of the shoulder of the statue of St. James. I have prepared a list of prayer, more like a speech actually, for this very moment since the beginning of my journey. Now that the moment's actually here, “thanks” was all I could whisper.

Now I could finally go to the hostel. I stayed at Casa Felisa, which was hard to find. The signage was small, which was understandable in order not to ruin the historical atmosphere of the place. But the building numbers were the same for every block and there were no street names. I checked in and I was given a room on the 4th floor. Narrow stairs, no elevator.

I carried my bicycle up and cleaned it in the communal shower room leaving grease marks all over the place. I cleaned it after to the best that I could but there were still some grease left behind. I felt sorry but there was no other place to wash down my bicycle. The hostel's backyard was a restaurant, a lively restaurant actually.

I took a nap after drying off my bicycle. I woke up in time to attend the 7:30pm mass. It was still bright outside. During the mass, even though there was no impressive gigantic incense swinging like in the 12noon mass, there was still the incense burning like it would be in a mass celebration of special occasions. The mass was in Spanish and I heard the priest say "peregrinos" so I assumed that the mass was also intended for the pilgrims.

It was almost dark when the mass ended. I couldn't go around the city anymore. It's okay, I thought. I felt too exhausted anyway. Back in the hostel, I began to disassemble my bicycle and had it ready for transport. I went to sleep without eating dinner.

Sometime in the middle of the night I heard voices outside saying the illuminated view of the cathedral was awesome. I smiled and continued my sleep.

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Mio el Camino de Santiago de Compostela -14

Day 14 Leon --> Astorga

The shortest segment of my travel.

Early along the way, I stopped at a church in La Virgen del Camino which was said to be a miraculous site. The church was unique and probably the most modern church I saw in my entire pilgrimage. I got inside and spent a few minutes. After getting a stamp on my credencial at the souvenir shop, I went on.

But, with the strong wind, it took me longer to reach Astorga than I had planned. So I took time, I was not in a hurry. Besides, my left ankle has not fully recovered yet. I thought I met a lot of walking pilgrims today. Maybe because my pace was not that faster than walking. If my ankle was not hurt, maybe I tried walking my route today.

I arrived in Astorga around noontime. It was a small but beautiful town with historic buildings. Even the town hall looked like an old Gothic cathedral. After checking in my stuff at the first albergue I saw, I was immediately back on my bicycle and took a general view of the town before eating my lunch.

I went to the cathedral after my late lunch but it's already closed. I thought I still have about an hour before the closing time so I checked with the person at the ticket office but he confirmed that it was indeed closed. I looked my watch and thought that this region must be 1-hour advance than eastern Spain.

So anyway, I walked around the town, taking pictures here and there, and then stumbled on a little church. I went in and took a picture of the altar. On my way out, I saw that the back of the church was a wall of bars. Behind the bars were praying nuns. I realized it was a church run by those nuns. I was probably blocking them pray while I stood taking pictures in the middle of the isle. When I exited the little but beautiful church, I made sure I did not show my face to the nuns.

It was getting late and a little cold although the sun still has a few more minutes to set. I went back to the albergue and spent the rest of my day there. The albergue was on top of the hill and the view from my room was great. While enjoying the view, I immersed myself to the rays of the setting sun coming in through the window.

I took a shower in the communal room before retiring to bed.

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Mio el Camino de Santiago de Compostela -11

Day 11 Burgos --> Carrion


I wasn't feeling guilty for taking the big road yesterday because it wasn't an easy road. So I took the same N-120 route today. To my amazement, unlike yesterday, there were almost no vehicles passing through. It was quiet and I thought it was great.


But of course, it wasn't meant to be easy. After a couple of hours, the wind was no longer cooperative. It kept pushing me back, or sideways, throughout the day. After a climb up, I had to pedal down against the blowing wind. That's all I did for the rest of the day-- battle against the wind.


I reached Carrion as scheduled but as I was about to cross a very wide road curve to exit N-120 and get into the town, the bicycle chain got tangled up. I had to lift up my bicycle and pull over to the shoulder. It took me a while to rearrange it. Maybe I was too excited to get into town that I couldn't concentrate on doing the job right.


The albergue in this town was closed at this time of the year so before it got dark, I checked in at a hostel which happened to be a few steps away from the albergue I just checked. My left ankle started to ache. But I still walked around to find a stamp for my credencial. The only place I knew where to get the stamp was the albergue which was closed.


It was already dark and I couldn't find another place to get a stamp. I decided to have dinner at a local bar. They were offering peregrino dinner. A full dinner course from appetizer to dessert for EU8, available to the pilgrims. After eating dinner, I asked around if there's a place to get a stamp at this hour. It turned out the bar provided stamps. Lucky.


I had a room with a great view facing the church. But even then I slept as early as I could. I was tired.
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