Yesterday, on the last day of 2022, I arrived in Santiago de Compostela and finished my first pilgrim trip on the Camino de Invierno. It started in Monforte de Lemos and lasted 5 days, of which 4 days were showering to rainy weather. The terrain in the wintertime is extra hard because of the wet mud, “pop-up” river streams, slippery stone stairs, and so on. Here I want to record my experience for my own future reference and maybe inspire others.
How it started
The reason is somewhat boring. A friend of mine did Camino de Francés on the bike, and he urged me to try it out. It has been in the back of my mind for some time and this year, I got some extra vacation from my work, which makes a long Christmas and New year holiday. It’s better than staying home and thinking about what to do, I thought to myself. Plus, I’ve always been pursuing spiritual growth, this could be an opportunity. So I decided on the trip a few months ahead of time and started preparing for it.
What I did before
To be honest, as a planning freak, this one was extra hard to plan. Many people were saying that most of the Albergues (hostels) would be closed during wintertime, especially during Christmas and New year, and very likely I’d be the only one doing it. And it’s going to be cold, the daylight is very limited. Galicia in the winter rains a lot, too. So right before the trip, I’ve got almost exclusively bad news. I almost paid for an organized trip, where a company will arrange all the stages plus luggage transfer for me, so I just need to do the walk. In the end, I dismissed the idea because I wanted to have a real experience.
I read a lot of different posts to figure out what gears to buy — note before this I wasn’t really a hiking person. I absorbed a lot of information on what to look for, things like backpacks, shell jackets, merino wool, shoes for hiking, sleeping bags, etc. It was a lot of information, and it never felt enough because of my anxiety. I also learned that hiking gears are quite expensive and technical.
I planned to finish the 140KM in 7 days so it isn’t too hard, and I booked all the nights where possible, leaving 2 of the Albergues that don’t support booking. I considered myself almost ready.
The bummer
The biggest concern for me was actually my period. Apart from the crams that could be solved with painkillers, the more annoying part is actually the period itself. During the first two days, I constantly need to go to the toilet. So when my period of the previous month (November) came on the 23rd, I was hoping the next one would be around the 20th, as the plan was to start the walk on the 26th.
It ended up coming on the 25th right when I arrived in Santiago (the plan was to take public transportation to go to Monforte de Lemos from Santiago). The transportation wasn’t smooth either as I arrived a bit late. So I decided to check in at the hotel where I would leave my luggage during the walk and postpone it for one day. Because of that, I had to cancel all the hostel bookings I did, and decided to let destiny play its role. Was I not anxious? Being me, I was very anxious. But at least I knew that if I was able to book those places, they should be at least open.
Little did I know, this decision and loss of plan actually brought me some gifts later on.
And it all started…
On the second day, I took the bus in the afternoon and set off for Monforte de Lemos. It was two hours or so bus ride, and I was at peace. I knew from this minute on, I just had to solve the problems when they arose, nothing more and nothing less. Although, later on, I realized that the whole trip was about solving problems.
I never stayed in an Albergue before, so when I arrived, I was warmly welcomed by the hosts, José Carlos and Begoña, an old couple living in an old house built by the grandparents, who decided to make it an Albergue a year ago. I was welcomed by a coffee, for which I used my limited Spanish to tell “Quiero café con mucho mucho leche sin laktosa, por favor”. Surely, this expression had been THE most frequent one throughout my Camino. I was also told there would be a total of three peregrinos (pilgrims) including me.
Even though I was mostly on the bus, my period still complicated the situation. I had to wash my pants on day one, and then I was out of dry pants to go out — almost everyone was saying that the packing weight should not exceed 6KG, so I only brought what I was wearing and some extra socks and underwear and some other essentials. It turned out to be a great decision because, throughout the whole trip, the backpack was never the problem.
So I had to ask the hosts if I can have some food in the Albergue because I couldn’t go out for eating. We communicated with Google translate, so I was told that usually they don’t offer dinner, but they could do it for me. Begoña showed me what they had for lunch, and asked me if it was OK to eat the leftover. I gladly took the offer.
While I was eating, the next pilgrim came. Tiago, a Portuguese Camino veteran, arrived. He wasn’t very conversational at first, so I didn’t try to talk much. We exchanged the plan for the next day though, and I told him that I wanted to do a shorter day tomorrow because it would be my first day. So instead of 30+KM, I’d do 23 or so. But the fact is, I didn’t really know my capacity — I didn’t know how I would feel walking 30+KM.
Begoña told us that the third pilgrim would come late because the train was delayed, and she would be quiet. When she came, I was already in bed reading on my Kobo. Claudia, a short but energetic Argentinian woman with a backpack seemingly bigger than herself, came in escorted by the host and said hi to me. Our beds were next to each other, so once she was done with all the pre-sleep steps, we had a short conversation about tomorrow’s plan. She told me that she wanted to go directly to Chantada (the 30+KM route), so she can finish the steep descend and ascend in good weather. I said I would see how I felt when I arrived at Diomondi (the ~23 km route). It is my first time, after all, I didn’t know what to expect.
At that moment, I didn’t know that whoever I met in the same Albergue would likely stay in the same Albergues along the way and these two people would become a very important part of my Camino.
The first day
I was the last one to leave the Albergue. Before leaving, I gave a warm hug to Begoña, and she wished me Buen Camino (the expression you say to all the pilgrims). I turned off my mobile phone's internet because to do the Camino, you only need to follow the yellow arrows appearing all the way. It is always there to guide.
It was a sunny day, and although it showered a little bit in the afternoon, it was in general pleasant weather. I knew that there wouldn’t be many, if at all, restaurants or café on the way, so I stocked up ~15 or so protein bars for this trip. Out of five days, I only had lunch sitting indoors on the last two days. For the first three days, I had lunch while walking.
The terrain of the path is difficult, not by itself, but because of the season. It was covered by rotten leaves, wet and muddy, and sometimes formed a small pond of water because of the rain and humidity. My inner clean freak was trying its best to avoid getting my shoes and pants dirty, but a pair of trail runners, although light and fast-drying, wasn’t made for winter terrain at all. I’ve encountered so many country roads, which were narrow and covered with water and wet mud, that I had to either be very creative on how to pass or just give in to the disgust of the dirty and wet shoes.
As a hiking noob, of course, I made some potentially lethal mistakes. When I was shown a flooded stone path to cross a river stream (shown in the pic below), I cursed but took the challenge by taking off my shoes and jumping across. Later in the night, Tiago told me that I was supposed to take a detour to avoid passing through that, it was very risky and dangerous and I might have been flushed away by the water. Do not fight nature, says he.
There weren’t almost any passengers, even cars weren’t that many. As people in the forum said, it was going to be a lonely trip. My only conversation during the walk on the first day was with a black cat, who escorted me for a hundred meters or so. It was very friendly and meowed at me all the time, and I had to tell it “no tengo comida” (I don’t have food). I greeted almost everyone on my way, and usually, people greeted me back.
The road was so empty that I started singing loudly as if it were my private Karaoke room. It was also a bit of a tricky situation in that I had to find spots to pee almost all the time. Being the only one on the road was perfect for that aspect.
When I finally got to Diomondi, it was still early. I decided to get the descent and ascent done on the first day since I still had energy. Well, thinking back it was hard to judge whether it was a good idea or not.
I felt like walking in the cloud when I arrived at Chantada, starving as well. When I arrived at the only Albergue, nobody was there and nobody was answering the call for the whole day. I was frustrated, and I had no choice but to continue to the next hostel. It was also closed, but at least the host picked up the phone. She told me that she didn’t have the reservation so she went out of town. She needed half an hour to get back to open the door. I asked if there was any place to eat, and she gave me a name. I said I’d go there to eat while waiting. I went to the restaurant, but it was closed, too. I saw there was a bar on the opposite road, so I went in.
At that moment, I saw a familiar face — it was Tiago. I went over, exhausted. Then I asked him where he was staying, he mentioned the name of the Albergue. I was like, no way, I passed by and nobody was there. He said he checked in earlier. I said, but I’ve been calling a few times before I arrived, nobody was answering, and when I passed, nobody was there. He said, OK, you stay here and I’ll go check for you. No doubt, I very much appreciated that — being both exhausted and hungry, my mental capacity was on the verge. I tried to order some food, but they only had some small finger food and cakes (Spanish dinner time is after 8 pm). I had a coffee and a piece of cake at the end. Tiago came back telling me that the reception was operating now. I said thank you and took my stuff to move to the Albergue.
When I got to the reception, I met Claudia as well. She was on her way to the supermarket to get some dinner ingredients. I had to say, meeting these two faces after an extra demanding day warmed my heart. Like, you know these people experienced the same thing, maybe they don’t feel the same, but they are the witnesses of my own suffering.
When Claudia came back, I was sitting by the dining table. She asked me, do you want to have dinner together? I was like, well yea, but are you sure? In my mind, she bought the food for herself, and I’m just a stranger she saw the second time. She wasn’t obliged to give me anything. She said yea, I’ll just cook some pasta with tuna and lentils, and you can have some. I was almost crying — I was exhausted and starving, and I know I might not be able to find food outside, it was too early, and my legs rejected to work after they tasted some rest.
While we started having the simple but delicious (well, at least for the starving me) food, Tiago also came back with groceries. We ended up eating dinner in the Albergue together, and I was told a lot of tips, such as using cold water to for the legs. Tiago shared his medicine for the knees with me, too.
The Albergue was new and clean, but a bit cold at night. I didn’t manage to have a sound sleep because of the cold. But I felt very much grounded.
The second day
The load for this day is not the worst, theoretically around 26 km. But this was the first day that the whole day of weather was showering. If I have to say what I did miss in the preparation, it would be a good raincoat and a good sleeping bag. But my Patagonia Storm 10 shell jacket/hiking pants with Cashmere sweater and Altra Loner Peak with Smartwool hiking socks worked somehow OK in showering weather, they did get wet but they get dried very fast while maintaining the temperature. So I was wet and dry for a few cycles on the day, but the worst would still be all the country roads where you need to figure out a way to pass. I had soaking-wet shoes for about half of the time on that day (and soaking-wet almost all the time in the following two days).
I can’t remember how, but Claudia at some point and I joined paths together and checked in in the Albergue. It was less walking this day, but when I got to the Albergue, I couldn’t go downstairs normally. In fact, it was killing me that the dorm was on the second floor. Also, this Albergue only gave a disposable pillow case and bed fitting, but no bed sheet to be the middle layer of the blanket. I asked for an extra bed fitting to be used as the sheet. Claudia and Tiago told me that, especially in public Albergues, you definitely need to have your own sleeping bag because they don’t even have blankets. And the next day’s plan is to stay in a public Albergue. I was then very concerned.
Originally my plan was to go to Lalín, and then left the most distance to the last day. But they told me that there would be a rare Christianity event happening this year in Santiago, so both of them wanted to arrive early in Santiago. That’s why they made a plan to take the most load before the last day. I wanted to tag along, plus after three nights of hanging out, I already felt the connection with this gang.
So I checked whether I could find a Decathlon on my way, and it turned out there was an outdoor shop in Lalín. But the tricky part is that Lalín was 21 km away, and the shop closes at 1:30 pm and reopens again at 4:30 pm. The plan was to go another 7 km after Lalín, but it might be difficult to get to Lalín before 1:30. I told the gang about the plan, and asked them to buy it for me if they managed to arrive in time. And the plan B would be to borrow all the jackets and so on to keep me warm at night.
At last, this night was a warm night, but the mattress was way too soft. At some point, the middle of my body sank into the mattress and it was a very weird sleeping experience.
The third day
I tagged along with Claudia this day, or at least I planned to tag along for the first few hours. I told her that I would need her to call the outdoor shop to ask them to wait for me if I couldn’t manage to get there in time as my Spanish level is far from explaining the situation. And after that, I didn’t have to join her.
When the line finally got through, she talked to the lady and she agreed to wait for a bit longer. I felt positive for the night. We continued walking, however, the real problem showed up for the day. After we passed a river-like rocky path by jumping on stones to not get our shoes wet (it was dangerous cuz we might slip), we saw an actual river (see the pic below). Claudia offered to go forward to check out, which meant getting the feet to swim in the cold water. Tiago also caught up with us meanwhile and tried to stop her from going. At last, she came back with bad news, the bridge was destroyed, so swim or not, we simply couldn’t pass.
We had to find an alternative route. Tiago went a different way while Claudia and I went back to where we were half an hour ago and used the highway’s access road.
Both of us had soaking-wet shoes when we came back to the highway. But the more urgent matter in my head was the sleeping bag. We wouldn’t be able to make it there before 2 pm, after such a turn of events. She called the shop lady again, and the lady said she could only wait till 1:50 pm. We both started speeding up, but with the wet shoes, it was quite a painful move for me. We also tried to hitchhike on our way, but maybe because it was on the highway, we didn’t have much luck. And I all of sudden came up with an idea, so I told her to call the shop lady asking if she could put the sleeping bag in a shop or café nearby, so we will be able to get it when we arrived. This worked out. Now our new goal was to arrive at the café whenever possible, and we planned to have lunch there.
The three of us all arrived at the café around 2:30 pm. I got my Junior sleeping bag(that was the cheapest and lightest option). We also did some shopping in the supermarket because there aren’t any shops nearby the next public Albergue, and this would be our first shared dinner together.
When we arrived, we realized two things: 1) there was a 15-pupil (teenagers) scout group staying in the same Albergue, and 2) there weren’t any utensils in the kitchen. The group brought their own cooking gear, whereas the only thing we had was the microwave stove. Our soup and frozen salmon tart looked like a joke with the given condition. I saw that the group had cups, so I asked the cook (who turned out to be a religious volunteer, and also we became friends later on) if we could temporarily borrow three cups and return them washed when she needed them.
We got the cups for the soup, warmed the tart with the microwave stove, and used the turning plate to serve it.
This Albergue, because of the young group, was quite noisy compared to the previous ones. I managed to sleep with the earplugs, although my junior sleeping bag turned out to be a bit too cold on a Galician winter day in a public Albergue.
The fourth day
This was the most controversial day in terms of planning. Tiago wanted to go all the way to Outeiro, which was about 34 km with a somehow steep descent and ascent at the end, so he could arrive at Santiago super early for the Mass, whereas I wanted to stay at one stop earlier so I didn’t have to push too hard. After three days of manipulating my body with willpower, I wouldn’t say I was at my wits’ end, but every piece of muscle in my lower body was telling me no. Claudia wasn’t feeling the best either, so she said she would see how she felt upon arriving at the stop I wanted to stay.
It was a showering and very windy day. It was so windy that I had been pushed away from my walking direction a few times. This part of Camino was also joined by both Camino de Invierno and Camino de Sanábres (and possibly some other ones), so it was much better equipped with facilities, I managed to stop at two cafés for coffee.
Physically, it was a very difficult day for me because my body had been increasingly exhausted, and the pain wasn’t going away, especially around the knees. I was also very nervous about the Albergue in the town I wanted to stay — I’d called the whole day, but they never answered. That wasn’t a good sign.
From the third day on, the three of us created a chat group so we could always share information on our ways. So I asked Tiago there to check if the Albergue was open when he arrived (he went earlier and walked fast). He arrived at the different pension and stopped for lunch (at 4 pm) and drinks. I couldn’t stop the worry, so I called another pension (which turned out to be the one Tiago was having lunch at) to ask if they had a room available with my very limited Spanish. She said yes, and I asked how much, and she said 75 euros. I repeated, 25? She said, no, 75. My heart got cold immediately. The public Albergue costs 8 euros, and the private one costs from 12 euros to 20 euros. 75 euros is not for pilgrims. I still had to go check out the other Albergue though.
When I was about to arrive at that town, Tiago was still having lunch. So I told him to wait for me. Claudia also caught up, so we three reunited in the pension. I told them, if the other Albergue wasn’t open, then I’d rather call a taxi to go to the next stop. I wasn’t really in walking condition — especially after the last steep descent.
They two decided to go to the next stop and stay at the public Albergue anyway, so they needed to go for dinner shopping in the supermarket. So we went in the same direction, and then we saw the minibus from the scout group on the roadside. Tiago asked me if I want to go to the next stop, so he could ask the group if I could take a ride with their bus. I said yea, meanwhile, I’ll also check this Albergue. I walked a bit forward, and when I saw going to the Albergue might require taking the stairs up, I was like, OK this settles. I walked back to the minibus and asked Claudia to shop for more food to count me in.
So I shamelessly joined the bus. It was a 4 km skip, which I did with pleasure. The cook, Madalena, turns out to be the driver, too, and also works in Tech so we talked a bit about our work. Another teenage girl, Inês from the scout group, also took the defeat and went with the bus. We had some friendly conversations, and they both are very nice people. I was also offered medicine for the knees. On the second morning, I asked for their contacts so I could buy them a coffee when I get to Porto (they all came from Porto).
It was the gang’s last night together — once arrived at Santiago, Tiago had to go back to Portugal. We had some ready-cooked empanadas together and saluted with drinks. We talked about some deep topics as well, in a way, we were more connected.
The last day
The forecast said before 1 pm the weather should be sunny and cloudy, but there would be heavy rain around 1 pm. So the plan was to get up early and got to Santiago before 1 pm.
It was 17 km left, the lightest day of all. Even so, I felt like my left foot had some new blisters so it was quite painful. And there were multiple ascents and descents. When descending, I was either walking with legs spreading out, or backward. It helped a bit, at least psychologically. I could feel I was pulling the last reserve of willpower along my way.
At some point, a black dog started following me. One thing I noticed is that, just like in any other rural area, dogs are very hostile here. Their responsibility is not to be cute and adorable to the owners, or at least not only that but to guard the households by barking at every stranger passing by. I’ve encountered a handful of dogs that weren’t locked or leashed, and I always had to pass on high alert. So when I heard a dog following, my heart started racing. What did he want? Me no food! However, the dog only tried to get some attention from me, but generally just happily ran around to different places to pee and came back to me as if I was the owner. We shared each other’s company for a few hundred meters, and he disappeared again.
With all the pain and bodily rejection, I managed to arrive at Santiago with dry shoes, for the first time! I reunited with Claudia by the Cathedral and went to get our Compostela together.
At last, the three of us went to have lunch together to celebrate and farewell. At last, we put a period to our shared memory and we all need to go back to our own reality.
Reflections
I was trying to be mindful as much as possible when I was walking because I didn’t want to waste the opportunity to allow myself to daydream or ruminate on various uncontrollable matters. I did learn a few things along the way.
Sometimes we can’t plan for things, but it would unfold on its own. I canceled all my bookings, but it turned out to be OK. And because of that, I met these incredible people and shared so many memories and experiences. I didn’t even like the scout group at first, but they became the help when I really needed it.
When we feel like we can’t connect, maybe it’s because we only want to be listened to and understood instead of listening and understanding. I talked to a handful of people on my way, but each one of them turned out to be very inspiring people. Everyone has some inspiring stories to tell. I told myself that I hate small talk because what I really hate is that I wasn’t really curious about what people were to say, all I wanted was to be heard — I wanted to open up one-sided. My ears and my heart weren’t opening to receive.
We are all connected if we allow it to be. Eventually, we share more similarities than differences.
All the problems and suffering will pass and become insignificant. I had to face various obstacles that I was so annoyed that I laughed out loud. Many were nasty ones. I had to endure various bodily discomfort while still pushing myself to make more effort. All the pain, the suffering, the discomfort, and the obstacles appeared to be so hard to deal with when they were present, but eventually, they all go away. The pain went away as if it never existed. The obstacles became prizes. When they all go away, we are fresh again.
Wrapping up
It has been a great ride, and just like the old saying, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I am stronger. This is the first day of a new year, I will try to keep all the learnings in mind and start anew. Buen Camino!
