DESTINATIONS ACTIVE & ADVENTURE |CAMINO DE SANTIAGO
top tip op tip There are seven main Camino
routes, with the Camino Frances and Camino Portugues the most popular. Some stretches get busy, especially in summer, so recommend the shoulder months or an alternative route for those seeking a quieter walk.
CLOCKWISE FROM BELOW: The Camino’s scallop shell signposts; cyclists on the Camino; Santiago de Compostela cathedral PICTURE: Esther Taboada
the US and Australia, to name but a few) with one thing in common – a desire to escape the daily noise and, whether for five days or five weeks, take a bit of time out.
THE SIMPLE LIFE That’s exactly what I was doing – and it was blissful. Walking an average of 14 miles a day, I fell into a carefree routine that quickly became the norm. I’d set off at 9am and reach my next guesthouse by 4pm, striking up conversations along the way as I drifted past tumbling hills and crumbling farmhouses, Romanesque churches and stone-built hamlets, without a worry in the world beyond what to eat and where. Some parts were more scenic than others. Much of Galicia wouldn’t look out of place in England with its rolling hills and verdant fields, and the weather wasn’t dissimilar either, with several downpours when I was there out of season – but it gave me a glimpse into rural Spain that most tourists to the country never see. I passed lively market towns such as Melide, famous for its octopus and lined with pulperias serving huge, purple-tentacled plates of it; and stayed in quaint rural cities such as Arzúa, known for its halloumi-like cheese. Other stops included Palas de Rei, where I veered
off the track to visit the Iglesia de San Salvador de Vilar de Donas, a 14th-century monastery where knights were buried and pilgrims used to sleep. Then there was Portomarin, whose historic old town was relocated stone by stone in the 1960s after it was flooded by the river Miño to make way for a dam.
36 6 MAY 2021
BOOK IT
CaminoWays offers self-guided walks and group tours along several Camino routes. A seven-day self-guided trek along the final section of the Camino Frances costs from €525 per person, including basic accommodation, some dinners, luggage transfers, trip notes and 24/7 support if required. Accommodation upgrades to casas rurales and superior stays are also available, while extra stops can be added for those wanting to take things a little slower.
caminoways.com
And at every stop there was a palpable sense of life, with pellegrinos (pilgrims) sharing stories in guesthouses and bars, and hosts bidding guests ‘buen Camino’ as we set off each morning.
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA But it was Santiago de Compostela that impressed the most. It’s hard to imagine how pilgrims must have felt upon arriving here all those years ago, the elaborate spires of the cathedral towering above them, marking the final destination on a 500-mile-plus journey that carried with it a fair few more perils than I’d experienced on my five-day jaunt. Still, I felt an undeniable sense of achievement at having made it this far – alongside a feeling of my own insignificance as I stood beneath this huge, indomitable edifice. But most of all I felt that ongoing sense of community and connection. Whether they’d come 500 miles or 50, just-arrived pilgrims scattered across main square Praza do Obradoiro, celebrating as if they were all part of the same, extended family. And that, for me, was the real draw of the whole thing. There aren’t many situations where it’s normal to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger in the middle of nowhere. But on the Camino, it’s all part and parcel, harking back to a feeling of community that has long been at its heart – while giving travellers from all walks of life a chance to reflect, to think and to grow in a way that embodies its beginnings more than a thousand years ago.
TW
travelweekly.co.uk
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