Peregrinos on El Camino de Santiago

  Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Friday, May 20, 2005

Mon 16th May (continued)
Once we rounded the point of James, the land became low and sloping toward the sea, with sandy beaches and patches of green mangroves. The land was dotted with small volcanic cones, and pretty dry looking. As we approached Bartolome, the dramatic nature of the island became apparent, with a sharp peak to the right, a cone to the left and a golden sandspit between. We circled a couple of times around a high sloping isolated rock, with a steep cliff into the water on the north side, to look at the birds on the cliffs, and sea lions who had hauled themselves out of the water and onto shelves, and up the stepped sloping side. There must be a lot of birds here in the right season, as the whole rock is covered in guano. It appeared we were killing time until it was our turn to land and climb the volcanic cone for a good view over Bartolome, James, and a fair few islands in the distance.
We have the usual welcoming committee at the jetty, and actually have to step over two sea lions who refuse to move. The volcanic cone is soft, and quite fragile, so they have built wooden walkways and steps most of the way up the mountain, with lookout areas at various heights. Because the rock is very sandy, it holds very little rain, and the hill is very dry, apart from one area which has a hard skin below, and supports growth of a fine-leaved ground cover, a bit like maiden hair fern. On other islands, the same plant hugs the ground, but, on this one, if it tries to hug the ground, the ground just breaks away, so it has become a low growing shrub. There is the occasional pioneer cactus, but otherwise the ground is bare, and you can see lava tubes, chimneys and spatter cones. There are excellent views down on Bartolome,


and across to other islands, including James, Isabella, Santa Cruz, Baltra, Seymour, and a number of lesser islands to the south.
Back at the dock, we step over the same sea lions, head back to the boat for a quick change into our snorkelling gear for a snorkel around the pinnacle rock. We have been advised that the wetsuits will not dry for the flight out, but we decide to risk it, and we are glad we did, as the water is particularly cold on the surface, and bitter down deep. This must be the cold current that brings the nutrients, and concentrates the fish life. The sea floor is totally covered with schools of bait fish, some 15 cm long, some 2 cm, and smaller schools of larger fish. There are no signs of the sharks which often lie under ledges, but there are penguins actually fishing for the smaller fish. MP sees 3 fishing, but they are so fast they are only in view for seconds. We see 4 penguins on a rock, two possibly juvenile, as one is fed by another. Some sort of mating action seems to be happening too.
Back on the boat,


the hot water is working, so we warm up in the too-hot shower. Tonight is the formal dinner for the last night aboard, and the crew turn out in their formal uniforms, and the women who have them get out their little black numbers. We start off with a cocktail, the guide thanks us for being agreeable guests, and we thank him and the crew for a good cruise. In fact, the whole complement got on remarkably well, with only one sour incident over someone not going too far ahead while others were still taking photos. We were reminded of the tipping situation, and we chipped in the recommended amount for the guide, as this was a direct gift, and and a more modest amount for the crew. We still object to the practise of underpaying staff on the assumption that the tips would make up the difference, but the staff really went out of their way to be friendly and helpful. The degree of attention by the steward was embarrassing, as the room was made up at least twice a day.
MP spent a lot of time downstairs with Steve, giving him travel tips on Central America, and had to spend a fair time upstairs looking at the horizon to calm the stomach before going to bed, as the sea had become quite rough, and we were punching straight into it. The main airport has been closed for a month for repairs, so everyone has to leave from San Cristobal, which involves an eight hour boat trip. We seemed to spend a lot of time not asleep, and arrived at San Cristobal about 5.30 am, for a short sleep before the 6 am wake-up.
Tues 17 May San Cristobal-Guayaquil-Madrid
A lot of packing before breakfast and the 8 am departure of the baggage, then farewells and into the rubber ducky for the last time. The harbour is pretty busy with cruise ships letting off people for the new air departure point, local fishing boats, taxi boats, and a Navy patrol boat.
All the boats at anchor not protected by barbed wire have a team of sea lions aboard. Often, enough to sink the boat. Ashore, we get in a bus and head to the airport, where it all goes pretty smoothly, and we have some time to kill, so do the 10 minute walk back into town, maybe to internet. The town is small, but quite interesting, but we don't find an internet quickly, so do the rounds of the town, down to the beach, which has a good group of sea lions, blue-footed boobies, and even a couple of marine iguanas. Take a few photos, listen to the navy drilling their students, then walk back. We find the panaderia which has eluded us throughout the Galapagos, but don't need it now. On the way back to the airport, past a fairly big school, and the soccer field, took a photo of a stylized ceramic flamingo head in a public park.
Our plane is a Boeing 727, which is a pretty old design, and could be 30 years old, but looks OK. We have allocated seats, and board from the rear integrated gangway. There is not a lot to see leaving, but we get a good view of the Ecuador coast, which is surprisingly dry. Looks not unlike the Peru coast, as compared to the approach to Guayaquil, which is inundated with water. There seem to be a lot of rice paddy fields, under clean water, so it is not a flood. The farmhouses and villages sit on elevated mounds above the fields. Can see the Cerro we climbed on the right as we land.
We bid farewell to the rest of the ship's complement, who are all going on to Quito, and walk out into the heat of Guayaquil.
General thoughts and information on Galapagos cruise
When we were deciding on which cruise to take, we discovered that it was important to read the itinerary, and make sure that the seven-day cruise went to the outlying islands, and that everyone was on for the whole seven days. Some 7 day cruises take 4 day and 3 day people as well, so you spend time picking up new people. Also it is best to have 16 people or less, so that when you go ashore, it doesn't take forever, and there are only a few people to disturb the animals an birds.
We also decided to go Tourist Superior class, which is more upmarket than we'd normally go, because we were assured of a Naturalist 3 guide, the highest category. A lower graded Naturalist may not know as much, and may speak little English. This turned out to be quite important, as the difference between both the animals and landscape of each island was in the detail, and not immediately apparent.
We also chose the Samba because, although it was definitely not the prettiest boat, it was very practical, and we'd read someone's travel blog, and knew they did a lot of snorkelling. This turned out to be great, as we snorkelled off good rock outcrops, rather than just off beaches (which could be a bit alarming for inexperienced snorkellers, with backwash and currents) but was just what we wanted.
Our group of thirteen ranged in age from 78 to 23, and was remarkable in the fact that we all got on well. It consisted of Anne (78) and Mary-Anne(72) friends from Berkeley, California; Bridget and Pat (23), brother and sister from Chicago, Mara and Lara, friends from New Hampshire and New York; Ian and Alison, from Scotland, and on their honeymoon; John (from Scotland) and his Columbian wife(?); and last, but not least, Steve from Birmingham, who provided us all with very many funny moments, most of them unintentional. Our excellent guide was Mauricio Garcia, who has written a book ( used as part of the guide education programme) on the various sites.
Travelling to and around the Galapagos is not cheap -
our 7 day trip costs included - airfare Guayaquil/Galapagos/Guayaquil US$300 each
7 day cruise - US$1670 each
Park entrance fee - US$100 each
Hire snorkelling gear - US$65 each
Tips to guide and staff (5) - at least US$180
Departure tax Guayaquil - US$25 each

No-one is waiting at the gate with a sign for us, but after we emerge from the luggage area, we see the same woman and daughter coming toward us. We hand over the snorkelling gear, explain the missing snorkel valve, and part on good terms, having recovered our deposit credit card impression.. We talk to them about the problem of storing our luggage for a few hours, as we have a seven-hour wait for our flight to Madrid. Thought there was an off-chance of them looking after it, but settle for directions to the Mall de Sol, reached by a $3 taxi ride, although it is comfortable walking distance, if you can cross the main roads and stay alive. There are the usual guards armed with short-handled shotguns outside, but inside it is very flash indeed, real first world class. We look around for an internet cafe for a while, then resort to the well-tried method of asking at the Radio Shack shop. We were directed to somewhere along the mall, to the right, on the ground floor, all in Spanish, and managed to find a call centre/Western Union/internet shop. They were helpful, and shifted someone off the machine with the CD burner so MP could download the diary, and upload photos to travelpod, and also cut the photos to CD. The programs to cut CD's are always unnecessarily complicated, and MP ended up running out of space for one CD, which shouldn't have happened, so got the girl on the desk to help., but unfortunately she missed 100 files, which we discover late in the session and have to hurry to finish the CD without overfilling it.
Take a photo of the flash mall, get back by Taxi for $3 and check in without too much drama, go through and do diary until it is time to leave. Have had no problem filling the seven hours - amazing how much time you can waste with computers!
The 10-hour flight with Iberia is a bit of a horror trip, with no personal TV, truly weird movies, and not much room between the seats. DP takes a sleeping pill, and gets a fair amount of sleep, MP has a lot of weird dreams, but can't remember getting too much sleep. Spain looks pretty dry, but there is major construction going on all around Madrid when we land..
Wednesday 18 May Madrid-Santiago de Compostela (Spain)
Arrive in Madrid about 1pm after a 10-hour flight and 7 hour time change, and have nearly 3 hours to wait for our connecting flight. We wait for a while to make sure that our bags do not end up on the carousel (they have been booked through), then find out where to go from the Iberia desk, catch the transfer bus to Terminal 2, and attempt to go through security. DP's bag keeps failing the X-ray test. The operator reckons there is something sharp in it. We think it is a mistake, but empty it all, which is a major operation. Finally find the sharp knife with the end stuck in a cork. It must have been there all the way from Guayaquil on the way out to the Galapagos.
We retire in good order, without arrest, and repair to the departure lounge. Manage to find an ATM, then wait for the plane, doing diary until we look like being the last through the gate as flight is un-announced, but a full team of business types come through late. The meals are cash up front, and expensive, so we look at the patchwork quilt of rural Spain out the window. Further north we get into more mountainous country with eucalypt plantations, and wind farms on the top of the hills.
Santiago de Compostela airport is pretty big, with multiple gates, and has a foreign baggage section, so we are pretty confident that our bags will make their way through the system and arrive. We have to wait a long while, watching a local couple with an African child. Other locals are making a big thing of her - must be a new adoption.
Bags turn up - have to show our passports, but don't have to open the bags. Outside to look for buses and to recover and read the Spanish guide book, and turn on the phone, so we can get SMS messages.
The reported once-an-hour bus turns up, and we buy a 1E ticket, and get on the SMS to Jerry and Sharon, who we hope to meet up with tomorrow. They have been doing the Peregrino Camino for nearly five weeks, and we are going to do the last week with them.
The bus ride to town is 11 km, and we were going to go to Centro, but the bus does a stop at the regional bus depot, so we jump off, and DP goes upstairs to find the ALSA ticket office, and comes down with tickets for tomorrow's 9 am bus to Pedrafita de O'Cebreiro, for 14E each.
The bus station is off our map, but not off the map outside the terminal at the top level, so we plot a course to the Hotel Real, which we have booked on the internet for 68 E. At the end of the first street, we think we have made a mistake, but there is a narrow, overgrown path which takes us through to the next street. We draw another blank before finding a landmark which is on the guide book map, and get into the city proper. It looks pretty good, real mediaeval Europe, with lots of crooked cobbled streets, little plazas, and stone buildings. We found our hotel, rang the bell to get in, and check in, confirming that we will leave the bags for a week. Check out our small "spacious" room, with double bed, bathroom, and heaters (not turned on).
The girl on reception gave us a city map, and indicated the cathedral, the hotel, and the office which handles the credentials for pilgrims, but thought they closed at 7pm. We had a look anyway, found them open till 9, and, in 2 minutes, with a minimum of fuss or interrogation, got our 50 cent documents. After, wandered the town, finding all sorts of interesting streets and plazas, the massive cathedral and Hotel de Los Reyes Catolicos, the fancy Parador, Jerry and Sharon are booked into. Took a lot of photos, finally found an internet, then headed back to get the management to turn on the "calefaction", and re-arrange our gear into goers and non-goers, as we are only carrying a small backpack with us on the walk. Took us through to after midnight, so set alarms and hit the sack, as we've now been travelling non-step for over 24 hours (since we left the Galapagos)
Thurs 19 May Santiago de Compostela - Triacastela (Spain)
Up with the alarm, quickly dressed and downstairs to surrender our bags. Pay and check out by 8 am. Walk a different path through the old town, and find the markets by accident,


so buy apples and cherries, and get to the bus station by 8.30. Check that the ALSA bus on stand 3 is not ours, and get the right one when it turns up half an hour later. Sit in the front seats, even though we have 13 and 14. Manage to hold onto them all the way to Luzo before their rightful owners hop on and claim them.
The first part of the trip is fairly suburban, with a lot of major roads, but we see a surprising number of peregrinos walking alongside the road. It seems to be market day everywhere, and some of the markets look pretty good. Luzo, where we lose the front seats, is a major city, but we still see peregrinos here. Further along, the country becomes wilder, with mountains, and deep valleys. We keep an eye on the time, so when we reach our arrival time of 11.45am, confirm we are at the right place, because of the sign for the Camino. DP checked around, but the way was definitely up hill, and a long way up. 4.5 km later, and about 600 metres up, we arrived at our official starting place of O'Cebreiro, which is a lovely small village of about 20 old stone buildings, perched on the saddle of the ridge, high up on the mountain. Buildings made in the dry stone wall style of thin, flat stones stacked on their flats, and finished off at the corners with larger cut-granite blocks. The roofs are untrimmed slate-slabs with a dragons-backbone ridge capping with interlocking teeth cut from the slate.


We get our first stamp for our Peregrino book.
We have to be at Triacastela, which is 23 kms away, by tonight, as Jerry and Sharon have a fixed timetable. As it's now 1pm, we probably won't have time to walk the whole way. See a taxi, and get a quote of 25 Euros, as this will be our fall-back position.
We SMS'd to Jerry that it was a nice day, and we would walk. Half a km down the road, DP found that she had left her hat, so walked back while MP took out needle and thread to fix the chest strap on the pack, having fixed the waist strap at midnight.
The weather was pleasant enough, and we had a good walk, both on the road, and along the track which ran mostly along beside the road.


Passed a couple of hamlets, and had a coke at a bar where we got another stamp, after a hard pull up one of the steepest parts,


we decided that we would eventually hitch, but walked to the highest point, after stopping for a salad, monster omelette, beer and coke at Hospital.
We walked on past the next village, and replied to Jerry's SMS to say we had no idea of our ETA Jerry let us know that he'd booked a 4-bed room in a private albergue for us, at 7 Euros each, so accommodation wasn't a worry. To get into the Peregrino albergues, which are by donation, you need to arrive by 2pm or so, which results in everyone getting up early and hot-footing it to the next destination, rather than enjoying a more leisurely walk. You are not able to book a bed, unlike the private places.
As now 4pm and still 11kms to go, started hitching, but had no cars past in the last hour, and no buses. Accidentally hitched the Guardia, but were passed by a dozen cars before a German in a van stopped for us. He had always wanted to do the camino, but his doctor advised against, so he was driving backup for a group. Very relaxing last 10 km down the steep descent into Triacastela. A bit of a shame we weren't walking, as the views over the valley were very nice, better than along the top.
Our lift dropped us outside the private hostel we'd been booked in to, and we saw Sharon walking up the street. Signed in, woke Jerry from his PM sleep, changed into sandals and walked around the streets, looked at the old church, admired the local slating with un-trimmed sheets of slate, and the drystone walling and horizontally bedded stonework in the houses which had not been rendered. The architecture is quite charming, although repairs and extensions in breeze block and clay cellular bricks looked pretty ordinary.
Had drinks at a bar, which led into a evening meal in the same bar. Typical menu del dia is soup, main course, dessert, and a wine bottle on the table, plus bread. Too much for one, not quite enough for two, but certainly don't need for lunch and tea. Hit the sack pretty early, with only four of us in a 6-bed room. Sleeping bags are too hot, no bags too cold. Dianne goes quickly to sleep, but is woken a couple of times, and can't get back to sleep, so ends up only having about 3 hours sleep. Walked about 16 kms
Friday 20 May Triacastela - Sarria
Early start, approx 6.30, only just light, and pretty cold. Walk out of town along the river, taking the long route through Samos. Walk is a combination of along the road, and up paths through the woods, right away from the road, past farm complexes, with house, barn and farmyard all together, typically in stacked stone with rustic slate roof. Farmyard odour is affectionately referred to by Jerry and Sharon as "eau de Camino", and has dominated their entire walk. Descend into Samos, where there is an enormous monastery,


now mostly empty, and a bar open for coffee and chocolate sort of croissants, or the local equivalent (pan chocolat). We look at the local rebuilt mediaeval church, photo the service station built into the back of the monastery, walk out the far side. Jerry catches his stick in the side vision mirror of a car, rips it off, leaves it dangling on a string. Tries to look nonchalant
The track is along the river, and the girls watch "trucha" in the river, MP and JL check out a modern water treatment plant. Up the hill on a minor road we pass what has to be a piggery, then descend back to the river through heavily pruned oak and chestnut trees.


Very nice walking, look down on fishermen on the river, walk through farm complexes, down into the river flats, across the river, past a new, very flash house next to a very ugly shed, possibly temporary residence. Pass a weird sign relating to fish, get away from the river up a hill, then down to meet the main route, rather than the Samos route, and run into a team of 16 Aussies, Kiwis and Poms who are paying 800 pounds for the privilege of walking for 10 days, having their bags carried, all found in 2 to 3 star hotels. We crack on pace to beat them to a lunching place, then up over a hill and down into Sarria, which is fairly large, but are given a set of shells let into the pavement as a route guide, around in a circular route, over the bridge, up the stairs and direct to the Albergue and book in before considering alternative digs. We end up on the 2nd plano, in a 30 bed dorm, with the sloping ceiling almost touching the bed, men's toilets on the floor below, central air well with boot storage grille floor, and no hot water till late. Rest a while then out to look at the cathedral, up the hill to the edge of town, back to the cafe near the albergue for a snack, then down town to internet. Check out the rather large modern part of town, buy fruit and a drink at the supermarket. Jerry also gets some money to see why his card has different options to ours. DP back to rest, others to the cafe, but MP has lost his sun glasses, so retraces his movements without luck. We have a second meal at the cafe, then back to the Albergue for a better night's sleep (Dianne's due to a sleeping tablet), apart from the sound of rain on the roof close over MP's head. Not a good sound for a Peregrino. Walking 25kms on Camino (more in town)