Day 115 – Muxia to Santiago de Compostela – Monday 23.10.2023
Sometimes I wonder how loudly people can actually snore. Today there were two people in the dormitory who literally snored like walruses and kept everyone awake. As soon as one of them stopped briefly, the other started again. So I barely slept that night. Nevertheless, I got up at 8:30 and packed my things. While I drank a coffee in the kitchen, I browsed the flight offers for my return trip. After a short time I booked a flight for Wednesday, which will fly from Santiago directly to Memmingen. So I now had two days left. Unfortunately this wasn’t enough to walk back from Santiago, so I had to take the bus. Unfortunately, I had already missed the first bus of the day and the next one didn’t arrive until 3:15 p.m. So now I had some time in Muxia.
I walked to a café at the harbor and ordered a small breakfast there. As soon as I sat down, a woman came up to me and said she knew me. In fact, I had met Miriam almost 2 months ago in a hostel in France. While she was staying there, I had only been to the hostel for a quick coffee stop. She sat down next to me and we talked about our experiences. In contrast to me, she had come to Santiago via the most famous Way of St. James, the Frances, and yet we met again here, which we both found quite funny. She quickly checked her phone and the only time we actually met was on August 29th.
After two cups of coffee and a long conversation, she set off again because she wanted to walk to accommodation a few towns further away. She wanted to spend the next 4 days there to process what she had experienced before she had to return to her family and her job in the Netherlands.
I, on the other hand, made my way to the sea again. There I sat down on a stone and enjoyed the last few hours on the rough Atlantic.
At around half past three I picked up my things from the accommodation and walked to the bus stop. Before I got there, I met the Swiss Christopher again with his dog Vera. I also talked to him for a while about what had happened since the last meeting and what his future plans were. Soon it was time for me to leave, as the bus had already arrived and the first people were already getting on. We, who had both started from home on the same day, which meant we immediately got along well, said goodbye to each other and I wished him good luck on his further journey to Senegal.
Then I got on the bus to Santiago and saw some familiar faces here too. The bus ride, on the other hand, was special. Not a word was said about the 1.5 hour journey and everyone let the last few weeks pass by. For me, the journey itself was a strange feeling. Since I had only been traveling on foot or by boat for the last four months, the rapid speed was almost unusual. And then he didn’t stop at a nice view, nor did he stop at one of the bars to have a relaxing coffee. This was different to what I was used to over the last few months and so I missed the quiet walk after just 30 minutes and wished I could hike through the landscape on foot again.
When I arrived in Santiago, I got off the bus, took my luggage and made my way to my current accommodation. After I left my luggage there, I walked through the city again, looked at the cathedral from the outside and inside again and then went to eat in a pizzeria. Later I returned to my accommodation and went to sleep.
Day 116 – Santiago de Compostela to O Naval de Abaixo (14,4 km) – Thuesday 24.10.2023
After a quiet night, I packed everything up again today to leave Santiago behind me again. For the next night I had booked a room in a hotel right at the airport, from where I wanted to travel home tomorrow. Since it wasn’t particularly far to the airport and it was almost on the Way of St. James, I wanted to walk there.
Unfortunately, pouring rain was forecast again today. I walked to the first café I found and had breakfast there. Then I set off again with a rain jacket. Somehow it was a strange feeling to walk the Way of St. James in the other direction and for a brief moment I thought about whether I should just walk home.
Every few minutes I was met by pilgrims who will arrive in Santiago today. They kept greeting me with “Buen Camino” and I greeted them back in a friendly manner. A woman asked me kindly if I knew where I was going since the Way of St. James went in the other direction. I explained to her that I had already been there and was now walking to the airport. Then I continued running through the pouring rain. So while I was walking in the “wrong” direction, I also noticed that I was moving faster than many other pilgrims. Every now and then I even met pilgrims who I knew from my previous trip and who will only arrive in Santiago today. So they arrived there almost a week after me, even though I only met some of them in Spain.
When I was shortly in front of my hotel I had hiked 13 km. So I had completed 2999 km on my trip so far. Since I didn’t want to miss the 3000 mark, I ran another small loop and actually completed 3000 km. Afterwards I went to the hotel and prepared my return trip. I handed in my half-full gas canister at the gas station opposite and rearranged the rest of my things in my backpack so that they were ready for the flight.
In the evening I ate a pilgrim’s menu in the restaurant for the last time and then went to bed early.
Day 117 – O Naval de Abaixo to Jöhlingen – Wednesday 25.10.2023
At 6 a.m. I got up, packed everything up and left the hotel. Since the next bus to the airport wasn’t due for another 15 minutes and it was only 2 km to the airport, I started walking again. I walked along the street in the dark and soon reached the airport.
There I checked in my backpack as luggage and treated myself to breakfast after the security check. Then unfortunately I had to wait a little longer. Shortly after 9 a.m. the plane was ready and, like many other pilgrims, I boarded the plane to Memmingen.
After a relaxing flight, we arrived in Memmingen after 2.5 hours. The luggage arrived quickly at the small airport and I soon left the building.
Since my train wasn’t for another hour, I set off on foot to the train station again. From here we went via Ulm, Stuttgart and Durlach to my home town of Jöhlingen. Of course, I also walked the last few meters from the train station to my apartment and after a few minutes I was back where my journey had begun almost 4 months ago. Somehow it was a strange feeling to be standing in front of my home again. With the last step through the front door, my pilgrimage here finally ended.
So that was my Camino de Santiago 2023.
Review
At the end of my trip, here is a little review.
Since I started on July 1, 2023, I have been on the road for almost 4 months and have covered 3000 km. I hiked in 4 different countries.
First I walked from home through Germany, followed the Rhine plain and then reached Switzerland in Basel. From here I went through the Jura and along the largest lakes in Switzerland to Geneva, where I then moved to France.
I was traveling in France for quite a while. First towards Le Puy-en-Velay and then on through the Massif Central to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the border with Spain.
From here I continued north, where in Irun I met the Atlantic for the first time on my journey and crossed the border into Spain.
I followed the coast with its many beautiful sandy beaches for some time before turning off just before Gijon and continuing through the mountains.
Then, after almost 2850 km, I reached my long-awaited destination “Santiago de Compostela”.
Like many other pilgrims, I then walked from here further to the sea to Finisterre and Muxia, where my journey ended for me.
Here are a few more facts:
- Days on the road: 114
- Days run: 110
- Break days: 5
- Kilometers run: 2986 (only counting up to Muxia)
- Km per day: 27.3 (not taking into account break days)
- Altitude: 65840
- Altitude meters per day: 598.5
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