Avoiding the Heat

So since I finished the Camino early I decided to come back to Seville and relax for a week. However, it's hard to relax when it is nearly 100 degrees everyday. Luckily, yesterday I got the chance to meet up with my coworkers, have lunch and swim in one of their pools for the day. 

Jose Dropping bombs

My turn

I met up with my coworkers at the school I was working at in Dos Hermanas. Only a few of them knew I was back and that I was coming in to say hello. They all were glad to see me and asked a lot of questions about my trip. We headed to the grocery store and then out to Lucre's country house to eat, swim and relax on the hot day.

cooling off with the coworkers

We spent all day at the house eating and swimming. The weather was so hot. It was nice to see all my coworkers again and we had a fun day relaxing in the sun.

I am planning on going to the beach this sunday with Lucre and hopefully I will have more opportunities to stay cool in this heat. Luckily my place has air conditioning, I have been staying inside during the day reading and organizing my stuff for the trip back to the states. 

Camino de Santiago - Day 11, Final Day - Melide to Santiago de Compostela

Biking Day 11

• Last Day!
• Melide ---> Santiago de Compostela
• 53.2 km (33.1 miles)
• 3.5 hours (with breaks)
• Total Distance Traveled: 710 km (441.3 miles)

Today was my final day of biking! I got up early and went fast to Santiago. I knew I was going to be woken up early because the amount of people in the albergue, so I went to bed pretty early. I also wanted to leave early for a few reasons. First, the temperature. It was going to be another very warm day and when I left the albergue for breakfast around 6:00 am all I was wearing was a tank top and it wasn't cool like most mornings were. Second, I knew there would be a lot of people on the trails since it was so close to Santiago. I wanted to get there early so I wouldn't have to wait long to get my credentials stamped and my official letter of completion. Finally I wanted to get there early to see the city and have time to catch the night bus back to Seville. I couldn't stand another night in a room with 50+ people, especially because I was going to be tired and wanted to sleep early.

The ride was so much fun. It was still dark when I left but the sun came up over the mountains quick. It was all up and down over the mountains then down the valleys all the way to Santiago. Another fun day of riding because a majority of it was in the trees on nice dirt paths. 

Caught another morning sunrise

I went fast, stopped only a few times and had a quick breakfast stop/coffee break. The past 4 days, even though tough, were my favorite. The terrain and the views were so pretty that it made the tough hill climbs totally worth it.

Almost there

I made the last hill climb to Monte de Gozo, where they had a large monument for the camino. Then into Santiago de Compostela was a nice downhill ride. I went directly to the bus station to see when the bus left for Seville and buy a ticket. It was only 10:30 am and I had until 4:30 pm to get my credentials stamped, see the cathedra and city and eat.

Monument at Monte de Gozo

I first went to get my official letter of completion and my credential book marked with the final stamp. The credential book is like a passport, where ever you go (albergue, cafe, resturant, cathedral, monument) they will stamp your credential book to show your path alond the way. I waited in line for the Compostelana Certificate for about an hour, which had my name written in Latin.

Credential book with stamps from the Camino

Letter of Completion 

After I went into the cathedral, which had service going as I was walking through. I was starving so I ate lunch near the cathedral, then biked around for a bit. My friend Laura, who is from the northwest of Spain, was in Santiago and we met up for a beer and she helped me with my stuff to the bus station. She took a flight back and I took a 14 hour bus back.

Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

Inside during the service

Done!

The bus ride back wasn't as bad as I thought. I slept most of the way and got back around 5:30 am. I biked back to my place and caught Nacho, the owner of the apartment, as he as heading to work.

The Camino de Santiago was such an amazing experience. I was so glad I did it and went through with the trip. What was a distant idea a few months ago turned into a reality very fast and it was worth every second. I lucked out with great weather too. Even though it was hot it was way more desirable than if it would have been raining, which would have made biking on some parts of the Camino nearly impossible. I looked at the weather this morning and it is already raining on parts of the North where I biked.

I went 441 miles in 11 days of biking. I encourage anyone, whether walking or biking, to make the journey, no matter where you start from. To get the official certificate you need to do at least 100 km (62 miles) walking or 200 km (124 miles) biking. If anyone has questions please feel free to ask. 

Camino de Santiago - Day 10 - Triacastela to Melide

Biking Day 10

• Triacastela ---> Melide
• 81 km (53.3 miles)
• 6.5 hours (with lunch and breaks)
• Total Distance Traveled: 656.8 km (408.1 miles)

Holy hell this day was hard. It felt like it was never going to end. I left around 7:00 am because I knew it was going to be a hot one. I ad an incline at the beginning, but it was cool and not too hard. From there to the end of the first etapa (stage) was mainly all downhill. That was about 14 km (8.7 miles), from there on was hell. it was partly because the inclines, but mostly due to the weather. I enjoyed the ride very much though because it was all through the woods at the start and it reminded me of biking in the PAC NW. 

Heading into the woods

Sun coming up over the mountains

Pretty ride

The next 16.6 km (10.3 miles) was all uphill, but mainly through the woods, so it was bearable. The end of the second etapa was to a town called Portomarin and to the city it was all downhill for about 5.8 km (3.6 miles. I passed the 100 km to the Santiago de Compostela and from there on it was an easy ride into the city.

Only 100 km (62 miles) to go!

I stopped, rested and ate lunch in Portomarin. It was an early lunch but I was hungry and needed the energy for the final stage of the day, which was 40.1 km (25 miles). 

Crossing the bridge into Portomarin

Entrance into the city of Portomarin

I was already beat after lunch due to two large hill climbs the past two days. It only got worse; from Portomarin to Alto de Ligonde was practically all uphill, roughly 15 km (9.3 miles). The heat as unbearable. I read in the paper when I got to my final destination of Melide that this region was experiencing a heat wave, roughly mid 30's C (95 F) the past week. The last 25 km (15.5 miles) was a tease; it went from really steep downhill sections to equally steep uphill sections.

looking down on the river from the entrance to Portomarin

I didn't think I was going to be able to do the last 10 km (6.2 miles) into Melide. I kept stopping every 10 minutes to cool off and hydrate. I finally made it in to Melide and from the entrance of the city to the albergue was a slight uphill, but I made it and rested outside until it opened up.

What probably made the day so tough was I stuck to the Camino path instead of the roads for almost the whole day. The only times I deviated was when the path hugged the side of the road. It as another dirt road and good for most of the time, but some of the sections were washed out and really rocky.

Tough, but pretty ride through the woods

The albergue I stayed at was a shit show. SO many people and really loud. I should have just payed the extra 5 euro and stayed in a private one next to the one I stayed in. Last day of biking coming up, should be a rewarding easy ride into Santiago

Camino de Santiago - Day 9 - Ponferrada to Triacastela

Biking Day 9

• Ponferrada ---> Triacastela
• 72.4 km (45 miles)
• 6 hours (with lunch break and breaks to rest)
• Total Distance Traveled: 575.8 km (357.9 miles)

Another beautiful day of biking, but physically draining and even harder inclines. I left Ponferrada around 7:30 this morning and started making my way out of town. I thought I might run into my two friends Danielle and Aubrey, who said they were leaving at 6:00 am, but I never did see them. It was a nice easy ride for the first etapa (stage), good way to wake up and get ready for the large incline coming up.

Leaving Ponferrada

The mountains that I was crossing today were not as high as the ones entering Ponferrada, but the incline was a little more over a way shorter distance. The day before only had a rise around 600 meters, roughly 2000 feet, over about 25 km (15.5 miles). Today was about a 650 meter rise (2150 feet) over only 8.5 km (5.3 miles). So it rose roughly the same amount in a third of the distance.

From Ponferrada to a town called Las Hierrerías was 38.7 km (24.1 miles) and was easy. I rode fast and it mainly was on streets until outside Ponferrada when it switched to dirt roads cutting through wine fields.

On the way to Villafranca

Crossing a cool bridge into a town for breakfast

From Las Herrerías to O Cebreiro was the large incline. It was hot when I started going up and the sweat was dripping from the visor of my helmet like crazy. The 6 km (3.7 miles) to a town called Laguna de Castilla seemed to last forever. As I was going up I ran into a few British women I have seen occasionally along the way, a mother and daughter, who were taking a break about a 1 km (.6 miles) from Laguna de Castilla. They said there was a bar there they were going to stop at so I pushed forward and got some lunch and waited for them to arrive. They think I am crazy because of how fast I do the stages. I enjoy going hard for short distances at a time, 50 - 70 km (30 - 45 miles), while they like to ride all day at a slower pace and go just a bit further. I ate lunch with them and they wanted to take a picture with me to remember the "crazy American" even though I don´t think I doing the camino that fast. (maybe just going quickly to each destination. I had a nice big sandwich and some fruit then finished the last 2.5 km (1.6 miles) to O Cebreiro.

Going up

hot day, needed a food break halfway up

Almost to the top

Once at the top I rested for a good 45 minutes. There was a strong brisk breeze that dried up all the sweat that was drenching my clothes and I sat looking down at the valley enjoying the views and the climb I did while I rested up.

At the top, resting at O Cebreiro

She needed a rest too

I planned on stopping there for the day, but event though I was tired I decided to do the next stage of 20.6 km (12.8 miles) to a town called Triacastela because the last 12.1 km (7.5 miles) were all down hill and on the road, so it seemed only logical to go forward.

Getting ready to go down the other side

Other side of the mountain, now the easy part

I got into Triacastela and found an albergue, cleaned up then went and got some food for lunch and dinner at the supermarket.


I planned on finishing the Camino on the 28th, but now I think I will be able to finish on the 27th. Tomorrow I am planning on going 81 km (50.3 miles) to a town called Melide and then the last day will be a relaxed 53.1 km (33 miles) into Santiago de Compostela. 

Camino de Santiago - Day 8 - Astorga to Ponferrada

Biking Day 8

• Astorga ---> Ponferrada
• 53.3 km (33.1 miles)
• 4 hours (with stops and lunch)
• Total Distance Traveled: 503.4 km (312.9 miles)

What a gorgeous bike ride I had today. I left Astorga around 8:00 am. It was chilly, I was shivering the first couple of miles, but I slowly warmed up and the sky was clear and the day became warm really quick. The first 20.6 km (12.8 miles) to Rabanal del Camino was pretty bare, but it was a good incline up the whole way. Rabanal del Camino was just at the start of the tree line heading into the mountains. From there it was straight up to the top of the mountain. I stayed on the road for a bit because the camino was parallel to it, but at Rabanal del Camino I stuck to the official path. 

The dog tried herding me over too, literally.

The views and scenery were so pretty that the uphill wasn't so bad. Once I got to the Cruz de Fierro it was downhill. I really wanted to do the downhill by the official path even though many people said I was crazy, but it really wasn't that bad. From Collado de las Antenas to El Acebo it was a straight drop. The camino was pretty rough, but I took it slow and managed no to fall :)

From the top

Cruz de Fierro

Water break

taking the camino over the mountain

heading across the top

Rough rocky road down

As I was passing through a small town I heard a few American girls talking and as I passed I turned briefly to say hello and one of them said, "Hey!" It was a girl that I studied abroad with in Granada 4 in 2006 and a girl who was living in Seville doing that same job as I was. It was really random and we agreed to meet up in Ponferrada at the albergue to hang out. After leaving them I started back down the trail but the actual road looked so fun I decided to take it down the remainder of the mountain. It was a blast; it curved down the side of this mountain with a steep slope and zig-zaging back and forth.

Study abroad friend

Fun ride down the mountain

I got into Ponferrada and checked into the albergue and hung out till the girls got there. We made some dinner and hung out, but I started feeling a bit sick. I think I drank some bad water along the way. In each town they have fountains, some are potable and some are not. This one wasn't marked but it looked like the ones that were usually potable so I went ahead and filled up the water bottle. Bad idea. As I am writing this I am sweating buckets and feel like I am going to hurl. If you are doing the camino and the fountain isn't marked, don´t take the risk!

Tomorrow is an up up up up up up hill day. I am going to try and push on as far as I can but we will see because the weather is really hot. I plan on getting a pretty early start, we have to be out of the albergue by 7:30 am, so hopefully it will be cool for the uphill portion.