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.