After staying with some new friends in Santiago for a few days, I decided to head out to Finisterre- believed to be the end of the world a long time ago. Traditionally, some pilgrims would continue out to Finisterre, bathe in the ocean and burn the stuff they traveled in. Featured image is of one of the beaches just outside of Fisterre. I stopped for a bit to cool off- at this point my feet were in pretty rough shape.
I did the walk from Santiago to Finisterre in 3 days- which entails a few 30+km days. I felt pretty good throughout the prior 12 days worth of walking, so I figured- no problem. I finished it… but my feet were in pretty rough shape- some huge, deep blisters. It felt like I was skinning the bottom of my foot another nanometer with every step. In retrospect, it was probably bad idea to do that distance in dress boots and with a 14 kg pack.
Nevertheless, I’m glad I did it. It’s a beautiful walk- and more importantly, it’s a relatively quiet, secluded walk with good conversations. The only people that are doing it appear to be other relatively “hardcore” pilgrims. i.e. people who’ve walked from far away carrying all their shit. No tourists… at least not on the trail- there are plenty folks that just take the bus from Santiago to Fisterre to see the sunset.
My last day on the trail, I started walking before sunrise at around 5:45 AM, and was en route with a few breaks, for about 11 hours. I got to a nice hotel on the outskirts of Fisterre, and stopped in to see if they had any deals. The lady at the desk was willing to give me a sweet deal on a nice single room, so I decided to treat myself. (I should specify that the previous 2 nights were in the municipal alburgues for 6 euro per night. I really wanted a nice shower and a room to myself…) Rather than push all the way out to the lighthouse, I decided to drop off my pack, take a shower and a nap, and then go out for sunset around 9pm.
I do want to note- The shower was incredible. It had rainfall shower head in the ceiling, a hand held showerhead with massage settings, and also 6 jets built into the wall. Awesome.
Sunset was spectacular- very thankful for that with the unpredictable rain in Galicia.
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