DAY 71 - SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA to ORDES - Tuesday 02 July 2024

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We left Santiago this morning before the pilgrims filled the square - there were just a few who must have started very early. We are now following the Camino Ingles (English), but against the flow, because we left from Santiago. It felt very strange to be going the opposite way to which the yellow arrows pointed and we had to check our location via GPS quite a bit. 

The Camino Ingles headed out through the suburbs and we spotted the first pilgrims coming in to Santiago there - a large group of school children. We said the first of a lot of 'buen caminos' and started to count the pilgrims coming the other way. 

After the suburbs we had dirt tracks through forest. One was labelled 'the enchanted forest' and there was even a witch! We passed a bar opening directly onto the Camino - seven pilgrims were in there. We walked on asphalt roads through fields, some with cows, a lot planted with corn.

By the time we got to Sigueiro we had counted seventy seven pilgrims coming the other way, some individuals but most in small groups. There appeared to be a number of English speakers amongst them, though we didn't ask anyone. We made up backstories for the stragglers at the end...the Australians who left late because they didn't want to miss the free breakfast (could be us) and the family who couldn't get their teenager out of bed...

We had a second breakfast in a quiet bar off the main road and bought our bananas in the supermarket, noting the direct marketing to the pilgrims: this is obviously a popular route. 

We continued on the Camino, resuming our count. The pilgrims we were meeting now would have come from further out, and most probably intended to stay at Sigueiro.

Although we went alongside the highway for quite a while, the track we were on was mostly dirt and shady. We came across a modern looking lavadero that had been rebuilt when the highway covered the original. We also came across a shady picnic table so took the opportunity to rest our feet. Six pilgrims passed us then, but none stopped to share our table. 

We continued on, refilling our water bottles at a modern-looking fountain. Again we passed through areas of forest and fields before coming to a sunken path with stone pavers down one side and a large gutter. This reminded us of the paths we loved so much on the Camino Sanabres. A little further on there was a large picnic area - no need to share tables here, but we didn't see anyone else. 

By the time we turned off the Camino Ingles to go to our accommodation, we had counted one hundred and nineteen pilgrims from Santiago (not counting the group of 50 or 60 school children we had passed before we started counting). This is probably more than we've seen altogether up until now!

Now we're heading away from Santiago
A last look at the Praza do Obradoiro on our way out this morning
Leaving Santiago on the Camino Inglés 
Following the Camino Inglés 
Through the enchanted forest
Following the Camino Inglés 
Following the Camino Inglés 
Sigüeiro
Following the Camino Inglés 
Still following the Camino Inglés 
Yes, still on the Camino Inglés 
We left the Camino Inglés after 28km to head into Ordes 
Following the signs in reverse
Birds and butterfly
Horreos
Pilgrim Highway
Animals
Day 71 - Map

Day:                               71
Distance:                      32.54 km
Walking time:              6 hrs 46 mins
Elevation gain:            663 metres
Cumulative distance: 1,428.41 km

Comments

  1. Murray and Sandra16 July 2024 at 12:25

    Wood Pigeon, 2 x Eurasian Magpie

    ReplyDelete

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