PILGRIMAGE FROM SANTIAGO TO FINISTERRE – DAY 4

Tue 7 May 2024

Lago to Cee [25.7 km]

0 km Lago
0.9 km Abeleiroas
3.2 km Corzón
4.7 km Ponte Olveira
6.3 km Olveiroa
9.9 km O Logoso
11.3 km Hospital
25.7 km Cee [Hospedium Hotel La Marina Costa da Morte, Avenida Fernando Blanco, Cee]

The previous night had been spent in a shared dormitory at an albergue in Lago. As occasionally happens when you have to spend an evening with an assortment of people you’ve never met, the best part of the experience was the communal dinner, before a combination of snoring, grunting and coughing made sleep a difficult proposition. After the previous night’s noise fest, it was good to have a decent hotel here in Cee.

At the communal dinner, I shared a table with three pilgrims, two from Germany- Rolf rom Frankfurt and Hans from Saarbrucken – as well as Motomi, from Chiba, Japan. For €12, we were served lentil soup, bread, mackerel with rice and, as is often the case, caramel flan, as well as a couple of glasses of wine. This was a little different from the standard cutlet and chips that are the staple main course of Pilgrim Menus.

Today’s stage was not quite as challenging as the previous day, though some of the climbs were a bit gruelling. There was a very steep descent into Cee which, whilst nowhere near as tough as some downhill stretches on the Camino Frances, certainly tested your knee joints.

I also met Vákner, a mythical werewolf-type figure that was encountered by Bishop Mártir de Arzendján, an Armenian pilgrim, in the late 15th Century. Vákner must have been sleeping as I passed through.

Cee lies on the Costa da Morte (Death Coast) so, whilst I’ll reach the end of my Camino in Finisterre tomorrow, this stage marked a personal landmark, as I’ve now walked from the French side of the Pyrenees, through northern Spain to the Atlantic Ocean on Spain’s west coast, the first time I’ve traversed a country on foot. Now, I wonder if there’s another cross-country trek I could try?

Total Steps: 37,516
Distance: 27.9 km

Today’s Playlist

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours – Manic Street Preachers
Skylarking – XTC