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Muxía → Fisterra 32.5 km (20.2 mi) |
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¡Ya está, todos!
Today is my final day of walking! 30 days and almost 900 kilometers ago, I’d just arrived in St. Jean Pied-de-Port, nervous, excited, and wholly unsure of how I would get along on this quest. For the first time in my life, I was wearing shoes and a backpack. I was in a country where I understood the language but struggled with the culture. And, most critically, I’d come here alone, trusting that I would meet people along the way, hoping to find my brother at the end of this experience that fit all his criteria: beautiful, historical, and wonderful. I have doubted, feared, fallen, felt all kinds of hurt, made friends, lost friends, discovered, regretted, all for the sake of waking up this morning in a dark albergue, with a terrible map, and the assurance that, by the end of today, I would be watching the sunset at the End of the World. Ultreya!
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As I said, the map left much to be desired, and I spent half an hour wandering in circles around the albergue. While this did take me to the radio tower and a great view of the town of Muxía, I’d hoped to be on the road much sooner! I’d passed one spot with a double arrow pointing in both directions and tried following the path in reverse, settling on a street that could have matched one on the map (which the hospitalero hadn’t marked). By great fortune, I reached the Calle de Eduardo Toba, saw a scallop shell pointing the way, and got started!
The Camino this morning started along the Costa da Morte, the Coast of Death! Some say the coast owes its name to its ship-wrecking rocks, while others claim that the pilgrimage to Finisterre (Fisterra in Galego) is like walking to death itself. That would add a whole new, sadder, spin to the shells of Santiago, whose ridges come from many places to arrive at one. Nonetheless, I sure was glad to be alive this morning!
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The Camino abandoned two things straightaway: the coast and the distance markers. Since people walk both ways, I suppose that makes sense, but I’d been pretty fond of watching the kilometers slip away. “Fisterra-Muxía” just got boring! In any case, that left me to pay more attention to the sky, full of fool’s clouds, the kind that could burn off in a few hours or else loiter about for the rest of the day. That put my Fisterra sunset in jeopardy! Surely, there had to be one more miracle left in the Camino!
I did as the Muxía hospitalero advised and stopped at the As Eiras pensión in Lires to have the bartender stamp my journal (my credencial only had one space left, and I’d reserved that for Fisterra). That gave me time for my last lunchtime bocadillo, and sure enough, it was a darn delicious one! I think I’ll miss these bocadillos when I go home. I should learn to make them! Having wiped my mouth and stepped outside, I was astonished! The clouds had burned off, and the sky was bright blue! The last miracle had occurred! Right?
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I missed an arrow in Canosa, went straight instead of left, and made a full circuit around the village. That gave me a chance to look back and see a storm front heading my way. It seemed pretty tame, but as I kept walking, the front turned into a Giant Cloud of Doom! In California, I’m used to clouds forming over the ocean and moving inland, but this one was heading directly toward Fisterra! I didn’t know what to do! I could outrun it and get to Fisterra first, but even if I did that, the Cloud could catch up and cover the sunset just to spite me! What to do?
I started hustling, because I really didn’t want to dig out my rain gear just now. After a few more kilometers, the hilly woods gave way to the ocean once again! The Cloud of Doom was closing in when I ran into another peregrino from Barcelona, just starting from Fisterra to Muxía at 2:00 PM. He pointed to my destination in the distance, and suddenly, the birds, the wind, and the Cloud stopped and fell completely silent. I was staring at the end of the Camino, the end of a month’s journey, the end of weeks of simple ritual and routine. It was the end of a life within a life, a world within a world!
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An hour later, I arrived in Fisterra, a town laced with legend! Here, the Romans built the city of Dugium, Orca Vella bewitched Celtic shepherds, and the Phoenicians built Ara Solis, the temple to the sun, which stood for over a thousand years until St. James ordered its destruction. Legend holds that the fate of the saint himself was decided here too! When his disciples brought his remains to the ruling queen, Lupa, she refused to bury him in her land and ordered an ox cart to take him to the place that would become known as Santiago de Compostela!
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But I didn’t come here to see the sights of the town. I came to visit the shipwreck coast, where pirates would lure their prey to be dashed upon the rocks! I waited for a short while in front of the municipal albergue to get my final, most impressive, compostela of the Camino, then continued up the road, past the noteworthy peregrina statue, across the aulaga-laden cliffside, over the searing blue of the Coast of Death, until I saw the lighthouse at the end, and indescribable joy overtook me!
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This lighthouse has only been around since 1868 but has since become the most visited place in Galicia after Santiago itself! Taking that into account, I had expected to see a lot more people here. Maybe the majority had already caught the last bus home for the day. The lighthouse was closed, but one closed door led to the reopening of another: I ran into Olga, Leo, and Alexandra from way back in Navarra! I hadn’t seen any of them in almost a month, but here, we talked as though we’d been walking together the entire Way!
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As we approached the rocks at the final cliff, I paused at the last marker, 0K, Fin do Camiño. The better part of me knew that George would not be there waiting for me, but I was still a little sad to confirm it. The moment I touched that marker, though, the sadness blew away with the wind! I had done it! This was the sense of completion that I had missed in Santiago! Here, I could go no further. By now, I had seen more than I’d imagined I would see, done more than I’d imagined I would do, used up two more memory cards than I’d intended, and my goodness, the things I have learned!
How can I even begin to describe this moment? My backpack suddenly became lighter, and all the residual foot pains disappeared! After weeks of step, step, step, step, I was ready to resume leaping and frolicking! There were so many other things I could now enjoy, like a night without worries of snoring, theft, or bed bugs! Oh, and let’s not forget: no more shoes!
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I had heard that peregrinos traditionally burn their clothes at the lighthouse, and the thought had certainly crossed my mind over the last few days. However, I heard this is now discouraged and peregrinos can be fined €300 if they’re caught burning on the cliff! Whether or not that was true, I was not willing to take that risk! However, there were some folks who lit fires anyway, out of view, and I have to say, the fire, though an annoying motif from the beginning, looked awfully tempting. And the closest was within tossing distance…
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So, I snapped my last photo with my shoes and my red backpack at the bronze boot that marks the official end of the Camino. Then, I tossed them all into the nearest fire and buried my silver hat pin. The Cloud of Doom had dissipated and settled on the horizon, muting the sunset, but that didn’t matter. On the rocks to my right, Olga and Alexandra had started to hum an ancient Celtic prayer to Mother Earth, which soon became the only sound and lasted until the world, and this pilgrimage, had faded gently to black. That was the last miracle of the Camino.
So with friends departed and darkness fallen, hotel booked and dinner callin’, here are some lessons I’m taking home with me from the Camino:
- A hill or a hole can conceal any goal, so walk ’til you finally find it!
- The Way’s not so narrow; if you lose an arrow, there’s surely a reason behind it!
- Keep watching those blue skies; forget all the cow pies that cover the path where you tread!
- A bright piece of paper has little to say for the journey you keep in your head!
- Though planes and train stations take friends and relations, all people must walk their own Way!
- Be glad to have met them, and never forget them, because you shared Life for a day!
- Rejoice in each story from your inventory, regardless if anyone listens!
- If you feel you’re lost or a saint’s an impostor, that casket of silver still glistens!
Buen Camino!
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Total Distance Walked: 868.8 km (533.7 mi) |
More 2012 Travels |