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India and Nepal 2022
Santiago de Compostela
I was keen to go to the pilgrims mass at noon. I arrived at the cathedral 45 minutes early and it was already packed as it is a holy day today. Fortunately, I managed to find one of the last few seats available and once again, it was a special occasion including the swinging of the botafumeiro.
I sat outside at the bar as pilgrims continued to arrive and had a nice conversation with German man who was recently made redundant, walked the Camino and is now keen to return and start his own business in designing electric cars.
I sat and chilled in another cafe and people watched for an hour or two. Peregrinos from all over Europe, from Asia, from North America, central and South America, Australia and New Zealand
all passed by. Santiago Is a special place.
Final Camino reflections
Over the past year and a half, I have walked four Caminos - Camino Frances (800kms), Camino Finisterre (90kms), Camino Portuguese (620kms) and now the Camino Ingles (120kms).
So, a total of 1630 kilometres on foot which is a thousand miles of walking!
The Camino can be obsessive and provide an amount of challenge, adventure and comaraderie rarely found in everyday life. Certainly the 're-entry'' back home after life on the road is sometimes difficult, which is why many people do more than one Camino.
The Camino routes are journeys and I am attracted to the idea of life being a journey, always moving forward with new experiences. As the botafumeiro ceremony was in full swing, something fundamental shifted in my thinking. It's time to move on now from my Spanish Camino phase and to seek out new adventures in other parts of the world.
I saw a nice quote from Paulo Cuelho's book, 'The Pilgrimage' which sums things up well;
'A boat is safe in the harbour. But that is not the purpose of a boat'
Buen Camino everyone.
- comments
Peter Hayes Profound, eloquent and articulate - that's my bro! I love the 'boat quote'. It could have been written for you Rich. Pam and I look forward to catching up with you very soon. Peter
Philip hayes That's a lot of walking!! Also love the quote about being safe in port, if you don't set sail life can be very boring.
Jeanne Hi Richard! Sherry sent me this link. Thanks for sharing your travels on the Camino ingles. I'm interested in this route too! Maybe next year or the one after. I hope to do the France's again someday too. Sounds like you would like to move on. You should try the Henro trail in Japan. I did 2 weeks and loved it.