Camino Day 1 – O’Cebreiro to Triacastela

Early rising

The start of the Camino finally arrived. The day I had been planning for finally came and I was nervous, yet ready to face whatever came my way. I woke up early so my cousin Lourdes could drive me to the starting point, O’Cebreiro. Before heading out, I taped my feet where I thought I might get blisters. I had bought a travel size pack of Hypafix tape at la Tienda. I really wanted to avoid getting blisters so I was ready to do just about anything. Once I checked that I had everything in my backpack, we set out towards O’Cebreiro. As we drove out of Santiago, Lourdes pointed some pilgrims arriving. It was about 7:15 am and it was still dark. I thought “well, that won’t be me! That’s way too early.” The Hostal dos Reis Católicos, offers a free breakfast to the first four pilgrims who arrive each day; maybe these pilgrims were racing to get their free breakfast. This lovely hotel was originally a pilgrim’s hospital and was later converted to a “parador”.

As we drove along, I was getting more nervous. I had no idea or expectation of what I was about to experience. When we arrived in O’Cebreiro it was foggy; the place looked mysterious. My original plan had been to arrive the day before, get settled in, spend the night and get an early start. But, when Lourdes asked if I wanted to join a family fiesta, the choice was clear in my mind: fiesta!! Looking back on the start of my Camino journey, I wish I had spent the night here. It would have been nice to visit the church and take in some of the energy of this secluded, foggy place. Maybe a return visit is in order… O’Cebreiro is a tiny town, a civil parish of Pedrafita do Cebreiro. It has a population of less than 200 people, and sits on the border of Galicia and Leon. It’s an essential stop on the Camino since it houses one of two Holy Grails.

Not quite the start I had envisioned

After filling my hydration pack with water, we took a couple of pictures. We met a friendly young Italian pilgrim and we asked him to take our picture. As I walked around, I noticed that my legs were wet. Odd… turns out that I hadn’t closed the hydration pouch correctly and quite a bit of the water had spilled out. What a start to the Camino! Lourdes ran back to her car, grabbed a towel while I emptied out the contents of my backpack on the cobblestone street. Just about everything, except the chargers and electric plugs (which I had thought to put in a ziploc bag) was soaked. No matter. We dried things up as best as we could and I headed to the Camino trail. At this time, I decided that I was not willing to take my DSLR camera. So, I left it with Lourdes. I did not want the extra weight. A wise decision, as it turns out. My phone takes reasonably good pictures and the extra weight was the last thing I needed.

I was one of the last pilgrims to leave. Lourdes was worried that I was leaving too late. I wasn’t worried. This wasn’t a race. As we reached the trail, there were two options: up or down. I thought the trail headed up. Lourdes assured me it was down. So, that’s where I headed. Turns out, I was right! I walked along the highway for a couple of kilometres and didn’t see a soul. Not a good sign, but I knew I was headed in the right direction so eventually I was bound to see pilgrims. Sure enough, after what seemed like a long time, I saw some pilgrims up ahead. 

Meeting other pilgrims

Although the day started out foggy, the sun eventually came out. The views were beautiful. Rolling hills, farmland, old churches. I walked at a slower pace than I normally do. I wanted to take in all the views and take pictures. There weren’t many people on the trail. I spent some time talking with a mother and daughter duo from the US. The mom walked a lot faster than the daughter and since I was in no hurry, I stayed behind with the daughter, Maya. They had started the Camino a week earlier. Maya told me how her hiking shoes which she had bought for the Camino gave her terrible blisters. Her feet were in such bad shape, that on the 3rd day she decided to not wear shoes! She wore only her merino socks. Not surprisingly, people looked at her as she walked along. Not long after she started walking sans shoes, she spotted a pair of hiking shoes hanging from a tree! She pulled them down and they fit perfectly. They were rather worn, but after a few days of wearing them, she had no blisters. Throughout the Camino, I came across various items of clothing: shirts, socks, shoes. Some may have been forgotten, others left on purpose. Every time I saw some clothing on the way, I’d think of Maya and her shoes.

Two hours in, I was tired, hot and thirsty. I was also facing a very long and steep climb. I slowly made my way to the top of this hill and there it was: a restaurant! Was I ever happy to see that!  I stopped to change socks, buy some water and have a light snack. Although I was tired, overall, I was feeling food. My feet felt fine; my back did too. No pain or discomfort anywhere. It was a hot, dusty day and this made walking a little more challenging. In a way, my wet backpack was a blessing because it kept my back cool.

Buen Camino

This is the greeting you hear as you walk the Camino. As you come across other pilgrims, you wish each other “buen camino”. Local residents wish pilgrims the same. Throughout the first day, I heard this greeting many times. It was wonderful to have little chats with the other pilgrims. I was very grateful to speak four languages because I spoke to just about everyone. I met Americans, French, Italians and Spaniards on the first day. What a wonderful experience.

I arrived in Triacastela around 3:30 pm. Since my hotel was about 6 km away from the trail, I needed a ride. I asked at the first restaurant in town where to find the hotel and was told to go to Restaurant Esther and they would take me to the hotel. And that’s what I did. I decided to have a snack and a beer before checking in. At the hotel, I hung all my clothes out to dry and rested up before going back into town for dinner.

As I reflected back on day one, I was very pleased with the walk. Yes, my legs and knees were a little sore. But, everything else felt good. As far as I could tell, my feet held up and there were no blisters. In total I walked about 21 kms the first day. I still had a long way to go, but I was feeling positive.