Post Camino Day 4: Lires to Muxia (16km/10miles)

This is my last day walking! I will be savoring every step of the 15 kilometers. I had breakfast and started walking around 10 and immediately started seeing pilgrims going the other way; from Muxia (pronounced as a good Galician “Galeetheean” would do, you would say “Mutheea”) to Fisterra. It feels like that is the way most people go, but the Way is marked in both directions.

Sometimes on the Camino Fisterra, the arrows can be confusing.

Everyone told me I would prefer Muxia to Fisterra so I decided to leave the best ‘til last. Some also say that you end your Camiño in Fisterra and you begin the rest of your life in Muxia. That was enough reason for me to chose the South to North Route.

There were no bars or cafes along the way which wasn’t a problem since I had a good breakfast and was carrying plenty of water. But in one of the tiny villages, there was this really nice enclosed shelter for pilgrims with a vending machine and one of the cleanest bathrooms I have seen on the Way. There were also a couple of chairs and a table. I appreciated this little oasis on a warm sunny day. I can only imagine how welcome it is on a cold rainy day. It seems like this is something offered by the individual who’s house it is right next to. The Spanish people are so kind and generous to pilgrims.

When everyone is walking in the same direction, it is easy to find someone to talk with if you are looking for company. When everyone is passing going the other way, at best you get a Buen Camino. That was fine for me and what I wanted on my last day.

I walked through a few very small villages, but most of the day was on wide dirt paths and much of it was weaving around a large number of windmills on the ridgeline of a mountain I had to go up and over. This was supposed to be a flat walk, but it didn’t necessarily feel that way as I kept going up and up for a 335 meter elevation gain.

While the Camino Francés definitely has more women than men on it, the Camino Fisterra seems the opposite. And, most women who are walking are with another person. So, it took me by surprise when I saw a slight, older woman coming toward me…alone.

It was Paula from New Brunswick and the woman who Shirley walked the Camino with. We were both so excited to see one another! We stopped and chatted for a while, took a selfie, exchanged email addresses and we headed off in opposite directions more than likely never to see each other again.

Paula is an inspiration. As she told me, she can walk long distances, but does it slow and steady. She was considering going all the way to Fisterra in one day!  I suspect from her email address that she is 73 or 74, but she certainly doesn’t look it. I was especially impressed that Shirley was done walking once she hit Santiago, but Paula wanted to continue and did so on her own.

The walk took me very close to the windmills; closer than I have ever been. This source of renewable energy has been met with controversy in Vermont for many reasons including loss of natural habitat, inefficiencies with the Vermont landscape and forever changing the pristine Vermont viewscape.

I stopped near the windmills for a snack of Aquarius and two bananas.

I have to say that I find the windmills in Spain beautiful…almost majestic. When I think about the energy independence they bring to the country, they are even more appealing. But, they do make noise – a constant whoosh, whoosh.

I am just enchanted by these horreos. I look forward to painting some scenes with horreos’ in them.

I even found one for sale!  I tried to convince Ray that we should buy it but he isn’t interested.

The entry into Muxia dumps you onto a busy road and then into town, but it along the rugged coast and it is beautiful.

I had a heck of a time finding my pension for the night and probably wasted 30 minutes wandering up and down streets. I find that sometimes Apple maps work best and other times google maps work best. The directions seemed to clear with Apple maps, but it kept sending me down dead ends. Finally I turned to Google maps and got to my place and checked in. I had a beautiful view of the harbor.

I wanted to head out to the point and the 0,0 marker for Muxia and also needed to check out where to get the bus back to Santiago de Compostela tomorrow morning at 6:45 so I quickly did some hand laundry (pretty much a daily routine) and headed out.

The breezy ocean air was cool and I was happy I had my down puffy jacket. It was a beautiful walk and a wonderful way to end my Camiño.

Here the Muxia 0,0 km marker stands in front of a monument commemorating the largest environmental disaster in Spain, Portugal or France’s history; the Prestige Oil Tanker sinking. Muxia was ground zero for that disaster which happened in 2004 and affected beaches and fishing in Spain, Portugal and France.

I didn’t stay to watch the sunset since I needed to eat dinner and get read for the early morning bus. Lucky for me, one of the best restaurants in town was right next door to my Pension. I had locally caught swordfish, a delicious Galician Albarino wine and fresh, uncooked cheesecake for dessert. It was a perfect ending to my last day walking.