The Way of St. James #78, 21st September 2021

Once arrived in Lugo, I was within 100km of Santiago. The process for certification of completion of the Camino is such that anyone who has walked 100km, or cycled 200km, can get a certificate of completion. Many people do this, completing a 100km walk only, and because of that I expected the trail to get much busier between Lugo and Santiago. And therefore, I felt it prudent to organise my accommodation for the remaining days between Lugo and Santiago. I planned on taking four days, which means that ideally, I would walk 25km each day. However, the world is not ideal, and it was not possible to arrange and confirm accommodation at such regular intervals. As a result, my next overnight after Lugo would be 47km distant, in the town of Melide.

I reckoned that at a walking pace of 5km/hour, and allowing a lunch break and two refreshment breaks totalling about one hour, the 47km distance would take me about 10 hours to complete. So I left Lugo in the early morning at 07:30. It was still half dark, with the full moon still in the sky. But the dawn came quickly. The route is along the road for this part, which allowed me to make good time.

With Lugo behind me, the route was now on a country road. However, it is a fairly busy road, and I was glad of the track alongside, allowing safe walking. I continued in this way, going through a number of small villages: Burgo do San Vicente, Hospital, San Pedro de Abaixo, and so on. At times, the route would leave the road, becoming more like a woodland trail, but for the most part, the road was never far away.

When I came to San Roman de Retorta, I stopped for refreshments at the bar there. I was doing better than my planned 5km/hour, even allowing for the refreshment stop. I did not spend long there but went quickly onwards. After San Roman, the route leaves the main road and takes to smaller lanes and woodland tracks. It passes through small hamlets and farming settlements until it reaches Ferreira. And that was my lunch stop.

Ferreira is 26.7km from Lugo, so I was already more than halfway, but I still had a significant distance to go. Once I had got my lunch, I was on my way again. Once again, I was into country lanes, passing small farms, though it was fairly level until I came to As Seixas.

After As Seixas, the route climbs again. There is one more real hill before coming to the plain for the final days. The route goes through the forest and out onto open hillside. The heather and limestone were reminiscent of the best of west of Ireland walks. Across the valley, the ridge on the other side held a line of wind turbines.

Close to where the two ridges meet at the head of the valley, my route went over that ridge and down to the plain on the other side. I could see Melide in the distance, but it was distant. At least I was heading downhill, and not up. By the time I reached Vilamor, I was tiring, and I was glad of another refreshment stop there.

The final piece of the day’s walk, from Vilamor to Melide is relatively uninteresting. Also, the route comes into the town on the northern side and passes through areas of uninteresting suburban development to reach the centre. I got there and went straight to my accommodation for the night. I was slightly footsore, but still had enough energy to walk to the restaurant for a good dinner that evening.

Altogether, my walk from Lugo to Melide had taken 10 hours and 15 minutes, including the lunch and refreshment breaks. And my  step count for the day was 67,147.