Day 12 A Picota to Cee

We had purposed to take the bus for the next stage from Negreira as it was uninspiring to walk a long distance mainly on roads. The bus was very convenient but we almost missed the only bus of the day with a mix up of the bus numbers. Fortunately we asked the bus driver in the nick of time. An hour later we were at our destination.

There was little to do in the small town of A Picota other than sit in a coffee shop and while away the time with our books. This was all very pleasant. We enjoyed chatting with a couple from New Zealand and an American woman over dinner.

The next stage had a better write up so we decided to give it a go. It was 25 km with just over 220 metres of ascent, the height gain proving to be an underestimate. The bimble along the top was rather more hilly than we had expected.

It was though a very pleasant walk through woodland and higher ground. The initial section was rather too much road walking but as it was Sunday morning the roads were very quiet.

After a coffee stop, actually zumo de naranja fresh orange juice, we headed over the first hills. The walking was delightful with a river and stream. The large granite boulders in the water courses reminded me of Nigeria.

It came on to drizzle and eventually rain but fortunately our second stop was to hand. After a bit more road walking we turned off onto a long stretch of what the guide book described as an ancient drove road. The rain soon stopped and it was ideal weather.

We didn’t feel close to the sea with all the large hills in the distance but after a long flat section the track started to go down steeply and we started to get glimpses of the sea.

Cee is a small industrial / fishing town. It is pleasantly laid out round the beach.

And so we anticipate getting to the end of the world tomorrow. There are a couple of lumpy ridges to take the 13 km to Fisterra and then 3 or 4 km to the end of the cape.

This will be a good culmination of our Camino. For me this end section, with its deeper historical resonances from the Celts and the Romans, will be more meaningful than Santiago. We will see what the day brings.