Soon after I finished my last blog, Thursday September 22nd, I went up to our room. Molly was there and was going early to bed. Instead she ended up watching a podcast I had on my Ipod entitled "The mystery box" and it's a Ted.com lecture by J.J. Abrams. I took a shower meanwhile and afterwords we talked about this great podcast and what it meant to us. Somehow we ended up talking again about my choice of profession, my passion for movies and whether or not I would want to go to school again right now. I told her that I really wanted to become an active member in society again, to pay taxes, to get a monthly salary and just to have a normal job again. She told me that the way I said it sounded like it was in fact a dream I had, there was passion behind it. I had never thought of it like that, to me it was a chore. I had to get a steady job and work normal hours, but she made me realize that it was something I truly wanted...there was passion behind my desire, it was in fact a dream of mine! Yet another revolutionary revelation in overtime! :)
It was kind of funny that when Katrin came in and after we turned off the lights, I felt like we were in a dorm or on a school trip, talking to each other in the dark. It felt like I'd known them forever but actually I hadn't even known them for a month!
The beds ended up being too comfortable and we slept longer than expected. We had a long day ahead of us, a long walk that is. That day was the day that we would get to the end of the world. As I've told you Finisterre was believed to be the end of the world. The legend about Finisterre says that when you get there you die. We were all facing our deaths today and were happy for it!
We started our walks as many others, with me singing. This time I was singing "Follow the yellow brick road" from "Wizard of Oz" but I had changed it slightly. We always follow yellow arrows as we travel so I sang "Follow the yellow arrows". We ended up discussing, philosophically, who we were in the story "The Wizard of Oz". Dorothy was looking for a way home, the Scare Crow was looking for a brain, the Tin man was looking for a heart and the Lion was looking for courage. I had to admit that with my discovery the day before about dedication that I was the Lion. I seemed to lack the courage to dedicate my life to any one thing, to forgo my freedom to become a master at anything really. Today that part of me would die. Today I would arrive in Finisterre and as the sun would set the old me would die.
We had a good morning and were more energetic than the day before. The way split and one way led to Muxía, where I and Molly were heading the day after. We were wondering whether we should walk there or just take a bus but the pilgrimage really ends in Finisterre. We had gone back and forth on the subject but sure enough the day would end up showing us exactly what was the right choice in the matter.
Which is sort of what happened with the walk to Finisterre. I had known about the extra 101 km walk from the beginning and on the days when I was feeling well on the Camino I was sure that I was going to walk there too. But on the days when I was feeling like shit and just walking all the way to Santiago was pain enough, I couldn't imagine walking any further. I just kept telling myself that I would decide when I was in Santiago. Even though I had decided that, the thought popped in my mind every single time I felt like I had gotten a handle on things and I was finally in good enough shape to keep going or when I felt like my body was going to fall apart and I had discovered yet another physical problem. I'm really glad I didn't decide until I was in Santiago, the victory rush was so powerful that of course I decided that I would walk all the way to Finisterre. And by God am I grateful for that decision; I would have missed out on such wonderful company, gorgeous scenery and amazing discoveries on every stage of my life. I guess I could have taken a bus, I was always going to go here, but I could as well have skipped it as doing it like that. It had to be the walk and I was on it!
We met a German couple and they had walked the north way of the Camino. He and I had a long interesting talk and he told me that she was going to Ghana next year to teach English. This has been a long standing dream for me and was one of the things I was considering to do after the Camino was over. The order in which she was doing it told me that no matter what I decide to do, I can come back to that. I can go to Africa and volunteer there even if I don't do it right now. Not everything I want to do has to happen right now, it can happen in stages. After yesterday and last night I realized that getting a steady job is the first stage of my plan, but certainly not the last. And volunteering is definitely one stage as well!
We walked all the way to a town by the sea. We hadn't seen the sea all our trip and it was quite impressive. I forgot to mention that the morning had greeted us with fog. Mysterious, magical and amazing fog! It had made the entire trip that morning a day where anything could happen, a true adventure. In the landscape we traveled in it was truly mystifying. As we came into the sea town it was so beautiful to see it in the fog. I've always loved fog and how it truly creates a world of it's own. What you can't see becomes whatever your mind wants it to be and as I wrote, you feel as if anything can happen. For those that want to know what J.J. Abrams and I have to say on the subject of mystery, you can just listen to the master here.
I was tired after walking straight for 20 km. The uneven surface of the last 5 km had left my left ankle very sore and my big toe and the toe next to it on my right foot even tenser. We stopped in the town for a while, but not long enough for my feet to recover. Now that I'm back home I realize there wasn't a long enough rest available there for my feet to recover so it doesn't really matter! ;)
As we walked the last part of the Camino, for Finisterre is truly the end, with every step we realized more and more that we were truly done. This was the end. The town Finisterre was 34 km from where we started that day and then the cape Finisterre, where the end of the world was believed to be was another 3,5 km away. When we had about 9 km left to the town and we were talking about the fact that we were done walking I said it out loud. Every step after that seemed heavier somehow. I kept going on pure willpower, I was going to make it to the end of the world.
The town was so beautiful and the coastline leading up to it made the walk to the end of town a great experience. The Albergue we were going to sleep in was full but we found a nice one not so far away. We met Ali and Robert when we got into town and decided to go to the End of the World together, the cape 3,5 km away. We left our backpacks at the Albergue and went to the municipal Albergue where you get your certificate for walking to Finisterre. You get a certificate for walking to Santiago but also for walking there and I have to say that the Finisterre one is even more beautiful than the one you get in Santiago.
As the 5 of us, Molly, Katrin, Ali, Robert and I, started our walk to the End of the World I truly noticed how much harder walking with a backpack is. Now without our backpacks we could have walked forever. We had already walked 34 km that day but without the backpack it sure didn't feel like it. Hehehe I had to walk more than 900 km to figure out exactly how much more difficult walking with a backpack is! :)
As we came closer and closer to the End of the World my super luck kicked in. The clouds started to part and we could see the sky. All day it had been foggy and cloudy. A big part of the tradition of Finisterre is to watch the sunset. No one believed that we would be able to see it today. When we were in the town and said we were going to the cape people asked us why we were going since we wouldn't see the sunset. But sure enough the sun came out to greet us and then allow us to watch it set down and mark our deaths.
At the end of the road there is a marker that reads "0.000 km". When we got to it we knew; we were done. It was a beautiful feeling. Arriving in Santiago was a much bigger feeling of victory but it wasn't until I arrived at that sign that I knew that my Camino was over. I almost missed that feeling of completion, I almost didn't walk here. I'm so glad I didn't make that mistake.
Another part of the ritual of Finisterre is to burn your clothes. As we positioned ourselves in the rocks at the end of the cape to watch the sunset I took off my t-shirt, actually the t-shirt I started the Camino with and had now ended it in, and I burned it there on the cape with the rays of the sun lighting up my ceremony. I didn't have anything to make it burn properly but some Germans that were close to us and they had some spray deodorant. I used it as a flamethrower and truly torched my t-shirt.
It was cozy to sit by the fire and watch the sunset. I just sat there, I didn't say a word. It was a wonderful experience and perhaps the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen. There were no words needed, there was nothing to be said. Our old lives were ending and although perhaps not all of us felt exactly that feeling, we could all feel something truly profound happen during those moments. When the light of the sun could no longer be seen we stood up and I hugged everyone and congratulated them on their deaths. The sky was littered with stars and I had a realization: "The end of the world is endless!" As we looked out to the sea there at the cape and now as I looked at the sky the paradox was not lost on me; the end of the world is endless! We walked together down the dark street back to town, holding each other tight in the cold night air and looked up at the endless sky and countless stars.
The night ended with a meal. Since we were dead now the calories didn't count...right? ;) We would have partied like there was no tomorrow but I was tired. It was after midnight and time to rest my weary bones. It had been an unforgettable day and my death had been beautiful. Tomorrow I would awaken and take a taxi to Muxía, Molly and I both had the same feeling at the 0.000 km marker. We were done with our walk. The legend says that in Muxía you are reborn. I looked forward to that and if it would be half as wonderful as my death, then it would still be one of the best experiences of my life!
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