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weight of the sins one wishes to cast aside. Yet the challenge is not over: the Pass of O Cebreiro, a mythical and historic place in the pilgrim’ s imagination at 1,293 metres, is still to come.
Sarria is now close, reached only after a breathtaking series of switchbacks. It is a truly special place, as it represents the last recognised starting point from which pilgrims can set out towards Santiago and still earn the right to receive the Compostela.“ Only” 115 kilometres, one might say, but they are demanding. From the early hours of the morning, it is deeply moving to watch pilgrims set off towards their goal with backpacks, walking sticks and unmistakable enthusiasm. They are now even more numerous, sometimes alone, more often in groups, some accompanied by their dogs. Not even the first drops of rain, which gradually grow heavier, seem to slow them down. From the saddle of our motorcycle, we do not envy them, yet we fully understand that they are experiencing something
profoundly different from our own journey.
Puertomarín comes next, followed by Palas de Rei, reached through wooded landscapes where the Camino carves its way between the trees. We are almost there: just“ 67 kilometres” separate us from the Plaza del Obradoiro, dominated by the majestic pinnacles of the cathedral. At its summit stands the figure of Saint James, staff in hand and hat adorned with the shell. The overwhelming joy of those who have completed the Camino is contagious, filling the square with songs, dances, prayers and raw emotion.
Yet perhaps the true end of this journey is not here, beneath the Portico de la Gloria, where Saint James awaits the pilgrim. Perhaps one must travel a further ninety kilometres across Galicia to reach Cabo Fisterra: Fisterra, Finisterre, Finis Terrae, the“ End of the Earth”, the westernmost point of continental Europe. It is a mythical and symbolic place since antiquity, where, especially at sunset as the sun sinks
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