Walking north on the west side of the bay, leaving Ferrol.
Camino January 2026
OK, a few numbers for you. Total pilgrims that have (completed their walk) gotten a Compostela this year – 34 days, is 2,754. This is all Caminos, all starting points. Of this 1,245 walked the Frances. Of the Frances walkers, 178 started in St Jean (739 started in Sarria).
Of the 178 who started in St Jean, 101 are from Korea, 12 Spain, 9 Germany and 8 from the US. (I am the 8th so far this year). Yesterday there was just someone from Korea and I who finished their walk from St Jean. The day before there were 3 people who finished from St Jean. I met a young Korean man several days ago who was travelling solo. I assume he must have started in St Jean. That was the first time I saw him, so he probably started a day ahead or a day behind me.
Comparing last year to this year, January 2026 had 2,520 total finishers. Last January had 2,907. On just the Frances, this year there were 1,121 who completed their walk. Last year there were 1,415 who finished in January. That is a drop of 20%.
To compare to a typical summer DAY, last July/August/September they averaged 2,700 Compostelas a day, with many days being over 4,000. Pretty crazy!
A good quote Elizabeth found:
THE PRESENT MOMENT – The present moment, if you think about it, is the only time there is. No matter what time it is, it is always now. Marianne Williamson
A side note. As I was walking through the train station to get to the bus station I saw Korea and her mom. I went through the train station by accident, but if I hadn’t I would not have seen them. They ended up bussing the last bit into Santiago. The weather was too much. The Camino was a 10 year dream for the mom. The daughter left Korea 7 months ago and has literally been travelling the world. She is 28 and literally went all the way around the earth. Pretty cool. Her mom flew to Paris where they met and took the train to St Jean to start hiking.
The bus ride to Ferrol was smooth and on time. We actually arrived 9 minutes early. It is a 90 minute ride. It was quite windy but no rain all afternoon. It was pouring as we left Santiago. In Ferrol I ate outside at an outdoor café that is on the Camino. Temperature was 58. I went to the tourist office to check in. It is not a thing like in St Jean. There you tell where you are from and they track the information. In Ferrol she gives you a stamp in your credential. I was the first person to stop by in the past few days. The office is only 100 feet from the first marker indicating the beginning of the way. She said most people walk from their hotel and don’t bother coming to the formal starting point. This is the third most popular Camino behind the Frances and the Portuguese. That said, so far this year there have been 4 people a day finishing the Ingles. I don’t think crowds will be a problem for me.
Thursday February 5, 2026
Ferrol to Puentedeume – 18.3 miles
Only 2 more people finished their walk from St Jean on Feb 4, the day after me.
Today I started at 8AM. It was a nice dry beginning. I had my new poncho and my rain jacket ready, as the forecast did promise more rain. To walk south from Ferrol to Santiago you need to first walk about 6 miles north along the bay, before taking a bridge across the river to head south on the east side of the bay. The walk this morning was on a mixture of surfaces, sidewalks, walking paths, and a swampy grass road. The path went by lots of big cranes to unload the ships. I typically could only see the tops of the cranes. There was also an old church I made a quick stop at. About 10AM a shower moved through. How heavy will the rain be, how long will it last? I put on my rain jacket hoping it would be a light shower and not last too long. The forecast was for it to stay dry till noon. The shower was light and lasted only about 30 minutes. Off came the jacket. I was now on the east side of the bay, walking into the wind. Being along the water there are lots of small towns. There were a surprising number of hills as well. I hiked up over 2,000 vertical feet today. I started and ended at sea level, so obviously 2,000 feet down as well. You will see in the pictures I passed the 100km to go marker. There were a couple of ducks huddled up there, I think trying to get out of the wind.
About noon I was entering the town of Fene, when it started to rain again. I had planned to stop here for a snack as I was 12 miles in and had 6 more to go. While I was inside it poured. Perfect timing. After a 30 minute break, it was time to get moving again. Still pouring outside, so on with the new poncho. It covers my pack and extends to below my knees. I actually really like it. It is quite light and has actual sleeves, unlike the inexpensive ponchos. Anyway, I wore it the next 6 miles, all the way to Puentedeume. This means Bridge of the Eume. Eume is the name of the river the bridge crosses. This town was founded in 1270.
Friday February 6, 2026
Puentedeume to Betanzos – 12.7 miles
Just out of curiosity I decided to look at the weather statistics for Santiago de Compostela. They have had measurable rain every day this year. I did not look back into December. On January 26th, I walked 18.5 miles (the day before going up to O Cebreiro), Santiago received over 3 inches of rain that day. I thought it had been a wet month. In the past 20 days they have gotten 16 inches of rain. That is twice what Phoenix gets in an average year.
OK, today was a short day, only 12.7 miles. The Ingles is much hillier than the Frances in Galicia. I had 2,400 vertical feet of climbing (and descent) today. I continue to enjoy the Galician countryside. Today was more of dirt track and quiet country roads. It was pouring when I started at 9AM, so I wore my poncho to start. Six miles in was a nice town, so I stopped at a bakery and bought a fresh Danish, then went to a café who had a table outside, but under cover and got a Cola Cao. The rain had stopped, so off with the poncho. I did wear my rain jacket as there were still showers coming through. It is amazing how it can be pouring one minute, then the sun is shining brightly a few minutes later. This happened several times this afternoon.
There is an Iron Cross (cruz de ferro) on the Ingles route that I walked by this afternoon. I did not know about it till I saw it. There are a few rocks at the base, but nothing like the Frances route.
In the summer when we walk, we start earlier in the day. With sunrise still at 8:45, I have been waiting for natural light, typically 30 minutes before sunrise, to start, so typically I am finishing about 3PM. Restaurants close at either 3:30 or 4:00 and don’t reopen until 7:30PM for dinner. When I get in to town I typically check in and change into dry clothes, then try and get a late lunch. Yesterday I got to the restaurant at 3:30. They had two items left, so that it what I had. The server was great. I finished at 4:30 and was the only one there as they were cleaning up. He came and shook my hand and thanked me for coming in. He did not speak any English, so it was my limited Spanish and Google translate. Today when I finished there were no obvious restaurants nearby, so I took my time and walked over a half mile to a grocery store and bought food for dinner and breakfast. You will see in the photos the pizzas. They love their tuna here. So a bacon and tuna pizza??
Travel is the perfect catalyst for tolerance and acceptance. – Author unknown
Gary and Elizabeth's Adventures 