50 KM to Santiago de Compostela: Lalin to Bandeira

 “Those who wait for the perfect answer have never asked the right question...”

Camino Sanabrés Stage 13 / Via de la Plata Stage 37

Final Days on the Camino Sanabrés 

Our final stages on the Camino Sanabres are due to be shaped less by distance and more by the realities of cost and accommodations.  We briefly considered walking the last 50 km in a single push, as we did at the end of the Camino Primitivo, but lodging in Santiago tonight is simply too expensive. So instead, we’ve chosen to cover the final stretch over the course of two days.

Last night we spoke with other pilgrims facing the same challenge. Some had decided to walk ahead and then take transit back to Lalín, where they could stay at the resort spa here for 40 Euros a night, far less than the costs in Santiago.  Like them, we’ve realized that many pilgrims are having to navigate inflated prices in Santiago and find creative alternatives to make the end of their journey possible.

Given these realities, we chose to walk a stage of only 16 km today, stopping at a pilgrim hostel, and then cover the final 34 km tomorrow to reach the cathedral at the heart of Santiago de Compostela. From there, we plan to backtrack slightly and stay on the edge of town to keep costs manageable. We’ve been fortunate to find a hotel on Santiago’s outskirts, which is still relatively costly, but at least will hopefully offer more comfort than a pair of crowded bunks.

The alternative would have been to walk 34 km today and only 16 km tomorrow, but the accommodations simply didn’t line up. And so, right to the end, the Camino Sanabrés and Via de la Plata continue to remind us that pilgrimage is not only about distance, or effort, or faith, but also about navigating the logistical realities of where to sleep and what’s available along the way.

Then, after a day of rest and reflection in Santiago, we will set back out on the Camino Finisterra, with the hope of reaching Muxía, completing our coast-to-coast walk across Spain. 

Late Departure 

With only 16 km to cover today, there was no need to rush. Even leaving Lalin at 9 AM would see us arrive at our next stop in Bandeira well before noon, long before check-in. Instead, we lingered a little, waiting for breakfast in the hotel café at 7:30 AM, though out of habit we were already awake by 5 AM. After eating, we tidied our gear, caught up on our journals, and sorted through photographs from the past few days.

From our window, we watched as pilgrims on the Camino de Invierno streamed past in large groups, many clearly on organized Camino tours. Their matching arrow shirts, socks, neck buffs, and plastic gourds made them easy to spot. We found ourselves both envious of their energy and quietly critical of the commercial tourism they represented. Regardless, the larger crowds that we’d first encountered on the Camino Francés from Sarria or the Camino Portugués from Tui had clearly arrived here too.

By half past nine, we finally checked out and retraced our steps, backtracking a kilometre or two along the Camino de Invierno to Laxe. This morning, the albergue was open, with someone inside smiling and cleaning as we passed. From there, we rejoined the Camino Sanabrés, crossed the busy highway, and continued our trek toward Santiago.

Dirt Tracks and Stone Bridges

Leaving Laxe, we almost immediately passed through the crossroads of Bendoiro de Abaixe, which felt more like a resort than a community. From this point onward, the Camino generally paralleled, and at times directly followed,  the busy N-525. With that said, immediately beyond Laxe, however, the way led us along a narrow paved track that wound its way toward the community of Prado.

The walking here was easy, though we now found ourselves among scattered tour groups, with many pilgrims marching shoulder to shoulder with more than a few spinning and waving their walking poles about. Past Prado, and after a short return stretch on the N-525, we turned off the highway once more and followed a dirt country track. This path led us between farms and past several hórreos - the traditional raised stone granaries of Galicia.

Standing on stilts with cross-shaped finials at each end, they were built to keep harvests dry and safe from rodents, yet today they seemed almost like quiet guardians of the countryside. Passing them, we soon entered the small village of Borralla.

Cheese Shops and Roman Bridges

As we followed the roadway this morning, we noticed three pilgrims standing at the edge of the pavement. For a moment, we wondered if something had gone wrong, but within seconds, a taxi pulled up and they quickly piled inside before driving away.

A little further along, we passed an open cheese shop where a group of pilgrims were loudly re-enacting the famous “Youst” scene from Martin Sheen’s The Way, insisting that everyone had to try the goat cheese.  Men repeatedly kept calling out: “Come on, you can’t come through these hills without trying real goat cheese, my man!”  At first, it was funny, but after hearing it repeated again and again and again and again by members of a tour group, it quickly wore thin. We paused outside the shop to rest for a moment, but the constant spinning and circling of excited pilgrims soon nudged us to move on before we even had a chance to step inside.

Almost immediately, the Camino Sanabrés left the road and curved into a forested landscape. There, a massive arched stone bridge came into view. At first glance, we presumed it to be Roman, but later learned it was actually a 17th-century reconstruction of a much older crossing that dated back to around 950 CE, the A Ponte Taboada spanning the Rio Deza. Sean took the opportunity to follow a PR trail marker down to the waterline, capturing photographs of the bridge from below. It was a peaceful, beautiful spot that felt like stepping back in time

Continuing along the Camino

Beyond the bridge, we made a short climb up to the community of A Ponte Taboada, before rejoining local roads and crossing through agricultural fields along farm tracks. We passed through a small settlement, only to find ourselves once again briefly alongside the N-525 before returning to the woods. 

In Skirting the edge of a commercial storage area in with its large, multicoloured warehouses, we were reminded that the trail often winds past both the scenic and the mundane.   On the edge of town, amid a plethora of yellow arrows, we found a Banco Peregrino sign and Camino information sign – each a testament to being in the last 100 km on Camino - pointing the way to Silleda.  Crossing back into a stretch of forest was another sign that this was within the final stages of pilgrimage, including large amounts of pilgrim “waste” and piles of toilet paper overflowing from behind bushes and along the trail.  A common sight on the Camino Frances years ago, today marks the first time that we have seen this unfortunate practice on this route.    

Leaving Transfontao, the Camino wound between ivy-covered stone walls before descending a narrow stone pathway. The challenge here was not the descent itself, but a plastic tube clipped above the trail that poured water directly onto the stones, transforming the path into a slippery stream. As if to heighten the absurdity, a warning sign about an electric fence was affixed just above the source of the water. The whole scene reminded us of a harrowing day years earlier in England on Wainwright's Coast to Coast trail, where endless wet paths alongside electrified fences tested our balance and patience. Whether this was an attempt to give pilgrims an “authentic” experience of mud and water, or simply poor design, we could not tell. 

It was a treacherously slick stretch, where a misstep could easily result in a fall or twisted ankle. Yet beyond it, the trail again became forgiving, following a dirt track bordered by mossy stone walls and fields of bright green trees. The milestones confirmed it - we were now between 40 and 38 km from Santiago.

Silleda and Hospitality on the Camino

Leaving the forest, the Camino shifted back onto pavement as we began to navigate the outer neighbourhoods and busy streets of Silleda. Around us, countless advertisements for restaurants, bars, and accommodations reminded us that this was a well-travelled stage of the route. Skirting parking lots crowded with transport trucks and making our way across bustling intersections, we eventually reached the city center some two or three kilometres later.

Here we paused for a break at a beautiful café, A Pedra de Silleda, where the owner welcomed us warmly. He was genuinely supportive of the Camino and of the pilgrims who passed through. With a grin, he offered us lollipops, solemnly noting that they were “full of sugar and good for energy.” We gratefully accepted, and as we left, he asked us to remember him to the Saint. It was a small but heartfelt gesture, one that seemed to embody the spirit of hospitality that so often lifts weary walkers. Sitting there with a cold drink, it was easy to see why many pilgrims choose Silleda as a stopping place for the night.

Departing the town, we passed a beautiful church before rejoining the N-525. 

For the next two hours, the Camino wound beneath highways, over motorways, and along dirt tracks and side road diversions. The walking was easy, leading us first through the village of Margaride and later the community of Chapa, where we caught our first glimpse of Bandeira in the distance. The path here was surrounded by fields and small farms, a gentler rhythm after the bustle of Silleda.

Still weaving among stone-walled farms and estates, the approach to Bandeira took us along a long, winding track. Over the undulating terrain, we pressed on until the muddy, rutted trail gradually gave way to pavement, leading us to our destination for the night. 

Walking into Bandeira

Entering Bandeira, we fittingly arrived along the N-525, which also serves as the town’s main street. At first glance, the place felt more like an industrial suburb, perhaps even an outlier of Santiago itself, bisected by the national highway and busy with the constant passage of large trucks. The bars along the roadside were filled mostly with truck drivers and municipal workers, giving the town a distinctly working atmosphere.

Our accommodations were set above a quiet bar, and after checking in, we settled into our snug, cozy room. As always, the post-walk routine began: washing up, hand-washing our clothes, and hanging things to dry wherever space allowed. Though Bandeira seemed at first little more than a stop along the highway, once we wandered a few streets away from the main road, the town revealed a different side - quaint, quiet, and unexpectedly peaceful.

Eventually, after enjoying our stroll through the quieter neighbourhoods, we were relieved to find an open Dia grocery store. There, we picked up a packet of crisps for the evening and a bag of chocolate cookies to carry with us on the trail the next day.

Hikers Arrive, Pilgrims Return 

With such a short stage behind us and little else to do in town, we passed much of the afternoon in the cool shade of our hotel’s bar, enjoying a couple of cold beers. The Camino felt different today - perhaps because we were now within the final 100 km before Santiago, where tour groups and short-distance pilgrims became more common. Whatever the reason, the rhythm of the trail seemed to have shifted.

As we sat together, our conversation wandered. We spoke about the long walk from Cádiz along the Via Augusta, about our weeks on the Via de la Plata and the Camino Sanabrés. We talked about life beyond the trail.  We chatted about moving, medical issues, about how best to care for our aging parents when we returned home, and about the choices that still lay ahead. And, as often happened on quieter days, we found ourselves reflecting on the many things we were grateful for along this journey, despite the challenges that had tested us along the way.

As the evening settled in, we were surprised to hear familiar voices at the bar asking if there were any rooms available for the night. Turning around, we spotted the British couple we had met yesterday.  They were the same pair who had told us they were quitting the Via de la Plata and had taken a taxi into Santiago. They looked tired, but when they caught our eye, they smiled. “We went to Santiago,” they explained, “and realized that if we had walked all the way from Seville, what were two more days? We had to finish what we started. Buen Camino.”

Their words lingered with us. The Camino offers many lessons about patience, resilience, and acceptance.  However, perhaps none more powerful than this: once a journey has begun, its meaning comes not from ease or comfort, but from persistence and completion. Watching them return to the trail after nearly giving it up reminded us of why we were here, too …to carry our own journey forward, step by step, all the way to the end.

Vegetarian Dinner and Nightfall 

An hour later, we ventured out to see if we could find somewhere for an early dinner - a difficult task in Spain, where restaurants typically don’t serve food until 8 or 9 PM. When you are tired, hungry, or simply in need of something to lift your spirits on the Way, it often helps to watch for small signs. Tonight, that sign came from the Wise Pilgrim App. Normally, a practical guide for routes and accommodations rather than food, it surprised us by recommending a quiet little pub in town.

Trusting its suggestion, we followed an unassuming alley to Cafetería Arume, where we were served the best meal we’d had in some time. A simple vegetarian sandwich, so satisfying that I could easily have eaten two, left us feeling reassured that everything would be alright.

After dinner, we took a short evening stroll around town, using the time to locate and trace the Camino route so that we’d know the way out in the morning. There was a quiet satisfaction in the simple act of preparing for the final day.

Tonight would be our last night on the Via de la Plata and the Camino Sanabrés. By this time tomorrow, we will have arrived in Santiago de Compostela, visited the cathedral, and brought this 1,200+ km adventure to its close. As we settled into the cozy darkness of our room, we felt both a tinge of regret that the journey was ending and a deep gratitude that we had made it this far.

See you on the Way!