At the beginning of October, I completed something that has been on my bucket list for some time. It was a walk that I hoped to complete in my lifetime – a pilgrimage to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

My friend and I had the absolute pleasure of walking the Camino Inglés – a 112-kilometre route through the Galicia region in Northwestern Spain. Starting from the coastal town of Ferrol, this is one of the shortest of the Camino routes. However, it still qualifies pilgrims for the coveted Compostela certificate as it hits the magic 100-kilometer requirement.

We landed at Ferrol’s airport late at night, having booked a room in a hotel before catching the Monbus bus to Ferrol the next morning. Wandering through Ferrol’s streets, we spotted a Tourist Information Office and purchased our pilgrim passports from a kind and very helpful lady. We learned our passports would allow us access to the public Albergues and our certificates on arriving in Santiago.

“You will need to collect two stamps a day in your passports to qualify for your Compostela”, she explained, while marking the pristine pages with our first stamps. “You collect the stamps from cafes, churches and Albergues along your route.”

After some time spent taking photos in front of the large blue and white ‘Ferrol’ sign on the quay, it was time to find the stone marking the official start and take our first steps on our Camino. We weren’t at all sure what to expect, and, looking back, it took us a couple of days to fully relax into the Camino life. The Camino Inglés takes pilgrims through the busy streets of Ferrol, where we were delighted to find the beautiful Church of San Francisco open and spent some time in quiet contemplation of our journey ahead.

We followed our path past several Naval training centres and working shipyards. Huge cranes reared up in pairs towards the sky, almost like a parody of the Kelpies statue in Scotland.

We had expected rain, but the sun shone for us, and it was surprisingly warm. Delighted to reach a sandy beach, we spent a few minutes searching for scallop shells and a small stone to carry with us to Santiago. I reflected that this was where I could imagine pilgrims from England landing hundreds of years ago, not the bustling and built-up docks.

The whole route is waymarked with a combination of yellow arrows, stylised scallop shell emblems and stone pillars counting down the kilometres to Santiago de Compostela. It is easily the best-signed trail I have walked, and it’s practically impossible to get lost – unless you’re engaged in conversation.

We passed a small church and a monastery, though sadly neither was open. A glimpse through the locked gates of the monastery revealed piles of staffs and shells, presumably left by past pilgrims. We paid our respects in a cemetery filled with ornate tombs, each housing the remains of one or two families, presumably joined together by marriage. It was very humbling to experience the level of respect paid to the dead.

Shortly afterwards we were faced with a choice of routes. We could take a meandering path past an old mill or a shorter and more direct route towards Naron. We glanced at the dark clouds massing in the sky above us and opted for the direct route; we weren’t sure how far we had left to walk, and the weather was closing in. Just as we reached another large sign announcing we were now in Naron, the rain started to fall in thick droplets accompanied by a rumble of thunder.

An elderly man walking a small white dog stopped to talk with us, telling us about a very old, large tree nearby. He said, “The Albergue is just the other side of the river, you might want to stop there”.

It was a relief to cross the double-arched bridge to reach the orange building that would be our home for the night. This would be our first Albergue experience and we weren’t sure what to expect.

An English man let us in and introduced himself as Richard. He told us he was walking the Camino with his friend Kent, and advised that the Albergue manager would be here later to check us in. In the meantime, we were free to grab a bed for the night and find somewhere to eat. Richard and Kent kindly invited us to join them, however we were unable to find a bar that was serving food. Richard and Kent have walked several of the Camino routes together and told us they found that finding food on Monday evenings in Spain can be problematic.

Eventually we found a shop, run by a lovely couple with a great sense of humour. They kindly offered to make us ham and cheese sandwiches using thick crusty baguettes and uncorked a bottle of red wine to wash them down with.

Once checked in, we tucked into our impromptu tea, getting to know our new Camino buddies before turning in for the night. Ear plugs pushed firmly in place, I hoped I’d be able to sleep and get enough rest for the day ahead.