Day 1 – Ferrol to Neda (8 miles)

At the bus station in Santiago - Looking a bit nervous?

The plan was that having flown into Santiago, we would catch the bus to Ferrol and visit the tourist information office to collect our ‘Credencial’ which is a kind of passport or booklet that we get stamped along the way to demonstrate that we have walked the route.  We were then going to lunch and start walking to Neda which was ‘only’ 8 miles after all to the first stage. 

If there were any problems, such as plane delays etc,  we would camp down in Ferrol for the night although this would have meant a 16 mile walk for the first day, so it was to be avoided if possible.  The plane wasn’t delayed but we had to wait an hour for the bus to Ferrol and then the tourist information office was closed till 5 and so we found a nice bar which served nice beer and we waited ..... 

They were'nt really posing!!!!

We did not start walking until 6 in the evening and we fully expected to be there by 9 at the latest.  It was a nice walk that took us round by a sandy beach and pleasant recreation areas and then into the forest.  The faster walkers picked up a pace as it was getting late and were trying to get to the Albergue before they locked up for the night at 10. 

Angela before it got dark and we were running through the forest like crazy people.





The final stragglers (me and Nurse Ang) and Martin who waited for us to catch him up, made it at midnight.