Camino Primitivo Stage 9 – O Cadavo to Lugo

June 6, 2022

Today would be the longest day of our journey and would take us to within 100 kilometers of Santiago. This is significant because in order to obtain a Compostella showing that you’ve completed your pilgrimage, you need to show that you’ve walked at least 100K. Because of this, many pilgrims opt to walk only 100K and will start at that location, which is Lugo for the Camino Primitivo. Lugo is a large city (relatively speaking) and is the starting point for some on the Camino Primitivo. Lugo also marks the end of the mountains and challenging terrain, it will be a much easier walk from here to Santiago.

After a quick climb out of O Cadavo, we continued on our way passing through lush farmland and countryside. The rest of the day was a gentle descent, which was good news since we had over 18 miles to walk to reach Lugo. We passed through several small villages and took a rest break near a chapel and adjacent cemetery. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and we were excited to reach the 100K milestone of our journey. I had also booked a stay at a hotel for this night so I was looking forward to having a private room and bathroom!

We had a bit of a climb as we made our way through the outskirts of Lugo toward the city center. We were welcomed by the large LUGO 100K sign with a strategically placed bar right behind it. After the obligatory photos, we stopped for a drink. While we were relaxing, guess who we saw in the distance taking photos with friends? Tex! I don’t think he saw us and we opted not to call him over to chat but alas, I would see him again in a few days.

Lugo is a bustling city with a long and interesting history. It was also the largest city we’ve been in by far since leaving Oviedo over a week ago. The old city center is surrounded by a Roman wall built in the 3rd century and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. The wall is fully intact and it takes about 30 minutes to walk the perimeter. The hotel I was staying at that night was just outside the wall and my room had a great view of it.

After our stroll around the wall, we opted to have dinner at a restaurant that was adjacent to the Plaza Mayor. One of Suzanne’s friends from high school happened to also be in Lugo while walking the Camino Primitive so he joined us for the evening. We had such a good time talking that we didn’t realize it was past 10:30 since it was still light out. Time to head back to the hotel!