The Camino de Santiago is one of the main reasons we chose to travel to Spain. Mark found out about it from a book and got excited. I liked the idea of doing some hiking in another country but was a little scared by the idea of 100 km (about 62 miles) since I really haven't been doing much in terms of training other than walking around cities.
We lucked into amazing bus connections to land us at our desired starting point, Sarria (about 113 km from Santiago). Our first day we busted a move to try and put some miles behind us. We have done roughly 12 km on day 1, 21 km on day 2, a whopping 27 km on day 3, 15 km on day 4, and 20 km on day 5. We plan to do 13 tomorrow and the last 5 into Santiago on Thursday. Most of my time spent walking has been doing math to figure how much farther, how far we've gone, how long until we're done, converting km into miles. Math keeps the mind busy!!
We have walked past farms, small villages, and little towns. It has been mostly rolling hills, lots of green (grass, trees, plants, fields) and blue (the sky). Those we pass (farmers, etc) are quick to greet and wish us "Buen Camino!" I really like the people of Galicia. I have also truly enjoyed our walking and discussions. And I've been amazed at what my body can do when my mind doesn't overthink. Our paths tend to be the same that the farmers use to move their livestock to pasture so you have to watch your step at all times, especially when it's rainy because the cow pies get very slippery!
ALERT: This may be too much information, feel free to skip to the next paragraph. You must also watch where you decide to pee...we made a snack stop the other day and I found a good spot but people kept rounding the bend just when I thought about making my move. I could wait no longer and went for it and tried to be quick only to notice a burning sensation on my rear almost immediately after zipping up my pants. I unwittingly had peed right in a patch of burning nettles. Throughout the day I itched but didn't scratch and thankfully all is better. I have been loathe to stop on the side of the road and have been holding it until I find a cafe or something to sneak into.
We stop in these dormlike places and live in community with all the other pilgrims from all over the world. We met a man who began his walk in France two months ago, a girl from the states who began at the France/Spain border and who I traded books with, and we've seen many like us doing the last bit. Overall, I'm glad we are walking the Camino but I'm also ready to get back to traditional sightseeing!
No comments:
Post a Comment