October 2012-Camino de Santiago list:
Bin bags (for rubbish-and to cover my rucksack and myself!) -Lavender oil (sleepless nights and overall miracle cure) -Ear plugs (guaranteed someone will annoy me with their snoring and farting!) -Almonds (Veggie protein, energy food) -Flip flops (No not for the camino! Possible manky showers) -Magnesium, Tiger balm, Rosemary oil, colon cleanse tablets-don’t ask! (Portable pharmacy) And the list went on and on…
Some items clever and much appreciated, other items less so and my back would NOT thank me later-I swear my rucksack was half of me and weighed as much again!
Boy was I excited as me and my three intrepid adventurer friends headed to Valencia where we would meet with yet another adventurer (aka walking pal) and fly off to Santiago the next morning.
DAY ONE Up at 4.am to catch flight-three hours sleep but the excitement kept me going! The flight was short but sweet; most of it spent reassuring one of our friends who had never flown before. Ah Santiago! Galicia-grey skies and drizzle-felt right at home as if I’d just returned to Blightey.
Two bus rides later, totalling three hours, and the excitement began to wear off slightly as the tiredness began to hit (maybe it’s just me but once you’re over 18 anything less than 8 hours a night just won’t do!) As I peered out the window at what was now pouring rain and driving winds a mix of irritation and melancholic fatigue set in…
I told myself to snap out of it and enjoy the adventure. We finally arrived at a small village where the rain momentarily ceased-it was a sign: A short walk to our first destination on our journey where an evening of merriment followed by much needed sleep awaited us-apparently. I pulled on my rucksack and nearly collapsed under the weight-I could have sworn it didn’t feel this heavy before…
Five kilometres later UPHILL all the way in FREEZING winds and relentless rain I was literally beside myself and the air was littered with four letter profanities not very becoming of a pilgrim but I so did not give a flying f**K! What had I done? How on earth did I think I could possibly keep up with the others? I was mad, insane, this was a disaster. I was overcome with negativity, exhaustion and despair. A quaint hamlet finally appeared in the distance, quaint indeed but by this point it could have been Tower hamlets for all I cared…bed! Food! Drink! Save me! We found an albergue, ate good food, rubbed shoulders with fellow pilgrims and quite literally fell into bed-a bunk-bed I should point out. I had never been so relieved to see my sleeping bag.
DAY TWO I actually slept pretty well though the early morning wake up- dazzling lights on at 7.15- was a bit of a shock-talk about boot camp! Out the door by 8.am and some breakfast to fuel the system-I was feeling a lot more optimistic compared to the previous day-much to my relief. So out into the dark morning we ventured-direction Tricastela-part of the adventure was also the fact that I barely knew the ‘friends’ I was travelling with-it was definitely a baptism of fire-and yet it was probably one of the best bits, discovering what made each other tick-far from home and into the wild…and it was then that it all really began to make sense to me. I had set out to have space, ’think’ about my life, ‘sort’ stuff out in my head as if it were an obligation-until I suddenly stopped-looked around me at the incredible beauty and realized I was so busy ‘thinking’ I wasn’t even ‘seeing’ let alone just ‘being’ and that is when everything fell into place. I just
‘was’ I emptied my mind of the mundane and quite literally went with the flow. 23 KMs of stunning countryside, sloping hills, steep paths, occasional soft rain, and not once did I feel pain, the weight of my rucksack or the blisters on my feet. A feeling of accomplishment it has to be said.
We stopped at a couple of country pubs and chatted to our fellow travellers and I toyed with the idea of whether I’d be brave enough to return alone some -day-given the comradeship that seemed to exist amongst the ‘pilgrims’-loneliness didn’t seem to be an issue-indeed some solitary time seemed like the ideal at some point in the future. That night we celebrated our first night with wine to nourish our souls-nicely inebriated we were-and I seem to recall the ‘boys’ disappearing at some point…something to do with some mushrooms… -their hysterical laughter and shouts echoing around the valley They eventually returned-to what was luckily a room for the four of us-–I muffled my own giggles in my sleeping bag as I saw the wife of one of them looking none too pleased.
DAY THREE On to Sarriá-blue skies and warm sun! The scenery today was truly stunning-I was in my element, more and more it all made sense-the freedom, the camaraderie, nature in all its glory-I never wanted it to end-I could’ve walked on forever. Now I understood those we met who had almost done just that-year after year twenty five times… It was a long old trek, those last few KMs the hardest and I was most relieved, no ecstatic better said, when we eventually found the albergue. Later on as we sat in a pub garden, the sun on my face, bare feet caressed by the soft grass-I was in heaven. The food was fantastic, the people friendly. I realise as I close my eyes and transport myself back, the feeling was literally one of euphoria, a dreamlike state, high on life and never wanting to come down.
For a while after I needed to share the experience with others who had been there, who understood-was it the stunning environment-‘going back to nature’ the paths trod by many thousands over centuries all on a personal ‘mission’ and leaving something of themselves behind? Who knows? My experience was very short but sweet-
By
day four I had to head to Santiago by bus with one of my companions leaving the rest to continue on foot for the next ten days. I was deeply, ridiculously sad to have to go home so soon but ‘responsibility’ called. I managed to soak up the special spirit of the city and spent the final night in an old monastery which just added to my imagination and sense of adventure and history. More adventures were had but we shall leave them to your imagination and keep them to ourselves-put it this way-some of the locals and particularly the Japanese gentlemen travellers won’t forget our little group in a hurry…ah-well you only have your 40th birthday once in the middle of nowhere…
0 Comments