The Way of St James !

I reached Santiago today. Yesterdays walk from Melide to Santa Irene was one of pain and joy. I covered about 31km in a total downpour that had started the night before and continued the whole day. I had seen a couple of pilgrims on the way and spoke with them, they asked where I intended stopping, and I told them Santa Irene. they looked at me as if I was mad. They were stopping in Arzua due to the bad weather. I was going on another 16km. I got to the outskirts of Ribadiso de Baixo and I could see about fifty metres or so off the track, there was a small cafe/bar with a couple of cars parked outside, the rain was heavy and I succumbed to the temptation, I walked in, and bid everyone Buenos Dias, and dumped my pack on the floor and ordered a coffee. The workmen were just about to tuck into some slices of bread with fatty bacon placed on top of each slice. I hung my poncho up to dry and went to the counter where my coffee had been placed, and there next to it was one of the work men’s bread and bacon rations kindly donated to this cold wet and tired peregrino. With the kind donation firing me up I was soon back outside in the torrential rain doing the only thing I need to do on a daily basis. Walk.  I got into Santa Irene at about 5:30pm had a cold shower, there was no where to eat other than the next village, some of the other pilgrims had booked a taxi to take them there for their dinner, I made up my mind that I would not set foot in a car until the end of my pilgrimage, but I do have needs, so after a German pilgrim offered to share his pasta and bread with me I asked the other pilgrims to send a bottle of wine back with the taxi when he came back for the second batch of pilgrims that were dining out. So after a tasty dinner prepared by my German friend we consumed the bottle of wine with a young Jewish boy who is doing the Camino as part of his extended holiday, so there we were an old German an old git from London of German Jewish decent and a young Jewish boy, enjoying one anothers company and a bottle of wine discussing our reasons for doing the Camino. This morning I got up to find that my boots had dried out nicely, but had also shrunk. Needless to say it was a painful walk into Santiago, but you know what, I wouldn't have expected anything less, because as you know LIFE IS GOOD, and we all need a little pain just to remind us how good God has made it for us.

Meeting up with Simon !

It was on the 2nd September that I set off on my own from St Jean Pied De Port, not knowing what lay ahead. It's now the 2nd of October and I'm just 50km from Santiago. I left Gonzar at about 8am after waiting half an hour for the cafe to open; it stayed shut so I moved on to the next village. I've been seeing a young French Canadian on and off since day one. He and the two German girls are the only one's I recognize from the first day I set off up into the Pyrenees. I still have the same feeling of uncertainty, but not about the start, I know it has to end and the next stage of my Camino begins. It's been a good day I've walked about 31km with a long stop for a big lunch. The walk alongside pine forests was magical, it was windy and the sound of the wind blowing through the trees produced a sound of the sea rushing up a pebbled strewn beach. I soon found myself singing out loud yet again. I won't say what I was singing in case some of you might start making arrangements to have me sectioned under the mental health act. Any way there I was singing at the top of my voice and my footfalls keeping the rhythm, when a dog walked up to me from behind, I thought here I go the owner of this dog is going to have me put down I looked around and there was no owner just me and the dog, I stopped looked at him and he at me, I said hello and walked on, he just sat there. I started singing again and he re appeared at my side. I thought this dog has taste, so I named him Simon Cowell. Ok I know your thinking what was he singing, it was "aga do" I know, I know, why would anyone sing that song walking through a pine forest, well it kept me walking at a steady pace, which is what I needed, and Simon Cowell loved it. So after five minutes Simon had a pee up a tree and took the path to the right I took the path to the left. I'm now in Melide with sore feet and a failed audition.

But life is good

Light & Darkness

I woke up to the sound of snoring in the next bed, I looked at my watch it had just gone 5:30. I was determined that I wasn't going to be the one that got up before everyone else and making those annoying rustling sounds that seem to be the start of every day in the albergue’s, it was no good I had to get up. I tip toed in complete darkness across the dormitory, leaving my torch still attached to my rucksack. It almost cost me my neck on the way back from the bathroom, which was on the landing on the floor below. I came out of the bathroom back into complete darkness with my eyes not having enough time to adjust I attempted to go back up stairs, the only problem being that all the floor tiles are black. I lifted my right foot up for the first step and brought it down, it kept going down, I was on the wrong side of the staircase and was attempting to go up on the down flight of stairs. After that scare I made my way across the dark dormitory, stubbing my toe on someone’s backpack. Then a thought crossed my mind what if I went to the wrong bunk and sat on it whilst someone lay there. Any way the rest of the morning passed without any more mishaps on my part. I left the albergue in darkness and walked up the street to the restaurant that I had shared a meal with Michael and some German pilgrims the night before. I could hear the chatter of excited voices as I approached; it was the Swiss walking talking group. They moved off just as I got to the restaurant. I stopped, removed my pack and had my morning coffee and toast. The walk leaving Sarria was unlit and it wasn't long before I had to use my torch, to prevent me from missing the Camino markers. The path led me across a small bridge then uphill and across an un protected rail crossing, had this been England I would have just walked across without looking, after all when are the trains ever on time or in this case early. It's strange being out here you go through these old villages that don't belong to this century and see things that bring you back, like the BMW from yesterday, now it's even stranger, I climbed the hill and passed a farm house, nothing else just a farm house, but next to it's wall was a coca cola machine all lit up and ready to dispense the next chilled beverage. I stopped and took a picture, which brought a chuckle from a Spanish pilgrim who was following me and saw me photograph an amazing sunrise, and now I was taking a picture of a coke machine. The path now has taken me through rolling green hills that wouldn't look out of place in England. I passed the 100km countdown marker after about 12 km of walking, it was a special moment and I had to phone home. I walked into Porto Marin my intended destination for today and carried on walking, I have now stopped a further 8 km up the road making today a 31-33km at a place called Gonzar a very small hamlet of a village and I've managed to secure one of the last remaining beds. 

Life is good

Adios

Route to Sarria via Samos

Up at 7am a quick coffee and off again. I'm getting really exited now. I walked with Michael from Austria we decided to take the slightly longer route to Sarria via Samos so that we could visit the monastery. As we looked back at Triacastela we could see clouds of mist roll over the foothills of the mountain we had descended from the previous afternoon. We followed the river that ran along the valley floor through ancient little hamlets that take you back in time only to be brought sharply back into the 21century by the sight of a BMW parked neatly in an old stone barn. We stopped at Samos but couldn't visit the monastery till later in the day so we went to a local bar to order lunch, which also wasn't available till later. So after a quick drink we carried on to Sarria where Michael would terminate his walk and catch the train to Madrid for his flight back to Austria. We opted for the direct route which unfortunately took us alongside the road, the walk on Tarmac has taken it's toll on my feet and knees, I was hoping to pass Sarria and do another 6km further. I got into an albergue and went down stairs for a shower and found a vacant cubicle that had a towel on the hanger outside and a pair of pants, after a quick look Inside I could see it was free and started to get undressed for a shower, when looked up I saw a totally naked Spaniard walking on his heals towards me from the toilet the other side of the washroom. He waived me out of his way and went into the shower and stayed in there until all the hot water had gone. So it was a cold shower for minty and me. Normally I would have at the very least remonstrated with this young Spaniard, who is one of the ever growing crowds doing a very short Camino Sarria being the last possible place of joining it and getting a Compostela. I have it seems grown more tolerant.   I'm now sat at a roadside table drinking wine and waiting for the restaurant to start serving food.

And life is good

Monastery at Samos

Me at Cruz de Ferro

Onto Triacastela

It seems the closer we get to Santiago the more relaxed we get. Apart from some Swiss pilgrims who were travelling in a group and had spoken to some German pilgrims earlier in the week, explaining that the reason they always got to the albergue before anyone else was that they were from Switzerland and therefore better at walking through the mountains. They begun their moving about at 5:30am and started their packing and disturbing everyone else. The rest of us got up at about 8am and went upstairs after packing, we were enjoying a cup of coffee together and went outside to see a green vw minibus stop and pick up one of the Swiss pilgrims, who quickly put her's and another's rucksack into the back and they were both driven off up the mountain towards O'Cebriero.  The walk up the mountain was steep and spectacular; I could hear the cowbells in the valley below. After a quick look around the village, and a visit to the church, it was time for breakfast of bacon and eggs, but they hardly filled the hole the short but exhausting climb had created, so I picked up a kit kat to eat as I walked. The walk down was interrupted with a steep climb up almost to the same altitude as O'Cebriero. At 6:15 and over eight and a half hours from setting off this morning I'm in the small town of Triacastela, with my washing in a machine and me down the road having a wine at a local bar and deciding what to eat.

Life is good