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Published: September 20th 2011
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Well, it was a two part journey for me. Part one was the first 220km from St Jean to Santa Domingo. This I walked with mom and Beulah, a good friend who inspired the pilgrimmage. It was tough - I was out of shape from not doing anything in Pakistan, tortorous blisters defined my day, and Spain hit temperature highs not seen in 20 years. One day, we reached 42 degrees! Part 2 took Beulah and I on the last 150km of the French Camino route.
I missed out on seeing Paris with mom - visa issues. But we all met up for an awesome, packed day in Paris - Notre Dame, bus tour, Sacre Coeur etc. Then we flew up to Biarritz and began with our first night in the quaint village of St Jean in France. Our first night taught us our first rule of hostel living - don't get the room next to the bathroom!
We took our first walking day very easy with a late start and only doing 8km uphill to the gorgeous first private hostel in Orrissen. It was here that we met our fellow pilgrims and had a delicious 3 course meal
that was unmatched on any other pilgrim menu. Mom started showing signs of my horrid flu and wisely decided not to walk the 20km over the Pyrennes. She got a lift to Roncesvalles and walked on to find us an awesome spot to sleep in Burgette. Beulah and I, meanwhile, faced the hills and winds taking us over the Pyrenees and into Spain. It was magnificent! We felt strong, with good feet and the real feeling of cameraderie that defines the camino.
The next few days were the toughest. Our feet started to object. Mom had blood blisters on her heels. Both of us had feet that burned to the point where putting on our shoes made us cry out. I took paracetamol and ibuprofen, mom changed to her crocs and Beulah was pouring cold water on to her feet through the night. The temperatures were soaring and despite our early starts we seemed to always walk into the heat of the day. We had met some wonderful friends by this stage, and it was a time to hear about others, their homes and countries, and to share something about SA.
We eased off the mileage as we
arrived in Logrona so that we could spend time with mom there before she headed to Santiago to head home. We found this town delightful - a lively place filled with Tapas bars and crowds. A great send-off for mom.
Beulah and I pushed on for another 50km over the next 2 days to get to Santa Domingo. Sadly, we missed the chickens in the cathedral and headed off early to catch a bus to reach part 2 of our journey - O'Cebreiro to Santiago.
Just as we were getting stronger, more comfortable (thanks to new shoes for me and a new backpack for mom), it was a sad so-long to part 1. We were limited by time on our journeys, but choosing to walk the first part of the French Camino together was fantastic - the villages, countryside and weather reminded me so much of my previous trip to Spain in 2003. The highights were the walk over the Pyrenees, the incredible panoramas of Spanish agricultural countryside, Pamplona, the blistering sun energising us, the cafe con leche stops, the friends we met ...
Part 2 started in O'Cebreiro for simple reasons: it was at the top
of a hill, and we knew we had enough time to walk into Santiago in our limited days. The mood changed immediately as we were greeted with Galician cold, rainy weather. The 150km into Santiago were definitely a different walk altogether - it was much more crowded (leading to fewer greetings and less chatter amongst pilgrims), the countryside changed to a Welsh-like forests and villages - complete with celtic art and bagpipes.
Beulah and I also found our walks different. We put our heads down and walked at a faster pace, with much more silence between us. I hadn't started the pilgrimmage as a spiritual journey, but the second half was definitely a time to be more reflective. We were blessed with some amazing, quiet chapels and welcoming priests, plus a side journey to an artist who also opened his home to us. We hadn't realised just how far we been walking without a "slow day" until both of us practically crawled our way into the one town. So, it was straight to the pharmacy for more paracetamols and ibuprofen, and an adjustment of our mileage plan for the next day. This led us to stop at a beautiful
private hostel wher ewe snoozed, sun-tanned, read our books and generally chilled out for an afternoon after a mere 17km walk that morning.
We seemed to have impeccable timing as we arrived in each place - in Sarria we reached the main road as the Tour de Spain cycle tour began. Beulah recognised everyone and flashed away at the top athletes, including a close-up of Contador. In another spot we saw an antique car show.
The final walk into Santiago was less glamorous than expected. The square outside the cathedral is amazing - filled with grateful pilgrims and busloads of toursit groups, but the actual mass was less personal than others we had attended. The swinging perfumy thing was fantastic though. The trip (by bus) to Fisterre was more significant for me. We arrived to a misty, rainy day (typifying our stage 2). A lovely walk sans backpack to the lighthouse and "end of the earth" was the real end of the trip.
An incredible journey with incredible people.
Highly recommended!!
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