I just figured out that people have been commenting on this and I may have been kind of rude in not responding - sorry! I wasn´t ignoring you or anything, I just figured I would be notified if anyone commented. Anyway, glad to know you´re all following my adventure.
There are tons of "old people" since it is actually mainly old people. We are a rarity here, which we didn´t necessarily expect. Kate and I get on exceptionally well, especially considering we spend every waking moment together. It was good that we knew each other so well and already are used to living with each other, but it also helps that we are both just generally pretty easy going. If there was anything we didn´t know about each other before, we certainly know it now.
We did have a problem with blisters and with general pain in general, but our bodies have finally adapted somewhat. Kate´s shoes were so bad that we had to get her some new ones (or rather we "rescued" the shoes a French woman had left behind at a hostel) and now her feet are much better. One of our friends did the Camino before and taught us how to kill the blisters - with a needle and thread - and its quite effective. Often at night we have a session of "foot surgery" during which we tend to each other´s feet. It´s quite sweet, really.
Another problem we had at the beginning was general body pain, especially since we weren´t exactly what one would call "in shape" when we began. In fact, we talked to many people who were shocked that we would attempt something like this without being particularly outdoorsy or athletic people. In the end we were all in enormous amounts of pain - even those sporty people. The third day was the roughest - stairs were nearly impossible. We could recognize other pilgrims by the pain on their faces. It was a beautiful thing. Thankfully our bodies finally realized that there would be no mercy and are rarely very sore.
Don´t worry - there will be plenty of photos. I already about several hundred and all of us plan to share our photos at the end - so multiply that by 3 or 4 times. I anticipate it will be rather overwhelming.
Kate and I figure we will get have several years worth of good cocktail party stories out of this and have begun practicing. "Did I ever tell you about the time I walked across Spain? Yes? Well let me tell you again..."
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Pineapple Juice
Hello again from sunny Espana - we finally had a really warm day after a week or so of rain, clouds, and relative cold. We are officially over halfway to Santiago from where we started in France - which is kind of weird to fathom. It isn´t that hard to appreciate our accomplishment each day, in fact sometimes it seems rather miniscule since we could drive the same distance in a matter of minutes. But comprehending the combined effect of all of those days of walking is much harder. We love looking at our map, mostly because it is so crazy to see our progress on that large of a scale.
We are horribly out of touch with the world - I have absolutely no idea what day it is let alone what is going on in the news. The other morning another pilgrim came up to ask and asked us what the date was. It took 5 of us several minutes to figure it out definitively without the aid of electronic devices. Needless to say, it is easy to lose yourself.
Time is passing both quickly and slowly. On the one hand, we can´t believe that we have already been walking for 3 weeks (exactly) because that seems like such a long time. Even though we don´t have any entertainment with us - no books, no music, just journals which we procrastinate about - I find I am never really bored, making the time go by that much faster. On the other hand, though, it seems like an eternity ago that we were in St. Jean Pied-de-Port to begin our journey. So much has happened and we know so much more, even if the majority of what we have learned involves blisters or eating and drinking for cheap. When we meet pilgrims who have just began the trek, we like to think back nostalgically to how we were when we just started (being seasoned veterans by now, obviously).
I just realized that I use the ¨we¨ pronoun a lot, which would be strange except that I spend 24 hours a day with Kate and almost as much time with our new friends, people who had been complete strangers just a few weeks ago. It is kind of like an ultimate shared experience (partially because that is what we make of it). It is also a very communal experience, like I think I have mentioned before. Kate and I have completely communalized our money. Everything material - food, drinks, bandaids, etc. - are all shared indiscriminately.
Speaking of which, it´s time to get my evening started. Hope all is well with everyone out there in cyberspace...
We are horribly out of touch with the world - I have absolutely no idea what day it is let alone what is going on in the news. The other morning another pilgrim came up to ask and asked us what the date was. It took 5 of us several minutes to figure it out definitively without the aid of electronic devices. Needless to say, it is easy to lose yourself.
Time is passing both quickly and slowly. On the one hand, we can´t believe that we have already been walking for 3 weeks (exactly) because that seems like such a long time. Even though we don´t have any entertainment with us - no books, no music, just journals which we procrastinate about - I find I am never really bored, making the time go by that much faster. On the other hand, though, it seems like an eternity ago that we were in St. Jean Pied-de-Port to begin our journey. So much has happened and we know so much more, even if the majority of what we have learned involves blisters or eating and drinking for cheap. When we meet pilgrims who have just began the trek, we like to think back nostalgically to how we were when we just started (being seasoned veterans by now, obviously).
I just realized that I use the ¨we¨ pronoun a lot, which would be strange except that I spend 24 hours a day with Kate and almost as much time with our new friends, people who had been complete strangers just a few weeks ago. It is kind of like an ultimate shared experience (partially because that is what we make of it). It is also a very communal experience, like I think I have mentioned before. Kate and I have completely communalized our money. Everything material - food, drinks, bandaids, etc. - are all shared indiscriminately.
Speaking of which, it´s time to get my evening started. Hope all is well with everyone out there in cyberspace...
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Life on the road
It is kind of a surreal experience trying to keep this blog up since I never have time to go back and see what I´ve already written about. Instead I have to try to remember what I have and have not ever gotten around to mentioning, which is usually less than ideal.
Anyway, Kate and I were discussing earlier, as we do almost every day, how weird it is to be here but in a completely normal way. Considered objectively, what we are doing is in most ways absurd. We rise before dawn to walk an obscene distance with our homes on our backs, spend every evening in a new, unknown place which may or may not involve food (and which we refer to as ¨home¨ even though it changes every night), depending on our luck, have incredibly close friends for only having known them for a week or two, and are put to bed promptly at 10 p.m. every night, sometimes by nuns. Most things about this are exactly opposite from the ¨real world¨. At home I would ideally be sleeping until noon, staying up way past midnight, and watching an obscene amount of Law and Order (most likely).
And yet, since we spend all of our time with people who have also decided to devote a substantial period of time to the Camino, and since we travel with them, sleep with them, and eat with them, it all seems perfectly reasonable. Of course I now wake up every morning at 6 a.m. from a bed that just may be infected with bedbugs. Of course.
That said, we´re still having a great time. We´re in a tiny town tonight and should be in Leon by the day after tomorrow, I think. The weather has been weird - it was horrible and cold and rainy last week and has never really heated up again - which is good for walking, but also bad when you expected 100 degree temperatures and packed accordingly. Tonight our new German friend Jean is cooking us dinner, a nice addition to our usual rotation.
One more thing before I go for today. One of my new Camino friends is keeping a blog as well. He has a phone that allows him to post pictures from the road, which is pretty cool but unfortunately beyond my capabilities. Most of the pictures are of him (since it is his blog after all), but I´m pretty sure I appear in some of them (most likely, since we spend almost all of our free time together) and, even if not, they will give some idea of what the camino is like. Anyway, if anyone is interested, the blog is at mo.bigbig.com
Anyway, Kate and I were discussing earlier, as we do almost every day, how weird it is to be here but in a completely normal way. Considered objectively, what we are doing is in most ways absurd. We rise before dawn to walk an obscene distance with our homes on our backs, spend every evening in a new, unknown place which may or may not involve food (and which we refer to as ¨home¨ even though it changes every night), depending on our luck, have incredibly close friends for only having known them for a week or two, and are put to bed promptly at 10 p.m. every night, sometimes by nuns. Most things about this are exactly opposite from the ¨real world¨. At home I would ideally be sleeping until noon, staying up way past midnight, and watching an obscene amount of Law and Order (most likely).
And yet, since we spend all of our time with people who have also decided to devote a substantial period of time to the Camino, and since we travel with them, sleep with them, and eat with them, it all seems perfectly reasonable. Of course I now wake up every morning at 6 a.m. from a bed that just may be infected with bedbugs. Of course.
That said, we´re still having a great time. We´re in a tiny town tonight and should be in Leon by the day after tomorrow, I think. The weather has been weird - it was horrible and cold and rainy last week and has never really heated up again - which is good for walking, but also bad when you expected 100 degree temperatures and packed accordingly. Tonight our new German friend Jean is cooking us dinner, a nice addition to our usual rotation.
One more thing before I go for today. One of my new Camino friends is keeping a blog as well. He has a phone that allows him to post pictures from the road, which is pretty cool but unfortunately beyond my capabilities. Most of the pictures are of him (since it is his blog after all), but I´m pretty sure I appear in some of them (most likely, since we spend almost all of our free time together) and, even if not, they will give some idea of what the camino is like. Anyway, if anyone is interested, the blog is at mo.bigbig.com
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Interesting Characters
Yay! I have internet again! Although I only have 5 minutes right now, so this will be short.
All is well here in Espana. Kate and I made it to a little town called Carrion de los Condes today and are now about 3 days outside of Leon, which is a pretty major city on the route. At this rate we should have plenty of time to get to the beach and back before we have to leave.
I thought I might take some time, I dont think I have yet, to describe the kind of people who are on the camino with me. Kate and I have found some of the more degenerate pilgrims to befriend, meaning those who resent that we have a 10 pm bedtime and refuse to get up until we absolutely have to. Most of the pilgrims are older, though, and most are also european. Americans are something of a novelty and people usually think Kate and I are Spanish. There is also a acupunture practicing couple who are pretty out there. Last night at dinner we had a table that represented 5 continents. It´s pretty crazy when you think about it.
All is well here in Espana. Kate and I made it to a little town called Carrion de los Condes today and are now about 3 days outside of Leon, which is a pretty major city on the route. At this rate we should have plenty of time to get to the beach and back before we have to leave.
I thought I might take some time, I dont think I have yet, to describe the kind of people who are on the camino with me. Kate and I have found some of the more degenerate pilgrims to befriend, meaning those who resent that we have a 10 pm bedtime and refuse to get up until we absolutely have to. Most of the pilgrims are older, though, and most are also european. Americans are something of a novelty and people usually think Kate and I are Spanish. There is also a acupunture practicing couple who are pretty out there. Last night at dinner we had a table that represented 5 continents. It´s pretty crazy when you think about it.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
On the road again
Currently at a cafe about 35 miles west of Logrono, where we spent 2 days. It was the town´s fiesta, so we spent some time celebrating with Logronoans and our new pilgrim friends while spending the nights camping in a field outside of the city. Unfortunately, camping entailed hiking into waist deep brush and attempting to clear a relatively flat area on which to pitch our tents. And this was Kate´s first camping experience ever.
Luckily, it turns out that our tent is quite efficient shelter. The first night we had a thunderstorm and although some in our party had a miserable and wet night, Kate and I slept in relative comfort. It was quite an adventure, to say the least.
It is funny how quickly our lifestyle has changed. It now seems completely reasonable that we should wake up at 6 in the morning in order to walk anywhere between 20 and 30 kilometers over the span of 8 or 9 hours. It would be hard for anything to be more different from my normal mode of existence, and yet normal is exactly what it seems to be.
We are walking through wine country now, so we are pretty much constantly walking on dirt or gravel roads through vineyards. It is very beautiful and peaceful. It is also really cool to look behind you over the rolling hills and know that you walked as far as the eye can see.
On the plus side, we have grown quite accustomed to the bugs and dirt and have been spending our evenings battling blisters and cooking meals in the kitchens at the hostels. We have met several people who are doing this on their vacations from work, and its true that it is surprisingly relaxing to be on the road.
Luckily, it turns out that our tent is quite efficient shelter. The first night we had a thunderstorm and although some in our party had a miserable and wet night, Kate and I slept in relative comfort. It was quite an adventure, to say the least.
It is funny how quickly our lifestyle has changed. It now seems completely reasonable that we should wake up at 6 in the morning in order to walk anywhere between 20 and 30 kilometers over the span of 8 or 9 hours. It would be hard for anything to be more different from my normal mode of existence, and yet normal is exactly what it seems to be.
We are walking through wine country now, so we are pretty much constantly walking on dirt or gravel roads through vineyards. It is very beautiful and peaceful. It is also really cool to look behind you over the rolling hills and know that you walked as far as the eye can see.
On the plus side, we have grown quite accustomed to the bugs and dirt and have been spending our evenings battling blisters and cooking meals in the kitchens at the hostels. We have met several people who are doing this on their vacations from work, and its true that it is surprisingly relaxing to be on the road.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
In Logrono
First, in response to a few questions:
Its hard to say exactly how warm it gets because I only ever see the temp in celcius and I´m not sure of the conversion, but I think it can get to about 85 or 90 in the afternoon, with not a lot of humidity, but it feels pretty hot when youre walking for 7 hours with 17 pounds on your back. A lot of the walk is through plains now, too, which means there isnt much shade.
We walk about 20-25 kilometers a day, on average. I´m not actually sure of what the conversion is. It works out to about 7 hours of walking usually, since there are usually hills and we break a lot.
The Pyrenees were very beautiful. The pass we went through was something over 1400 meters high. It was actually kind of scary when we were passing through on the first day because it was very rainy and foggy and we couldn´t see very far in front of us - it seemed like it might go on forever. A lot of what we passed through was very pastoral and green - it looked like I imagine Ireland must. The views were also incredible. Because of the rain the trail was very muddy, but in general the mountains were wooded and not very rocky.
It was a difficult climb, but frankly not as bad as I thought. I had heard a lot about how it is one of the worst parts of the walk and had been worried, but it was really fine. I just take it slow and take lots of breaks. One thing was that we didn´t have much food - we didn´t realize that there is often nothing for many kilometers. We are trying to learn from this (we carry some granola bars and peanuts just in case) but still slip up sometimes.
In other news, we slept in a field last night. During a rain storm. More on that later, as my time is up.
Its hard to say exactly how warm it gets because I only ever see the temp in celcius and I´m not sure of the conversion, but I think it can get to about 85 or 90 in the afternoon, with not a lot of humidity, but it feels pretty hot when youre walking for 7 hours with 17 pounds on your back. A lot of the walk is through plains now, too, which means there isnt much shade.
We walk about 20-25 kilometers a day, on average. I´m not actually sure of what the conversion is. It works out to about 7 hours of walking usually, since there are usually hills and we break a lot.
The Pyrenees were very beautiful. The pass we went through was something over 1400 meters high. It was actually kind of scary when we were passing through on the first day because it was very rainy and foggy and we couldn´t see very far in front of us - it seemed like it might go on forever. A lot of what we passed through was very pastoral and green - it looked like I imagine Ireland must. The views were also incredible. Because of the rain the trail was very muddy, but in general the mountains were wooded and not very rocky.
It was a difficult climb, but frankly not as bad as I thought. I had heard a lot about how it is one of the worst parts of the walk and had been worried, but it was really fine. I just take it slow and take lots of breaks. One thing was that we didn´t have much food - we didn´t realize that there is often nothing for many kilometers. We are trying to learn from this (we carry some granola bars and peanuts just in case) but still slip up sometimes.
In other news, we slept in a field last night. During a rain storm. More on that later, as my time is up.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Puenta La Reina
I managed to find my way to one of these funny internet booths two days in a row, so I thought I would just post a quick note. The internet seems to be pretty common and we are able to get it at almost all of the hostels. The weather is finally getting hot and we will probably have to start walking earlier or taking a siesta in the middle of the day, as is the Spanish custom. It also means that we can start using out tent.
We have been staying in hostels exclusively so far. They are pretty cheap, about 5 or 6 euros a night per person (which is less than I pay in rent in L.A.), and relatively comfortable although there are often 20 people in the room with you. The showers have mostly been nice, with a few exceptions.
We haven´t been camping yet because the weather has been too cold but also, I think, because we like the community of the hostels and want to make some pilgrim friends, perhaps those who also tent, before we ostracize ourselves from pilgrim society. It looks promising - there are a few groups with tents pitched in the hostel´s backyard tonight.
I had a request to illuminate how we do laundry on the road. The short answer is that we don´t. But don´t worry, we occassionally wash our clothes in the sink, using body wash. It may not be pretty but it gets the job done. Some of the hostels we are beginning to see sometimes offer a pay laundry machine and dryer, but you kind of need to get a big group together to make it worth it - we don´t even have enough to fill a washer.
Going to go get some dinner now - we haven´t eaten much besides granola bars and peanuts all day.
We have been staying in hostels exclusively so far. They are pretty cheap, about 5 or 6 euros a night per person (which is less than I pay in rent in L.A.), and relatively comfortable although there are often 20 people in the room with you. The showers have mostly been nice, with a few exceptions.
We haven´t been camping yet because the weather has been too cold but also, I think, because we like the community of the hostels and want to make some pilgrim friends, perhaps those who also tent, before we ostracize ourselves from pilgrim society. It looks promising - there are a few groups with tents pitched in the hostel´s backyard tonight.
I had a request to illuminate how we do laundry on the road. The short answer is that we don´t. But don´t worry, we occassionally wash our clothes in the sink, using body wash. It may not be pretty but it gets the job done. Some of the hostels we are beginning to see sometimes offer a pay laundry machine and dryer, but you kind of need to get a big group together to make it worth it - we don´t even have enough to fill a washer.
Going to go get some dinner now - we haven´t eaten much besides granola bars and peanuts all day.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
4 days in...
Hello from Cizur Menor, a small town outside of Pamplona. Today was our fourth official day of trekking and we appear to have finally made it through the mountains. Now we have the right to brag forever about how we once hiked through the Pyrenees. The weather has just gotten quite hot and we seem to have come down to the agricultural plains.
The pilgrim experience has been a rather communal one, much to my delight. We can spot each other on the street, even without huge backpacks, thanks to the ¨pilgrim hobble¨ and the pained grimace that come with each step.
Most of the pilgrims seem to be from Europe, especially Spain, France, and Germany, with a smattering of Italians and Brits. Americans seem to be among the least common. Pair this with the fact that we are young and that we do not wear hiking books or carry a guide book, and we are quite a novelty.
It is really wonderful to hear all of the different languages being spoken, although it does make me feel that my skills are less than adequate in that department.
The walk has been very beautiful, with lots of quaint villages and mountain vistas. Unfortunately that also means that Internet has been rather sparse, and expensive when I can find it. For 1 euro today I was able to buy 18 minutes in which to do everything, and I regret I can´t write more. Soon, I promise.
Until next time...
The pilgrim experience has been a rather communal one, much to my delight. We can spot each other on the street, even without huge backpacks, thanks to the ¨pilgrim hobble¨ and the pained grimace that come with each step.
Most of the pilgrims seem to be from Europe, especially Spain, France, and Germany, with a smattering of Italians and Brits. Americans seem to be among the least common. Pair this with the fact that we are young and that we do not wear hiking books or carry a guide book, and we are quite a novelty.
It is really wonderful to hear all of the different languages being spoken, although it does make me feel that my skills are less than adequate in that department.
The walk has been very beautiful, with lots of quaint villages and mountain vistas. Unfortunately that also means that Internet has been rather sparse, and expensive when I can find it. For 1 euro today I was able to buy 18 minutes in which to do everything, and I regret I can´t write more. Soon, I promise.
Until next time...
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