Tuesday 1 October Ribadiso to O Pedrouzo 22.1 km
Six thirty comes very quickly the morning after a good party, and a good party we had indeed the night before. There were a few tired members of our little troop of 10, housed in the same room which slept 12 people. The hostel is in a renovated building that dates back to the 14th century. There were known snorers in the group, yes I was one of them, and the night before we discussed strategy on how they could keep us in check. For me, it is usually Mary Lou in the bunk below banging on the frame to wake me up, but Maya was given clear reign to shake me if necessary. I went to sleep to the sound of the two other snorers, but apparently neither one of them ended up being the problem. Maya would inform me during our walk today that all attempts to quiet the snoring were in vain. She did not wish to share the same room any more, which of course was the determination both of my kids came to years ago.
By 7 am we were all up and out for a cafe and croissant at the nearby bar. The day started out in a light rain, and all were donned in full wet gear, though shortly after our 7:30 start it had dissipated and the sun came out in full force. The first part of the walk is direct up a rather steep hill crossing under the main highway via tunnel, leading into the large town of Arzua (formerly called Villanova), population 7000. As we already had the morning cafe we rolled straight on through what would have been a neat little spot to spend the night. One amusing sight was a man carrying his backpack on a jerry rigged wheelbarrow. He carried it using two handles and a set of straps that went over his shoulders to take a bit of the load. To me it looked like it would be difficult to get up and down the hills but in the brief discussion we had, he assured me that it was not the case and gave a little demonstration on how he manoeuvred it about. To each his own I guess.
Outside of the steep start and finish to the day, the route was for the most part flat, running through tunnels of eucalyptus trees, and some sections adjacent to the roadway. Though there was a distinct smell to the woods particularly after a rain, it did not remind me of the the scent of eucalyptus one encounters in a sauna. The trees do however grow quite tall and provide great shelter from the elements, be it wind, rain or sun.
Over the past few weeks I had several discussions with Toms parents about their son, and at times giving me a heavy heart because of the issues he has with kids in his age group as result of being so far ahead of his peers intellectually. It was uplifting watching this boy, who had become my friend, feel so at home on the Camino with people of all ages. Kids can be cruel, you know that when you get older, but it is difficult to understand when you are young, and I wanted to find some words to give Tom comfort. So I said " come talk with me for a bit Tom". I wanted to tell him that the kids tease him because they are unsure of themselves, that the kids who were the cool kids in the younger years aren't usually the ones who get the furthest, that he would understand as he got a little older, but it didn't feel right. So I spoke from the heart and told him " Tom, you are going to change this world. I don't know how, but I feel it in my gut that you will make a difference, and my gut is never wrong. Don't let others limitations hold you back". We continued on down the trail enjoying each others company for a while.
After a bit I started off on my own for the obligatory daily alone time, a chance to do some serious thinking and reflecting. It wasn't long after that something started nagging at me, a feeling that had not existed the previous 31 days. All along I had told myself, and anyone who asked, that this has been a fantastic journey, a once in a lifetime journey, I
would not return. But here I was out of the blue thinking much to my horror that I will be back, I will walk this again. " Get out of my head" I screamed" I am not coming back here." Maybe it was because there was only one more day to go, then back to the real world, but there it was. And to pile it on , I could feel the rumblings of a cold coming on, and based on experience it was going to be a doozy. Hopefully it could hold off until the walk was finished. Thirty one days of perfect health...OK except for the blisters, constipation, groin injury, strained calf muscle, etc...but one day before the finish... come on.
A little over the mid point of the days walk at a small village called Salceda, we stumbled across a funky little bar called Taberna Salceda. Walking into it was like going back to the early seventies, a bar with hanging beads, hippy slogans painted on the wall and good ole rock and roll blasting away. I half expected to see the patrons lighting up joints and talking in "hey man"s, but then all of them were pilgrims, and they likely had left their doobies back on the farm. Of course, being almost afternoon in the hot sun, a quick beer stop was in order. While sipping away outside we noticed a donkey tethered, fully loaded with pilgrims gear. It was obviously a staged scene as the guy walking it was not dressed like a pilgrim, far too clean and unweathered, and he was being followed around by a film crew. We would run into him a couple more times during the walk, and I had a few chuckles watching the guy dressed like a director chasing around an ass and filming it walking. Oh, just like Hollywood.
Nick, Judy, Mary Lou and I headed out from Salceda, leaving Tom and Maya to walk with the rest of their family. We would meet up at the end of the day in O Pedrouzo. Mary Lou and Judy were on fire and moved out ahead of the two men. Nick and I were straggling a bit, but after putting a little ground between us I connected with the girls in O Emplame about 4 km down the road. As my knee was hurting a bit I decided to sit and wait for Nick before making the final 4 km push. About ten minutes later I could hear screams of excitement, continuing and growing closer, and recognized the voices of Maya and Tom, and without even looking knew what it was. Will had caught us. The kids had never met Will before but got caught up in the excitement. It was indeed great to see him again, and meet Penny a New Zealander that had been his walking companion the past week or so. Beers were shared, thank you Will, as we got caught up, but unfortunately for the girls they would have to wait until Santiago to say hello. As had been their habit the past weeks, Will and Penny were staying outside of the main towns, so they would not connect with us tonight. Goodbye until tomorrow.
The final 4 km was mostly downhill on a path along the highway. Our reservations were at Porta de Santiago, a small hostel, with both dorms and a few individual rooms which the Smith's and Valvo's gladly took them up on, allowing for some undisturbed sleep heading into the morning walk. The rest of the day was spent cleaning up and weeding through the back pack to get rid of anything not going home with us, further lightening the load carried.
The four of us headed out for our final supper on the trail, and ran into Bruno, my guitar playing friend from the south of France. We invited him along to join us, and ended up having a wonderful evening, learning a little more about him. Bruno, whose English was better than our French by a bit, had recently sold his insurance business, and was planning on spending the first three years of retirement travelling. First the Camino, next Nepal and from there TBD. By the end of the evening we agreed Toronto would be one of the stops, and Nick and Judy would come up to join us. One amusing exchange was between Mary Lou and Bruno, with ML trying to explain about Julia Child, who went to France to learn French cooking , then went back to the US to write a book about French cooking in English. Bruno ended the evening saying " It is ironic that people from France meet me on the trail, say hi then continue on, but you people have been inviting me to join you every time you see me". That my friend, is the Camino.
San Miguel Especial
