Doc, it hurts when I do this...

ACHES and PAINS

You´re going to walk 800 kms, things are going to hurt. Some pains last an hour or a day, some go away as you get tougher, some will be with you in Santiago (see pic above). That being said, everyone on this hike is dragging some albatross. Mine is the right foot and I accept that. No real complaints. Health is good, stamina is good.

´CROO

I started Camino with about 30 other people and there are that many around me any one night, but people take break and go at different speeds, so the group changes by 5-6 people everyday. There are 8-10 people I have seen for the last 4 -5 nights. Couple of Japanese, a bunch of Germans, a Czech, Brazilian, few French, a few South Koreans, but of Spanish people, som English and South African, a sampling of Americas and and 2 Canucks (Andre zoomed ahead)

Pic is Pitr (Austria) and Mikail (Germany). Tessa (South Africa) is inside checking in. Pitr and I said farewell to Tessa and Mikail in Burgos as we wanted to up the pace by 5-10 kms a day.

There are some kids walking, but usually for a week ro so, everyone else is 30´s and up with Olivier at 69 and tough as nails. People are dropping back, dropping off, injured, sick.

RELIGION

Just realized on this hike that many peoples names ae based on saints names, even if the country changes the names Johan, Pitr, Mikail. Just how pervasive is this religious thing anyway????

Me, I´m not trying to be religious or even spiritual, altho I wouldn´t mind being less pissed off at organized religions, especially Christians. Unfortunately, the more I ponder, the more upset I get.

Will stick with the original reason...cheap, fun way to walk for a month

WALK INTO TOWN, WALK OUT

Took awhile to see he pattern. The Camino is really old, so it follows rivers into town, then croesses a really old bridge and heads for the church, usually in the center of town and also usually on a hill. The towns grow out from there, but the pattern holds. It is very cool to see a hill town out as far as you can see, then slowly make you way there, walk thru and then put it in your rear-view mirror

SPAIN IS CLOSED

Don´t know how this place works. Hard to find an open cafe at 7:30 AM (need to ask around), little bread shops and mercados seem to be open on a whim, with no posted or standard hours. The fields are all cultivated, but only saw tractors and farmers on one day in the last 2 weeks. Of course, everything shuts down from 1 PM to 5 PM (just as us Pilgrims hit town).

You can get everything you need, just not necessarily when you want it. Keeping a day of food in the pack is a must.

Of course, after 5 PM and especially 7 PM, the whole country is out there, kids and all. Quite the style. Most Pilgrims in bed by 9 PM, so we are not real party-goers. 30 kms a day with a pack takes its toll.

Tons and tons of windmills. All places have auto-shut-off lights for halls and bathrooms. Pretty energy-conscious country

WEATHER

Couple of rainy days, with more to come. Some days hover around 4C and start out below 0C , which is bitch-ass cold in shorts.

The sun tracks from behind your left shoulder, as we are always heading basically West. If you´re lucky, you´re done for the day before it gets in your eyes. My legs are burnt on the SouthWest side, as are parts of my face, even with the cream

OH, IF ONLY...

Usually, I´m quite pleased with my gear. On this trip, it is clunky. I circled the planet last year and felt like I had everything I needed and nothing extra. On this trip, I carry a bag bigger than a full 1/4 of the Pilgrims. I could have left 1/3 of the clothes behind and carried a sleeping bag that weighs a full kilo less (and sucks up less space).

So this trip, the gear is clunky. That being said, getting lots of time to review while on the walk.

Remember the first Matrix movie? (and they went downhill from there). The problem with the second movies is that they underplayed a lot of what worked in the first and overdid the junky stuff. Same with my packing this trip. Personally embarrassing