Overcome by nature

I am in Rabanal which is in the mountains, first of three hard days. A solid 15 mile hike up from Astorga. (Writing here is a bit crazy as ever word I write is underlined and not pleasant to read. So it is difficult to see which word is the real misspelt word among them. Gone has my friend Jim to be replaced by... just me. I find that I walk faster now and like to keep that pace. My right heel hurts like crazy but doesnt hurt if I walk fast. Only when I stop and start again. Last night I think I had a fever, very high temparature and very low blood sugar. It wasnt pleasant and it included a nightmare to remember and try to forget. Today I had the runs and it brought a new meaning to that in that I hadto make it quickly between towns to relieve myself. It was close at times but I made it. I start walking at 6.30am and so am walking about an hour before sunrise and about three hours before a town with a chemist is open. Anyway, help arrived slowly. Walking helped as well. I find that if I were more religious I would probably get more from this walk. The walk is littered with crosses and stones on walls with messages to god knows who. But the depth is there too for me. I am alone but not on my own. Life is teaching me that life has no limits except for the ones I impose upon myself. The source of my information, my mind is at best, most unreliable. I can be its prisoner if I let my worries control my days. The way is difficult, more difficult mentally and spiritually. But it is like life. Once I get it, I just keep going with what I have and try not to look back. I look back just once a day to watch the sun rise. Nature is all around me. I think I finally found my holiday niche. Flies hitched a ride with me today. Everywhere I went they were upon me. I got used to them and near the end of my walk where it was most steep, I was breathing fast and through my mouth as I climbed this mountain, I swallowed enough of them, to consciously keep my mouth shut as much as possible. Still it was nice to be overcome by nature.

Bone tired

You know that expression, well I know what it means now. Bones fit for purpose yes but after just 18km today, I had to rest. The spirit is willing but the flesh is shagged out. Made it to this wonderful city in the mountains called Astorga, I think I spelt that right! Lovely people, just fantastic catherdral and gothic church beside it. When I got to the hostel this morning at 10.30 am I had my early sleep for three hours. I was dead tired and when I awoke I have moved around this place like a ghost, where ever each step is chosen before hand and every foot step reminds me of the walking that is done. Surprisingily to me, it is now 8.30pm and I feel a lot better. I walked with a guy called Jim from North Carolina. He is a nice man but has had enough of the camino and set a blistering pace for me these past two days. Emphasis on the adjective there folks! He went on and I just bowed out of that race. There is a 20km hike tomorrow into the mountains. In fact the next three days are supposed to be the toughest. The last three were the toughest I ever experienced. What do I know? I dont know Spanish keyboards so well, that is for sure. There are a bunch of loud americans in the next room singing of all things, the theme music for the Beveley Hillbillies which was a sit com in the 70s. Still, I think the original sounded a lot better. I, on the hand, having being conversing mainly in Spanish which is more extraordinary than remembering the words of the TV show. Mostly, I have been keeping to myself and getting into the way of being a pilgrim actually. These writing being the exception to the quite mind I am becoming. Finally I burst my first serious blister today. These safety pins came in handy. I am pretty balanced in that aches and pains are all around my body rather than in one place. I met someone today that was eaten alive by bed bugs. Not a pretty sight. I guess they dont like me so far. Or I am not drained enough as it is only being my third day.

High class problems

I dont know so much about this blog today. It keeps asking me to change my language settings! Every word is underlined as if I were back at school. So I will continue on regardless, I never did much good there anyway. When I got to Leon yesterday, I couldnt find the hotel. No big deal, but no one else could either, neither the police or taxi drivers so after two hours. I decided to push on and walked my first 11km to La Virgin de Camino. (there arent very many of them left, I would say!). A reasonable hostel with absolutely no facilities and a tiny town greeted me with pleasant disregard to my needs. Coming in late as I had, I got the top bunk bed. That would be alright if it were not for my shoulder, which has me move around alot at night and therefore, rest was out of the question in case I fell off of it. Today, I am pleased to say that I walked 22kms from 7am to 1pm. I kept up with the other pilgrims and I have the blisters to prove it. By the way, I have discovered, I have hips today, simply by the soreness and my shoulders come in a close second for painful awareness. When stopping, the trick is to get going again and once a km is done, then it is easy enough to deny the aches until we stop again. The people on the way in the cafes are pretty friendly. This new hostel I am in is a much better setup and I must take some photos of it. It is a great place, plus I got a bottom bunk which means some chance of shut eye, tonight. I also had a second go at washing my clothes today. Yesterday was fine but I tried it too late and the night arrived before I got any drying done. Today I was early and believe it or not, I succeeded. Well, with the help of a dear German lady who took the time out of her day, to scorn me for not doing it right! Ever the good student, little did she know that she did me a favour as I learnt another trick on this trip. How to have dry clothes for the next day. As you all notice, for such a low tech guy that I am, there remains a lot of milage on my words. Today was a first though the longest I have walked in my life and the willingness to continue abusing my body on this way!

4 Days to go - Not in the mood for walking!

I dont know about you but when I travel, I travel heavy, prepared for any event that probably wont occur.  So this week, the idea of placing my stuff to bring list into a 30l rucksack was a daunting task.  The advice includes 2 set of clothes in total, sleeping bag, towel, toiletries, my insulin muscle rub and a host of tiny things, Still to do better but I managed to close it which was achievement which holds for a tiny silent (in my mind) applause.  Subsequently, I realised that there were other stuff that should go as well.

But rather than open and go back through it again, I filled another day bag full of stuff and put off making any more  Decisions Decisions Decisions....

I also have a blister that has spread across my  heel like a rash.  I burst it eventually but to say the bugger is sore is an understatement.  A constant reminder as I walk  now.  A taste of what is yet to come...

I am excited I feel, as I dreaming of the Camino now.  Last night was the last time I will sleep in my bed for a month, how long into the walk will it be before, I start to dream of that bed and this town.  I hope I survive the walk without doing so.  I am aprehensive as well.  Talk about thinking outside the box.  But these things I also like to do.  I wouldn't have met Martha or Oscar or more recently Wendy or Krishna as I would not have ventured to Mexico, India or Thialand.  Still no regrets there.  I believe I will have no regrets in Spain either, but then there are those blisters that say different!

A great idea - Camino Preparations

Camino

I got this daft idea sometime last month to walk the Camino.  Not completely daft as I am  walking 400km and not the 780kms first time.  It had something to do with turning 50 possibly or just I have being bored or something.  It seemed like a good idea at the time. 

Like the time I did a parachute jump.  That was a good idea too.  Except possibly for the fact, that I am afraid of heights.  Still it was a good way to raise money for Charities.  As I got nearer to the date, I got more tense.  I  really wanted to pull out.  In fact most of my days training, which spent getting ready for jump, I spent planning to get out of the jump.   It was the matter of leaving at the right time without too much fuss, most people would understand.  There were several opportunities as well.  Others took the opportunities and we that remained understood.  Then I had to sign forms in case I broke my neck on the way down.  Seemed reasonable at the time.  I signed all the forms and soon I found myself watching myself prepare and then get into the plane. 

Now this was a toy plane to me.  Very windy  up there and they go and open the door, then I am stuck.  I did what I practiced and put one foot on the struct which is the step to get on the plane when it is on the ground and the other foot, well it dangled in the air.  The instructor says "let go" I laugh inside thinking if he thinks I am going to let go, he has another thing coming.  After an age to me, the instructor said  that if I  dont jump, he will have to come out there and drag me in to the plane again.  I mean, what does he mean, I thought, I could fall! I hadnt planned for that in training.  So I let go.

Well I dont know, whether my mind or my body let go but before I knew it I was flying through the air.  All exercises about which I was supposed to say "1000,2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 pull the cord left me too.  Fortunately the parahute opened and I was pulled backwards at speed, or maybe the speed slowed down.  I survived and didnt go for the best out of three and so I live to tell the tale. 

The Camino feels a bit like that for me.  A good idea at the time.  As a former couch potato, I feel I represent a large body of other Spuds out there that might have thought I have reached my sell by date, and this challenge is my way of saying, maybe not. My mind on the hand says a pretty constant maybe!

So a blog is what is all about.  I am to keep in touch with you through this if you interested.  Well we will see.  I will keep an open mind and hopefully you can share in the experience in someway.

Finally if Blogging is an art form, then my mistakes along the way, can totally be expected!

Please send any comments if you have any.....