Camino: Day 38-40

Camino: Day 38-40

Day 38 – Puertomarin to Palas Del Rey

4 days left. I CAN NOT BELIEVE ALL THE PEOPLE!! This was a long day filled with some discomfort and pain in my bladder area. Also given the amount of water I was supposed to drink and the effects of the medication, I had to cop a squat almost once every half hour – mostly in the bushes. And I might pass a little judgement here but sooooooo many people (mostly women) leave there toilet paper behind so there’s these places where the forest floor is covered with white paper. Come on people. Pack it out. Put it in a bag and toss it at the end of the day. Anyway, I’ll get off my soap box now. It was a very windy day. Still sunny but since I sent my bag forward I don’t think I packed enough clothes! The weather is definitely changing. We trudged on with the droves of people. Incredibly, we seemed to go up all day long. I was also taking 600mgs if Ibuprofen for the pain so I think my feet benefited from this. Somewhere near the end (3kms left) the pain is getting worse and I just want to get there. The problem is (or maybe it’s a gift?) is that you’re the only one who can walk the steps to get you there. I notice now (since Luc is here I didn’t notice this before) that I go inward and quiet. Finally we get to this cool albergue with beds in the wall. It reminds me of train compartments. Shower and chill for an hour or more and then we head out to buy bottled water and get some dinner. After searching a bit for food we end up at this place and a Danish couple (who we think might be following us ? – they think we’re following them) invite us to sit down with them. Beside us on the other side are two women from holland. We enjoy talking about our countries and joking and connecting. And now new contacts in Denmark ?? who have invited us to stay with them. We super enjoy hanging out with them. I really enjoyed my sleep in the train ? compartment. 

Day 39: Palas Del Rey to Castaneda

I woke up with no pain. We walked in the dark for a while until the sun rose and we grabbed a cafe con lèche. I forgot my poles for the 138,362nd time. It was a pretty up down kind of day. The leaves and walnuts are falling from the trees. The wind was cooooold in the morning. It’s so fascinating how much the temperature has changed in just 100km. But the temp swings are pretty extreme now. It’s 6 degrees in the morning and up to 25 during the day. We met up with Eugene from Poland. We’ve chatted with him a few times but this was the most. We had a great time learning more about each other’s countries. He said that in Melinde we had to stop and eat octopus ?. It’s famous in this land locked town. So we did. I can say I tried it now. Not a big fan. Anyway we walked and walked. The kilomètres crawl by. Doesn’t matter if it’s a short day or a long day, I’m hating life the last 1.5 km and can’t get there fast enough. We arrived at our casa and oh. My. god. Bedroom, bathroom and our own living room for 40€. Living the life of luxury – definitely not a pilgrim. So we decided for tomorrow we would do one more bunk bed night for the last “authentic” experience. We showered, relaxed and napped until dinner. Dinner was over and I went straight to sleep. I’m so thrilled that the pain has left (for now). I’m constantly wondering now if I passed the stone or it’s going to come back or what. The end is so near… I can taste it. It’s bittersweet like the dark chocolate I’m eating right now. Tomorrow O Pedroso

Day 40: Canstaneda to O Pedrouzo

2 days left including today. I had a terrible dream and woke up and couldn’t really sleep after that so I got up and started getting ready for the day. Since we had a private room everything was everywhere. At half 6 I woke up Luc. We walked out into the darkness and alone for once (although not for long as the Camino Norte joined the route today so there was even more people around). Today must have been more flat because we made excellent time and I didn’t hurt too much when we got to the albergue. Today I dressed more warmly with pants, tank, long sleeve shirt and jacket. I’m continually surprised at the rapid change in the temperature since Luc joined on. Today I remembered back to some funny things that happened along the trail…. everything feels like so long ago. The scenery in Galicia is extraordinary. As you can imagine I’m starting to feel the feels of it being over. Every kilometer I’m reminded of how much closer I’m getting to completion. Currently I’m busy processing all that has happened, all that I’ve learned about myself, in the ways in which I’ve grown. Where I want to go next. I feel so incredibly lucky that this happened at the beginning of my year off. For some reason the timing is perfection. Thank you universe. Luc asked me today how do I feel my spiritual journey went. This was difficult to answer and put into words. It’s a great question that has me thinking about what my spiritual journey has included. I will post more in the following days. Tomorrow Santiago de Compostela. (I might be tearing up writing this last sentence.)

Please follow and like us:
error