I don’t know how I feel about the Camino. I’m still kind of bumped about having to leave Barcelona and saying good bye to the ppl I met here. It has been so much fun and I have gained so much life-enriching experience – from understanding the Spanish culture and comparing it to Malaysian and American culture to learning how to remain calm although I am afraid to just jump into the water to befriending and learning with people from all sorts of backgrounds.
It’s time to move on I guess – another phase in life as peple say it. Thank God for all the wonderful and lesson-filled experiences I have had in Barcelona and the rest of Europe.
Let the camino begin…
with the gang: Julia, Missy, and NicoletteIt was quite calming, walking with nature everywhere around us – we walked along some rivers, over the hills (more about that in a bit), saw lots of animals etc. While I was walking, I did my best to coordinate my breaths and steps so that I wouldn’t get tired so fast and I tried to be as mindful as I could. Once in a while, I felt like taking a break when I could still push on. Luckily I was not there on my own. Watching the others holding up motivated me to keep on pushing, especially when we were walking uphill on unpaved roads with rocks everywhere. We hiked from the bottom of the hill and made it all the way up to the top, went downhill a little and uphill again. We started off in Castil-Leon and we are now in Galicia.
When I was walking, I would remind myself to look up once in a while and enjoy the view when I caught myself just looking at the ground and focusing on my walk. The scenery was so picturesque.
Missy, Julia, Nicolette and I got along pretty well. I’m glad I’m on this trip with them. We played cards after diner. Oh ya, I had two mini 0.74oz or 21g snack bars and an apple tart for breakfast, a bocadillo con atun y cebolla (tuna and onion baguette sandwich) which tasted so good for lunch, and a banna, an orange and a palmera for dinner.
We walked from 8am to 5.30pm with 1.5 hours of breaks in between today. We could have gone on but we decided no to cos’ Cebreiro looks like a cool town in Galicia (they speak Gallego here and Galicia has lots of Celtic influences) and we don’t want ot end up in one of those small albergues (accommodation eg hostels) along the way. Btw, we walked through many villages and they looked ancient and underdeveloped. Most of the villagers are farmers or restaurant/hostel managers.
When we got to the hostel, I was surprised by how modern and clean it is. It is packed though. One room has 24 beds and the shower rooms have no doors.
As far as spiritual experience go, I am not too sure what to say about it. I don’t know what I am looking for but we’ll see..
There are so many people from all over the world here. I’m so excited. Everyone’s so nice to each other too.
Day 2: Cebreiro – Calvor de Sarria (36km), 9.05pm, 02May09 It’s day 2.. wow, we made it through the second day! 36km!!! 8km further than we did yesterday. We were just going to stop at Triacastella but we arrived at our 24km stop at 1.00pm after walking since 8.00am. We stopped for lunch by the roadside with our packed lunch. I had tuna sandwich. My orange and bananas that I bought last night were squished by my bag when I sat down with it without realizing my fruits were in the plastic bag hanging on the back of my bag. There went my cheap and healthy lunch.
During our walk, I felt some pain on my right shin while walking and Missy told me I have a shin splint. She helped me do a shin stretch and I popped in an Ibuprofen.
We decided to proceed to Samos (10km from Triacastella) to visit a famous monastery and listen to the Gregorian Choir sing but we took the wrong route which led us directly to Sarria. We found that out from a farmer. Sad but good ‘cos we’ll arrive in Santiago de Compostela earlier.
I’m so tired today. I was a bit snappy at times. We found an albergue in Calvor de Sarria so we decided to stay here and here we are. Thank God it was another beautiful day today and that I can still walk fine despite my pain.
Day 3: Calvor de Sarria – Portomarin (27.5km), 9.00pm, 03May09 Shin Splint!!! Ouch!!! Swollen muscle on the front of my leg above my feet. I was limping all the way…
Earlier in the day when we reached Sarria, we bumped into this group of people from Barcelona. It was so cool. They took a picture for us and we took one for them. I ended up chatting with one who showed great interest in meditation and living in the now. He is a Catholic but he said his life experience has shown him that consciousness is the key to happiness and it had led him to learn more about Eastern spiritual practices. I don’t know how we got into that conversation but I felt great talking to him. He asked me about Deepak Chopra but I said I only know that he is an Indian spiritual guru.
After a while, we moved on our own ways and that’s when my shin turned red and it hurt a lot. I began limping. A lady saw me limping and asked me if I needed a plaster, medicine or something but I told her I already took an Ibuprofen and it was only a muscle pain. Later, she gave me pills stronger than Ibuprofen. How nice of her. She turned out to be a pharmacist in Sabadell and the wife of Alfonso, the guy whom I was talking to earlier. She also has a son who is going to compete in a hockey competition in M’sia. I recommended some places in M’sia for her to visit. Her medicine helped me quite a lot but I still limped all the way to Portomarin.
However, what was nice about limping all the way was that I was walking so slowly and not rushing such that I was able to suck in whatever nature has to offer – the sound of running streams and the trees being blown by the wind, the tactile sensation from the cool breeze and scorching sun, the view of the beautiful greens and colorful flowers, and the smell of mountain fresh air. It was awesome.
Talking ot the girls was fun too. We talked about guys, bfs, and stories from books etc. It took us longer than we would to reach Portomarin because of my legs but we still manage to walk 27.5km in 9.5 hours. We arrived here at 5.30pm. This place is so gorgeous. It’s by a river which looks like a lake. For dinner, we made pasta with tomato sauce and lentils. It was gross but we were too hungry to care. Thank God for the nice weather again and the moments of peace and awareness. =).
I hope tomorrow will be another great day!
Day 4: Portomarin – Palas de Rei (27km), 8.30pm, 04May09 Today we arrived rather early, at 3.30pm. I was surprised as I was limping all the way throughout the second half of our walk today. My shin is better now but it still hurts. Worse, I put more pressure on my left leg now since my right leg is not well causing my left calf to hurt and a blister to form. Oh well, you can’t finish the camino without some physical test.
Here’s where I’m going to say that every cloud has a silver lining. When I slowed down and was left behind, I noticed that I felt lonely and uncared for. The three of them continued walking 200 meters ahead of me while I staggered my way along the camino. I kept thinking about how selfish their actions were and that it would have been much condemned by my parents and friends back home if they were to find out about that. But seriously, they were talking while they were walking and they probably thought that I was fine. They slowed down for me to catch up when they realized that I was far behind. I would probably have done the same if I were them. Negative thoughts perpetuated in my head for quite some time and it distracted me from being in the present and enjoying nature. Once I realized that, I brought myself back by focusing on my breath and also my walk. This experience taught me some compassion. If the same thing were to happen to another person, I would slow down and accompany the person. After all, what’s the point rushing? We would still have to wait for the person to get to the end point and how could we live with the guilt of leaving the person behind?
The weather was perfect again. It was a little chilly but the sky was clear and the trail was pretty much flat. We’ve gone through the two toughest day on the 1st and 2nd days. Thank God the medicine that Alfonso’s wife gave me eased my shin pain and allowed me to power walk for a bit.
Sometimes, I caught up to our camino buddy, Christian from Germany whom we met last night and had some conversation exchanges. He told me the nice places to visit in Germany e.g. Cologne by the Rhine River, Munichand other places in Bavaria, and Berlin. He thinks Hamburg is the nicest city in Germany. I’m glad I’ll be going there.
At times, I caught myself thinking about Jin Sheng. I just let those thoughts pass and I chose to not dwell on them. I don’t wanna miss him while I am on the camino.
The most pleasant things that happened during today’s walk are the rests. We just sat and enjoyed the great scenery and the breeze while having our lunch etc. It was so pleasant. I was still unwilling to sit on the grass but I was getting better at letting go of my germ/insect fear.
Since we arrived so early at our aimed destination, we power-napped and later had dinner at the plaza. Sweet corn + tuna + yogurt + choc milk + twix. Later we played cards.
One more thing. We met Christian again. He told us that at first his solo travel on this camino was nice but he became a bit lonely as the days went by. The others think its best to travel in group. I agreed to a certain extent but I think it is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on one’s experiences and to learn to be self-sufficient.
Thank God for another marvelous and enriching day on the camino. =)
Day 5: Palas de Rei – Arzua (30km), 9.30pm, 05May09 Unbelievable! We got through 30km in 7.5 hours. My shin is feeling a lot better and I was able to speed up. This morning, I suggested that we used this camino to let go, forgive and free ourselves from grudges. We all talked about one person we disliked most and chose to let go our grudge against them by the end of today’s walk.
I chose to let go of my grudge against one of my ex-roommates, a peer whom I met when I first go here, my aunts and uncles who incessantly criticized almost everything I do as I grow up, and my own actions that I have regretted.. Every single step I took meant that I understood why I came to hate them, and that I was letting them go.. Breathing in my suffering and theirs and breathing out compassion to them and myself. It was a pleasant walk.
We also met a new friend today, Ryan from Texas working in Bologna. He shared his experience as a traveler and told us that he has a degree in aerospace engineering but gave that up to go to culinary school. Wow…he said he had to answer life’s calling.
I’m grateful for the great experience I had today and for another gorgeous day! =)
Day 6: Arzua – Monte de Gozo (33km), 10.00pm, 06May09 We don’t know why but we pushed our walk to 33km instead of the planned 19km. Because we took such long breaks, we got to the hostel in Monte de Gozo at 7.00pm. We were dead tired by then. We went to a cafeteria and I ordered a hamburger and 2 ice creams. I added tuna and corn in my hamburger and it tasted so good although the others thought I was just saying that to justify my odd actions.
My shin didn’t hurt anymore. Hoorah! Today, we went over thing s that we were/are grateful for and just be thankful for them.
1. I’m grateful for my health.
2. I’m grateful for my body and all its parts – eyes, nose, ears, hair, face, shin, legs, genitals, arms, hands, internal organs etc.
3. I’m grateful that the weather has been great for this trip.
4. I’m grateful that I’m with these 3 wonderful friends whom I came to know in this trip.
5. I’m grateful for all my friends that I have.
6. I’m grateful that my family is there to support me all the time.
7. I’m grateful that JS is always there for me and that he is healthy and safe.
8. I’m grateful that I get to study in the US, Bcn, and to be able to travel all over Europe.
9. I’m grateful for all the nice pilgrims we met and shared experiences with.
10. I’m grateful for the breeze that cooled us down in the midst of the smoldering heat of the sun.
11. I’m grateful to be able to wake up and breathe and be alive.
12. I’m grateful that my shin is better and it did not stop/stall us from getting to the places we wanna reach each day.
13. Thank God I’m me! I love my life!
Day 7: Monte de Gozo – Santiago de Compostela (5km), 9.00am (Day 8), 08May09 Yay! We made it! Woohoohoo..Hoorah…I feel so good but I must say, we were much more excited on Day 6 when we thought that we were going to arrive in Santiago after 2.5 more km of walk. That farmer guy lied to us. LOL. Nicolette and I were quite excited but Missy and Julia were to tired to be excited.
in front of the Cathedral of SantiagoLater, we attended the mass which was conducted in Spanish, Latin and a bit of German. The nun was very good in singing. I didn’t really get anything out of the mass because I didn’t really understand what they were saying but when we hugged each other after the mass ended, I cried a little. I felt so blessed….overjoyed that we did it.
After that, we went to our hostel and had our picnic lunch. At 7pm, we met up with Christian and some of the other pilgrims to have a celebratory dinner together. We only had wine as we were still full from lunch. We ended up leaving earlier because Missy and Julia wanted to have pulpas. Nicolette and I wandered around and went into a souvenir store and chatted with the shopkeeper for quite a while. There was an Austrian man there too. We talked about American politics, M’sia and the pilgrimage. After we left, we linked arms and danced with some other pilgrims to the music played by a street performer. It was spontaneous and fun. The fun didn’t end with that. We saw a group of cute guys in a bar and decided to get a drink there (Nicolette’s idea). We ordered Martinis and they gave us free tapas. When we sat down, the guys left. Sad… but it was fun. We wanted to get another drink but then we decided to look for another bar. We couldn’t find any nice ones but we stopped in a Kebab shop and got fries. We wanted wine and we ordered but the nice owner from New Delhi treated us the wine. It was nice. We talked a little bit while we ate. Because he was nice and because we were still hungry, we ordered a durum falafel. Yummy…
The four of us danced our way back to the hostel and had a good night sleep. =)
Day 8: Finisterre or Finisterra (fin de tierra aka the edge of the world) and Day 9: Santiago de Compostela, 1.55am, in Barcelona Airport, 10May09 I couldn’t sleep. Memories of the camino experience kept crawling back into my head…the hostels, food, my shin splint, the enjoyment of being in the present, the physical tests, the rush, the exhaustion…argh…they all felt so great!
Before I reflect more on that, I should write about Finisterre and this morning or yesterday morning.
On day 8, we took a 3-hour bus to Finisterre or Finisterra which derived from the phrase fin de tierra, which means the edge of the world. It used to be the edge of the world when ppl still thought that the world was flat. Myth has it that Columbus pondered there and theorized that the world was not flat but round. It is also the place where the pilgrims should go and burn a personal belonging to mark the end of the camino and the start of a new beginning.
We each found our spot on the rocks and took our sweet time to contemplate. I just sat and enjoyed the breeze and the view. I felt so grateful for the whole journey on the camino and life itself. I’ve been so so lucky in my life.
at the edge of the worldToday, I mean ystd, we spent our free day in SCQ shopping for souvenirs and stuffs. So many ppl were out. Apparently, they were celebrating fiesta de primavera (spring festival) in San Pedro’s neighborhood. So many hippies with their hippy goods. LOL. So fun!
A lady in our hostel told us that there would be free lunch in the hotel near the cathedral for the 1st 10 pilgrims that queued outside.
It was weird…the Italian guy and his sidekick…the day went on..airport..and now I’m here trying to sleep in the waiting area…tired!
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