Sunday, June 08, 2014

Sunday 8th June 2014...Camino Day 5!!

Well an interesting 24 hours....after I posted last night I came back to the hostel around 8.30pm after going to the store and buying supplies and fruit for today. It was not so bad everyone was quiet and I sat and talked with an English guy and a lady fro Australia....and by 10pm everyone was in bed I was on the bottom bunk and I just read for a while until.....yes wait for it...can you guess.....it is amazing to me that not only did the Italian Olympic snorer do this Camino but his French buddy who took the silver medal is also on the Camino and actually in the next bunk about 4 feet away.....even ear plugs were redundant!!!! I guess I eventually got off to sleep and was awoken at 5.00am by the sound of plastic bags rattling, zippers being closed.....the guys and girls were getting ready to hit the road. Perhaps with me being the oldest person I have seen on the Camino so far and a different generation but I just do not get this getting up so early I mean come on on 5am....as an example after they left I could not go back to sleep so laid there and day dreamed and was up by 6am and on the road by 6.30am and we finished up later on today at the same hostel......go figure anyway I am getting ahead of myself. Forgot to mention that Matt is in the same room good to see him but he has blisters so I told him abut my foot routine and he did go out and buy some ladies stockings and I loaned him my Vaseline for today..hope it works for him...he told me he was sorry he missed me the other day and I sad no worries it all works out. When I got my key from the tourist office yesterday the lady was so very helpful and gave each pilgrim a map of out to get out of town very detailed because she said the signs and been painted over black by some people from the Basque community and here is an example.... Well the first 3 hours was brutal all up hill and a climb to over 1600 feet but the sights were interesting... This chicken has no idea how lucky he was because what I would do right now for a BBQ chicken sandwich!!! and why are some pilgrims allowed to have a bath .what I would do right now for a bath!!! I am sort of following a good guide book and I research the night before so sort of know what to expect and they said to say good bye to the ocean for a few days and say hello to forests and they were right...it is like Switzerland so beautiful. I ran into Matt here.... and we chatted for a few minutes and off he went...there was a guy painting the bar across from the church and he had a radio and the music was great English oldies my favorite song was blaring away.....American Pie....loved that.....Google the lyrics for that song it is very interesting!!! How to be completely humbled and to feel insignificant in one turn of the road.....came across these 3 Japanese pilgrims...I had heard them because the lady was wearing a bell around her waist because one of the men was blind!!!!!!! I stopped and chatted and he was blinded through a disease when he was 22 years of age..he has children and grand children and this is his dream.....amazing!!! About this time I thought about my gorgeous friend Linda...you have heard me talk about her and Guy and how lucky I am to have them in SMA...well Linda sort of Mother's me and I love it..she also gets so mad at me every April Ist when I always get her with my April fool''s jokes you really would think she would get it by now....anyway up and until yesterday i would have sworn that Linda does not have a mean bone in her body but that changed when i read her e mail to me last night and I quote...."you would have loved supper last night we had roast leg of lamb and roasted sweet potatoes" I mean how cruel is that here I am surviving on bananas, apples and bread???? Around the next bend who is sitting there but Eliza.....she is always so upbeat and I do like her we chatted about 20 minutes and off I went. Just very lovely and this is the town where I am heading and after coming into town there was a plain looking church and the door was open and I went in and oh my goodness ....my camera was not able to capture the size of these huge boulders.....that is all there was in the church apart from a few chairs and the statue and pulpit...never seen anything like it!!! Some interesting photos this is a company on the west coast of Vancouvr Island!! These horses looked so strong and powerful! My best friend Wolf!! Looks like the Rockies! I had done some research and went looking for a private hostel that had a restaraunt with Wi Fi and single rooms.....with some help from a very friendly lady I found the restaurant and the owner was so kind and took me to see the room and I was hooked.....it is for two people and the fact I paid 30 Euros is no issue I would have paid 100!!! When you divide the money I have spent on rooms by the days it is very very cheap. So this Pearson kid is revelling in luxury so wonderful to be on my own and even have towels!!! The first thing was to do my laundry they got a good wash today and then hung up and then it was my time for a long long hot shower followed by tea and the coil works great but what about that milk!!!! Next was to ice gel down my aching body parts and have a wonderful nap for over an hour. Woke up feeling really good it was a hike of 28 km today so I am now at the 117km mark not a bad average when I only did 5km the first day!!! I have my music blaring my socks on and Paula nothing else!!!!! Enjoying myself immensely after I write this I will go to the restaurant for dinner and post the blog. Things I learned today: I still have wonderful family and friends. Life these days is quite simple I get up put on my shoes and walk. I miss all things about my life in SMA. I am drinking so much water and I feel good I will admit this day was a very hard day but now feel good a little achy but to be expected. Hope you enjoy coming with me on this journey...i spend hours doing the blog but love ever minute of it... Yashi Kochi!!!! PS Just had dinner at the restaurant..steak and chips and a huge bowl of hot rice pudding NOW I really am a happy hiker!!

7 comments:

Croft said...

As I was reading about your diet I was thinking of those delicious fish and chips down on the dock here in Campbell River.

mexicokid said...

OK that is it you are banned for a week.glad your test was a good one is it the only test you ever passed...no mention of KINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!les

Esther said...

That boulder church is really wonderful!
Pretty nice to see you're building an interesting community among your fellow walkers, although the Olympic snorers should be made to wear chin straps, lol!
I see some of your "friends" have a touch of schadenfreude!

Croft said...

You are wrong Les, I once passed a sperm test. GO KINGS!

living.boondockingmexico said...

Glad to hear you're having fun sans the snoring. That will pass as time goes on and you move around. Good thing you have your Spanish to help get you around.

Eliza said...

Hola, Buen Camino my Friend. Here is Eliza :) Where are you now? I'm looking forward to hearing from you, describing your day today. I'm in Gernika in a hostel. Have you manage to get to the next Alberge? I'll miss you on the way

mexicokid said...

great to hear from you and yes i am about 12 km ahead of you and a tough climb..sory you werenot feeling good today....hope to see you down the road be safe and happy blessings les

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