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| Contour Map: Copyright John Brierley click here to see notes |
Click here for Google Map and my starting point today
Disturbed sleep again last night. I woke at 2:30am to what sounded like a mosquito hovering (if that's what they do) around the room. It kept flying very close to me so I decided I would have to get out of bed, put on the lights and find the little bastard before he devoured me. I react very badly to insect bites, usually swelling up all around the bite. Couldn't find him so I had no choice but to go back to bed and try to ignore him, her, it. I finally got up at 6:30am and to my surprise I felt very refreshed as if I had slept all night, maybe the mosquito was just a bad dream?
I met Anne from Seattle over breakfast, just the two of us in the whole place. She hopes to complete her journey in 33 days and is on track to do just that.
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| I'm thinking of an old song ' The Pub's got no beer' |
I stopped to take some photos of the mountains in the distance, Saoirse and Rachel came by and after I took a photo of them, with their own camera, they moved on.
Shortly after I started to walk again, on my own now, my mind drifted to distant memories, as was happening with greater frequency over the past couple of days. I have no doubt that I was reaching into my past because I had cleared my mind, found great
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| Saoirse and Rachel |
My mind then drifted to my dream from last night. I have always had vivid dreams and over the years loved sharing them with Brenda. Today I had nobody to share this with and even if I had I probably would have kept it to myself. I will share a couple of my dreams under one of the Topics entitled Dreams.
I came across a lovely shaded area beside a water font. The timing was perfect, I needed to top up my water and take a short break. See photo on the left. A french couple I have come across every day had also stopped at this spot. They were maybe five or six years older than me, he was stretched out, asleep on the grass, she was sitting beside him finishing her lunch. They had no English just as I had no French yet we could communicate as many pilgrims do with greetings, smiles, hand signals and the parting 'Buen Camino'. Stefanie and Daniel came by, we finally exchanged contact details and I took this photo of them together.
As I took t the road again a guy came up behind me at speed, asked if I was heading for Los Arcos and if I would like to keep him company for the rest of the way. I picked up my speed to match his, but I think he also dropped his pace to make allowances for me. We covered so many topics while comparing life in Slovakia with life in Ireland and the parallels were across every aspect of life. Valentino hails from Slovakia and sells heavy duty machinery. He was planning a trip to Ireland for training on machines to crush rocks. They will be used in quarries and to crush old material from buildings for recycling. The equipment is manufactured my McCloskeys in Ireland. We covered many topics while walking including, population, employment, economy, politics, politicians, ethnic minorities and society. This conversation with Valentino and those I have had with others from across the world reinforce my very poor opinion of politicians. They are a breed apart with self interest above everything else and we all continue to let this form of 'democracy' prevail. Will we ever really have a voice? I digress again, this topic is for another time I think.
I checked into Albergue la Fuente de Austria, showered, washed some clothes and got ready to go to dinner. Stefanie and Daniel asked me to join their group for dinner. I sat with 8 Germans for dinner in an open area between the restaurants and the church. The group were very considerate speaking mostly in English for my benefit and if Stefanie though I was interested in any of the bits in German she kindly translated for me. I exchanged contact detain with Karin who also likes to take photos. Karin I would meet over and over again during my Camino experience. I had a great evening in their company before parting to take some photos and then head back to the Albergue. I met Anne from Seattle who had a bad day and was hoping things would be better tomorrow. My clothes were not dry so I would have to improvise on the sock front in the morning.
Apart from a very helpful and attractive receptionist, this Albergue has some way to go to come anyway close to the standards set by the others I have stayed in to date.
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Other Links, relating to this section of the Camino, you may wish to follow
Estella:
Los Arcos:Images of Los Arcos on the Internet
Wikipedia on Los Arcos - very little info, use external links and 'translate button if necessary.
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Topic: Walking Alone Vs with Others
I've already said that I believe there is no single right way to travel the Camino. In this section I want to look at the advantages and disadvantages of either walking alone or walking with others.
As you must know by now I chose to walk the 800Kms alone for reasons I will outline below. Of course, from time to time individuals would join me on the walk or while I was taking a break. I always enjoyed the company, it was a great opportunity to get to know a little bit about my fellow pilgrims, share experiences or compare the economic, political and social issues facing our respective countries.
This is not an exhaustive analysis of the different options, just a few observations from my own experience. Please feel free to comment and let me know about your walking preference and experiences to add other perspectives on the topic as mine is very limited
Walking Alone:
Some Advantages:
I chose to walk alone because I felt it gave me the best opportunity to be completely chilled out. In doing so I though I would be able to strip away all the unnecessary stuff we all carry around in our head. You know, the day to day nonsense that gets in the way of the real issues we need to think about or to attend to.
Within a few days of walking I found myself thinking about my wife as she was 40 years ago, about my mother, (who died five years ago) and how she looked when I was a young boy. Every day I spent time thinking about my brother. Many other memories came to me and I am convinced that this was only possible because I had so much time on my own to relax in the beautiful countryside. So often I was not even aware of walking I was so relaxed and I can only compare it with a form of meditation. I don't believe I could have achieved this state of relaxation if I were walking in the company of others.My walking pace varied so much over the entire journey. There were days I was passing everyone out as I pumped my legs and arms, giving my heart and lungs a great workout. There were days I walked like I was about to just fall over for lack of momentum. The great advantage of walking alone is that you can set your own pace to suit you mood or physical capabilities on the day. Injuries, as they occurred, also impacted on my pace but being alone I could work within my own pain threshold. Walking with others you may end up walking quicker or slower, on a given day, than the rate at which you would like to be performing.
Stopping and starting whenever you feel like it is also something you like to feel you have some control over. I like to take photographs, so stopping often along the way to take a quick snapshot could irritate a companion who may not have the same appreciation for photography. Taking a break for water, food, admiring the scenery or just to give the body a break should be something you feel able to do without impacting or the enjoyment of your companion or companions.
I think you meet more people when you walk alone. People will join you on the road or at 'pit stops' along the way, sometimes other lone walkers and other time couples or groups.
Some Disadvantages:
There were times, not often, when I did feel lonely. It usually happened when I saw a couple together and this reminded me of my wife and at that moment I really missed her and would love to have had her beside me. When I saw children playing or out in the evening dining with their parents and grandparents I missed family. These were only fleeting moments of sadness, they would pass quickly as I was distracted by something else.
I got lost up a mountain early one dark misty morning. This is a risk you run when you head out on your own before sunrise with a torch that does not function well due to low battery life and with my mind not on the job of observing the camino markings.
Being alone could present you with some difficulties if you sustained an injury on a quiet stretch but thankfully it was not an issue for me.
At no time along the way did I ever feel concerned about personal safety but you cannot rule out the risks when walking alone.
Walking with Others:
There are many advantages to walking with others whether you set out with a group or joined a group along the way.
Some Advantages:
Safety in numbers is clearly a great advantage. Groups I observed in the early hours on the morning were cross checking all the markings to ensure they chose the correct path, I often took advantage of the group decisions whenever I stumbled upon them and then set off on my own assured there were at least some others on the same path. The group can care for an injured individual and also address any concerns about personal safety.
Speaking to many who were part of either couples or groups they said they would, from time to time set themselves apart to have some time with their own thoughts. They felt they were getting the best of both worlds. I did notice couple who walked together occasionally drifting apart only to unite after a short break.
Disadvantage:
The only disadvantages, from my perspective, to walking with others all the time is the lack of time to be on my own, not being able to set your own pace, stop and start as often as you want and for as long as you want, settling for the collective decision about destination for the end of day. These are not major issues but could, over time become challenging.
Group dynamics also change over time. Little idiosyncrasies of an individual can appear bigger over time. Personalities may clash, people who normally get on over short periods of time can find that they don't get on over protracted periods. Groups forms on the Camino begin to find out more about each other, leading to great friendships or dividing the group. These are issues you do not want on the Camino.
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More to follow...........................
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