A camino passenger

Way back on January 4th, the first day of our walk, we went to the Lisbon Oceanarium and bought a gift for the 18-month old daughter of a Swiss friend's brother.

Today, in Lausanne, Switzerland, we finally got to deliver it. It's a stuffed sea turtle that's been in my backpack for 45 days. It's funny that I carried an animal that has its home on its back in my home on my back. It's also the only item I carried that never got wet.

I carried it a long way and made a cute little girl very happy.

Day 32, the end

We were supposed to be out of the albergue by 8. I don't think any of the 12 people there even stirred until 7:30. Most were gone within 20 minutes. Albergue guy hurried us out politely. Yena left early to go to the hospital for an undisclosed reason. I guess not took serious since she left under her own power. Mark treated us to a leisurely breakfast across the street.

It's hard to say good bye. I wish him well. I wonder if we'll ever meet again.

My hip began hurting me 4 nights ago but felt fine on the last walk into Santiago and the day off and the first two days to Fisterra. Yesterday though, it hurt on every step. I've never had pain there before. I hurt while I was sleeping last night and still hurts. I was limping for awhile. By afternoon it felt ok again. No idea.

Last night, I told JH that it hurt and I didn't think I could walk 31 to Muxia. I didn't really want to either. I think she really wanted to continue.

We finally got our long-awaited sunny day. In dazzling sunlight, we sauntered 3 km to the lighthouse, enjoying a seemingly endless view across the ocean.

We took our pictures at the 0.0 marker and put Gyueon's sleeping bag in the trash along with their worn out hiking sticks. We made our way down the lighthouse cliff until we were as close to the edge as we dared.

I pulled out Derek's shell, checked the wind, and whipped it sidearm to the water. It spun and floated perfectly to a gap in the rocks and dropped straight down into the crashing waves.

Bom caminho.

Day 31, Fisterra, 29 km

More fog, rain, rainbows.

The fog lifted and gave us a look at the Atlantic Ocean. Suddenly I realized why I'd thought about Derek on that rainy day more than two weeks ago (the song is still looping!)-- Derek loved water. The four places we scattered his ashes were water. Growing up, we spent whole summers at at Lake Massapoag. In Mexico, we spent more time in the pool and ocean than anywhere else. If there were such a thing as reincarnation, I'd hope he'd come back as a dolphin.

I suddenly knew what to do with the shell with his name on it.

Today's walk featured a 15km stretch of dirt roads. No buildings, no traffic, few people. Just our feet hitting the ground. JH and I like to walk hand in hand when the trail allows it. Today we walked that way for so long that when we finally let go, I psychically lost my balance.

For a long time afterwards, the three of us were spread out physically and lost in our own thoughts. Gyueon was out sight in front of me, JH far behind. Gyueon wasn't thinking anything more profound than, "I'm almost done! Freedom!"

Jeonghwa was thinking about tomorrow's walk to Muxia and how she wished the whole trip had been as nice as this. Even in the rain and long distance, it was comfortable. I was thinking of not continuing to Muxia. In my mind Fisterra, seemed the proper end, especially considering what I planned to do. Besides, for the first time, I was experiencing pain walking. I was worried that I couldn't continue.

The rest of the walk was great, next to the ocean. It was another perfect day.

Outside the albergue, I was accosted by a man asking for money so he could stay in the albergue. I listened to his plea-- he just needed €5 to complete his trip. He almost had me then I realized he had beer on his breath. Wait a sec. He has money for beer but not for the albergue? Bye. We went in and presented our credentials

An intimidating man asked, "Where did you come from today?"

"Olveira"

"Where's your stamp?", he demanded.

"Um…"

This was the only time I'd ever forgotten to get stamped. I pleaded my case by spouting gibberish. I don't even know what I was saying but it was all wrong.

"You're telling me you walked 48 km today?!?!"

"Yes. No. I mean no. I mean what?"

JH said to me,"You didn't get stamped? I'm gonna kill you. Unbelievable."

She was acting, I'm sure of it.

The man said that we couldn't stay there, "this isn't a hotel. This is for peregrinos who walk here. You can't take a bus and stay here."

I couldn't understand why the guy was being so tough and aggressive and said, "I don't want trouble. We'll go somewhere else." I didn't care about getting another certificate. That's not why I did this. And I was really going to leave.

Then the drunk beggar came in, for obviously not the first time. Ah, that's the problem. Albergue guy is taking it out on us. Another Peregrino took care of the drunk, leading him out and to a different place.

Meanwhile albergue guy's partner calmed everyone down. "Maybe you took pictures of your walk today?", she asked.

We whipped out our camera and phones to offer proof. Good enough. Smiles and apologies all around. Good vibes. We got stamped. The woman mentioned that she designed the very first stamp we'd gotten way back in Lisbon. JH got her to sign it. We got certificates that I did suddenly care about.

We were in!

Upstairs, we were reunited with Yena. We saw Marks pack, heard that he'd gone to watch the sunset at the lighthouse.

After we returned from dinner, we were reunited with Mark. We presented him with a Ganse and he proudly put it on his pack.

This was probably the worst of all albergues. Dirty, crowded, and noisy but it was perfectly appropriate. I fell asleep instantly and slept like a baby for three hours then woke up to pee.

CREAK went the bed. RATTLE RATTLE I knocked over my water bottle. CREAK went the door. SLAM! I whispered apologies. Several creaks, bumps, and a whizz later I was back in bed, and I lay there awake until morning ready for tomorrow.

Day 30 to Olveira, 33km

Yes, the title is correct. 33 km.

We walked in a thick fog most of the day. Every field we looked across had fog rolling on the edges. In the woods, it was difficult to see the next marker at times. The distances markers that I'd loved to hate/ hated to love do much during the last days to Santiago were not much help because most were missing the distance tag. Did they fall off? Did people take them as souvenirs? Without maps, visibility, and distance indicators, we were floating free in the world. It was liberating. It was relaxing. It was fascinating. It was everything the Camino Portuguese was not. I understood why most peregrinos finish with this.

For lunch I had a ridiculously big bacon and cheese sandwich. Almost too big. Almost too much bacon. Almost.

We had our first perfect day. In the rain.

1 rainbow #52
2 fog
3 bacon
4 too big for one picture
5 cows are happy because I ate bacon

Day 29, Santiago to Negreira

It feels strange to start from the cathedral. We turned our backs to it and headed down the stairs and saw a rainbow shining on the way ahead. Off to a good start. This is going to be a relaxing 22 km I thought.

Surprisingly fast, we were out of the city and walking in a forest. All day, the way alternated between local asphalt roads or farm roads. A shepherd left his flock and walked through a field to talk to us and warn us about the next part.

I misunderstood his first question and replied, "Lisboa", thinking he'd asked where we'd started. He grabbed my arm and called me "hermano". Oops. He thinks I'm Portuguese. We fixed it and explained that we are American and Korean. Then he figured out that we'd started in Lisbon and smiled. We tried to talk more but soon ran out of gestures and facial expressions. He finally got around to the important information.

Pointing to the dirt path leading into another forest, he said, "mucho agua". He pointed to his knee high rubber waders. "Si."

He pointed to our hiking boots. "No."

Then he told us a way around. Muchas gracias!

We have the tradition of yelling, "man down!" when someone has to stop to tue or readjust shoelaces. It's usually Gyueon at least twice a day. It's happened to jh and I just a few times.

Today was JH's turn. Gyueon pointed out like a 12-stepper that it'd been three days since his last time. We congratulated him and he demanded 3 euros. We laughed but I think he was serious. Sorry buddy, you gotta go 30 days to get your chip.

Today was a very pleasant walk with inspiring natural beauty. Green rolling hills, cows, shifting skies. We didn't even mind walking through 9 or 10 rain showers, especially since we were rewarded with a rainbow every time. We started singing, "Ho hum
a-noth-er rain-bow
What-e-ver."

A common expression in New England is, "don't like the weather? Wait 15 minutes."

Here in Galicia, wait 5 minutes.

Gyueon is talking about future adventures. He wants to go hiking on weekends and if he has time this summer. He is also talking about walking the French after high school graduation, five years hence. He was very inspired by all the Koreans we've met.

More Koreans came to the guesthouse last night, replacing the ones who left. Among them was a mother and her son and daughter, who did the French together. For the second time. They looked fine, like they'd just been to the park.

Gyueon is most impressed with Mark. He's independent and fearless. He's fast, too. Gyueon commented on how smoothly Mark walked. JH took the opportunity to point out that Mark had good posture and keeps his head up. I added that Mark is confident, which helps. Plus, he's not addicted to his smart phone (doesn't even own one). Gyueon walks with his head down too much. On a recent muddy day, he literally walked into me several times when I stopped to navigate through mud.

We reached Negreira in the heaviest rain of the day and had trouble finding our first choice of accommodations, a private albergue called San Jose. After a wrong turn, a premature turn around, and help from strangers, we found it. Closed and no indication of operating hours. Of course.

I had a feeling that we should stick to official albergues but JH really wanted clean beds (the bed bug incident was horrible) and all Gyueon wants is wifi. Even after our bad luck, I still prefer official albergues.

We went to a coffee shop to regroup and get out of the rain. On the way, we passed a guest house that advertised €10 bed, €7 dinner but didn't go in. I got bored at the coffee shop and said I go check out the albergue.

JH thought I meant the guest house we'd just passed but I went to the official albergue 1.2 km down the road. It looked pretty good, warm, clean, and had a good kitchen. I walked the 1.2 km back. JH was a little angry that I'd been gone so long. And annoyed that I'd checked out the official albergue.

We walked 1.2 in mostly silence to the albergue. And 1.2 back to the grocery store. And 1.2 back to the albergue. Not an efficient use of our time or energy. We had a good dinner and we're are prepared for a good breakfast. JH and worked out our problem. She's understandably freaked out about bed bugs. I'm understandably freaked out about our budget. I explained that bed bugs are just as likely to be in a private albergue anyway. We're good.

1 rainbow showing the way.
2 One of us is back packing. The other is just out for a walk.

3 a bridge worthy of the name
4 flood
5 nice trail

Day 28, Santiago, day off

Lots of rain. I'm glad we didn't leave for Fisterra today but I feel for Yena and Mark, though I think Mark may actually like getting wet.

Three days ago, JH started getting mysterious bites that we confirmed as bed bugs. Yikes. I think we can never go home. We shouldn't be staying in a guesthouse either probably. She's definitely suffered the most on this trip and is eligible for the MVP (most valuable Peregrino) award. Neither Gyueon nor I have been affected. JH is very sensitive and bugs seem to live her. In the summer and fall, I rarely get bitten by mosquitos because they seem to prefer her.

So we closely examined everything washed everything in machines. Hopefully there will be no more nibblings.

We didn't do much sightseeing because of the rain and laziness.

We reorganized our stuff. For the finale, we are packing light. No extra 'town clothes' or shoes. Minimal equipment. JH will not carry a pack, just a shopping bag and an umbrella. My pack will be at 75% weight. Gyueon's, less than half. We have some long days to do and a lighter load will definitely help.

We're definitely going to Fisterra, to the lighthouse at the end of the world but were still undecided about Muxia and it's quiet beach. I'm excited about finishing and walking a quieter way.

The finish in Santiago was a bit anticlimactic. Hurry through city streets. Hurry up to mass, hurry up to get the certificate, hurry up to check in, hurry up for free dinner. No time to reflect upon the trip.

We have no maps for this route but we hear it's very well marked. There is also very little information other than a 4 sided printout of places to stay and eat. We are not worried. We have experience and confidence. Everything will be ok.

We start finishing tomorrow.

Day 27, Santiago, part 2

After mass, we went to the Peregrino Center to get our official certificates, after showing our fully stamped credentials as proof.

Yena led us to a guest house she stated at after she finished the French route. There were 7 other Koreans there who all just finished the French route. Some looked like they'd just returned from war. I wondered if we looked the same to them. They'd almost all started individually but ended up at the same place mist nights. Among them were two recent high school graduates, doing the trip in winter before university starts in March. Gyueon was very impressed by them. I was too. I don't think I would have done that at that age. Others had recently completed their compulsory military service. They did it in the winter because they figured if they survived Korean military duty, they will have no problem with the French camino in winter.

We found out that a luxury restaurant next to the Cathedral feeds 10 peregrinos free. It sounded shady but Mark had three meals there last year. We took our hungry selves and our new certificates and went to the basement parking lot of the restaurant to meet the man in charge if free found. There were already 7 people there (including Mark, who was doing his own thing), we made 11. One German guy had started 5 months before from Germany!

There was some discussion about how to settle this. Three more people showed up. The German guy suggested that whoever had eaten here should step aside for those who hadn't yet (peregrinos can get three free meals). That disqualified him and 3 others. Problem solved. Free food guy came, gave a voucher and led us outside, through the main entrance, past the well-dressed patrons and posh tables, through the back, down a hallway, to a back room, totally our of sight of paying customers.

We went up some stairs to a private kitchen where a chef prepared cafeteria type food for us. We put it on trays, grabbed wine (and stuffed our pockets with fresh fruit) and enjoyed a nice meal back downstairs. I counted. Somehow an eleventh pilgrim had snuck in.

After, Mark stopped by our guesthouse to have a glass of champagne. We toasted to new friends and adventure.

But we did not toast to the end.

Traditionally, most pilgrims, seeking closure and a peaceful end to the journey continue to the sea, to Fisterra or Muxia, or both (adding up to 111 km and 5 days of walking).

Mark and Yena (individually) were leaving tomorrow, going to Muxia then Fisterra (4 days). We were taking a day off then walking to Fisterra (3 days) and possibly Muxia. We didn't realize at the time that we'd see Mark and Yena in Fisterra.