Finding Your Own Camino

The ´Camino´ is a constant meeting and parting of ways; geographically, physically and emotionally.  Pilgrim routes leave from England and France and join this French route while the camino itself enters and leaves cities, towns and villages.  The pathway meets then parts with the mountains, challenges you physically til you are exhausted and starving then refreshes you with copious amounts of food and a good night's rest.  The bright sun warms your skin and the cool dark interiors of the churches take that heat from your  body and prepare you for the leg on your journey.  Other pilgrims enter and leave your journey; either by determining their own pace, wanting to go on a little farther to the next village or sadly it is their time to leave the path and return home.  Even more sad are those who suffer an injury, heatstroke or or realize they are just not well prepared and resolve to return with the knowledge gained on this trip.

Siribelle from Puerto Rico and Emma from Australia became an inseparable pair until heat stoke sent Emma home.  It was particularly sad for Emma as she had done a paper on the Camino for a university class and was so looking forward to the experience.
Sometimes you are reacquainted in a few days as your pace has slowed and theirs has increased or maybe they have been in the same town but different hostal. Regardless....seeing them again after several days is like a family reunion.

Lotta (left) from Sweden and Therese (right) from the Netherlands.  Therese has walked from the Netherlands!!

I was leap frogging with this group of international adventurers from Korea, United States, Australia and the UK and at the end of one particular day, they invited me to join them for a communal meal prepared in the tiny kitchen of the hostal in Redecillo.

This lovely couple began in Nuremberg, Germany!

  It was particularly difficult to say goodbye to Richard and Pili.  I think we sized each other up on the bus from Pamplona, nodded our recognition when by chance we selected the same hostal and same restaurant to have the evening meal before beginning the trek up the Pyrenees.  So, it seemed inevitable that we would share the road off and on during their 2 week walk from St Jean to Burgos.  It was very sad for all to say goodbyes, but such is the nature of meeting and parting on the Camino.

  Sitting front and center are Richard and Pili. Next to Pili is Christer from Sweden. Christer and I have shared many kilometers together meeting first in Roncesvalles after the first day crossing the Pyrenees.  Christer asked me what I thought of our Pilgrim Menu in Roncesvalles.  I said it was OK....I was starving and made short work of the 3 course meal.  I asked Christer what he thought and he made the comment....''shoot the chef''.  Christer, in one of his careers, has worked as a chef.  At first I thought it must be difficult to be a chef on the Camino...yes, there is some really excellent food options but sometimes not so.  But, as I am sure both Christer and I have discovered, the camino itself is more nourishing that any food you can consume.

Dear sweet Ali beside me....possessing a wisdom well beyond her mere 18 years. They say the camino provides what you need.  When a hole developed in the side of my shoue, I was hoping to find Ali as she had mentioned she had some LUKO tape that could solve all kinds of problemss....and there she appeared, directly in front of me.

   It is so easy to fall into step with like minded souls and be carried along on their camino and often a difficult decision to part with them.  At certain times a walking partner is a welcome distraction and at other times it distracts from taking in all that is around you.  One of the easiest ways to ''find your own camino'' is to wait until all the 5:00 am risers are up and out the door but it is nearly impossible to sleep once the furgaling in the backpacks begins.  Should you get up with them and get yourself out the door so you can cover more distance in the cool morning hours or wait until it is quiet and you can begin on your own clock??
       BTW....I don't think the word....furgaling exists but it just seems such a perfect              word for searching in your pack for the thing you need that has inevitably                          worked its way down to the bottom of your bag.  I credit my friend Jo for inventing          this word while on biking, backpacking and camping trips.

There are certainly advantages to starting with that early group; the first being as just mentioned, getting in a lot of km before it gets really hot.  The second is assuring yourself of not only a bed at the day's end but also getting the lower berth in a bunk bed.  It can be a challenge negotiating the creaky ladder from the top bunk... in the dark....... when nature calls....... in the wee hours of the morning!  Take note of those hard metal rungs on the ladders below.

                          The albergue in Atapuerca....meeting Andé and his partner Camille                                    from the Czek Republic for maybe the 3rd time in a week or so.

Even  better than the bottom of a bunk bed is securing one of the few single beds!!

   Another bonus to starting early and arriving to the albergue by mid afternoon is being able to wash and dry one of the two sets clothes you carry.  Arriving late means not enough time for the sun to dry your clothes.  Therefore you may start out the next morning with everything fastened to your pack with safety pins.

Well I hope from the dialogue and photos you are gaining a little insight to this amazing journey I am sharing with people of all ages from all around the world.