We are now starting our 8th day on this journey to Santiago. Yesterday afternoon and evening we were seeing people hobbling round town.
For me, the journey has moved from being 'a great idea, that might be tough' to the reality of getting up early, sorting your kit out and then hitting the road for a few hours before having a coffee for breakfast and then walking up and down hill in the blazing sun for a few more hours, whilst lookin for some shade and possibly something to sit on, whilst drinking slightly warm water and eating a warm, slightly sweaty, ham and cheese baguette. Then arriving early at a small town, finding a bar with some shade, drink a beer and then finding the Albergue.
The next thing is working out how to get some laundry washed and dried, mostly by hand and sometimes via washing machine or service wash. And socks take the longest to dry. We use safety pins as clothes pegs - light weight, small pack size.
Then eat remainder of diy sandwich and check out the Town before heading back to the square for a drink and talk with other Pilgrims. Talks are sometimes heavy and political but mostly about the hot sun and blisters.
As we started out on the same day and are mostly following the same schedule, we meet up, pass or passed by a lot of familiar people. Eight days in and fitness or lack of it plus injuries has lead to a lack of cohesion amongst those who started together.
And that is the way... Zen cliché!
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