As you all know we finished the Camino yesterday and it was very exciting, yet sureal... Not to mention standing there for an hour was quite difficult after walking for 764 km! But we were very glad to hear many of you saw us.
Now as previously mentioned in our last posting, we had agreed to walk to the coast.... well, apparently our agenda has changed. Unfortunately we donīt have the time to walk to Finnisterre anymore because we are joining a fellow Canadian who we met along the track for the past 10 days. His name is Jeff Keith (and yes heīs single Cailin!) and he is organizing a 5 day trek through the Sahara Desert starting in Marrakech, Morocco!! We are pretty pumped! Here is a copy of the actual email of the itinerary that we have to look forward to.
* day 1- (04/11/03) : depart from Marrakech early in the morning dirrection Ouarzazate via Tizint Tichka.visit the Kasbah of Ait ben haddou. lunch in Ouarzazate.after lunch depart dirrection Boumale dades night in dades vallee hotel berber.
* day 2-(05/11/03) : depart from dades vallee crossing jabel Sarghro 2272 m with car by off road, lunch in N'kob , afternnon driving in dra valle night in Zagora hotel.
* day 3-(06/11/03) : depart from Zagora to M'hamid with a stop in Tamgroute , lunch in M'hamid afternoon over night camel trek. night in the desert ,
* day 4-(07/11/03 : come back from sahara with camel lunch in the dor of sahara , than depart to chagaga dunes 60 km off road with jeep it's the high dunes in morocco.night in the desert.
* day 5-(08/11/03) : M'hamid to marrakech via ouarzazate lunch in Ouarzazate.
So... now we are heading down through Portugal this afternoon for the next five days eventually making our way down to Marrakech by Nov. 3rd. Then we will head back up to the south of Spain to visit with Jillīs big bro Ben and Uncle Bill, Aunt Lolita, and the rest of the Familla in Marbella! We canīt wait!
Now, to get back to the Camino... The last days of walking were very good and after that day of torrential rain and snow, the weather was perfect for walking. We met many more fun and interesting people and the walk through Galicia was quite like Ireland and parts of Scotland (but I think my wonderful wife already mentioned that, sorry).
Some unique situations that we saw in the last week or so...
1) Apparently itīs ok for the local "Guardia Civil" with their "pistolaīs" on their hips to be in the local watering hole having a cerveza or two while on duty!
2) Walking on the day of the rain/sleet/hail/snow, we came across this bus load of 13 year olds on a class trip walking 15 kms of the Camino. Letīs just say that rules and regulations for class trips in Spain differ a little from those in Canada. First of all, half of them didnīt have a coat, umbrella or a toque and apparently, itīs ok to light up a cigarette at 13 while on a school outing! We couldnīt believe our eyes! Oh well, it was interesting to witness but I donīt know how half of them didnīt catch pneumonia.
3) Walking the Camino most of you probably thought, "Wow, walking all that distance I wonder what type of wildlife you would see?". Well, let me tell you, we walked for exactly a month through mountainous terrain, rolling hills, wheat fields and forrests... here is what we saw that would fall under the category of "wildlife", three snakes, one rabbit and the most exciting of all, on our first day on the top of the Pyrenees on this rock mound we saw six vultures! Thatīs it, thatīs all! But those vultures were massive. They would all come up to at least my waist if they were sitting next to me. It was kind of nerve racking walking by them and them just staring at us...
4) In Carrion de los Condes, the woman working at the refugio was so cute. It turned out she was the sister of the priest and this was the first night we missed our curfew. We were running back to the refugio a couple of minutes late and there she was outside with her shawl draped over her screaming in Spanish, Hurry up! Well, about five minutes later I was kissing my wife goodnight and she kicks me in the shin and told me to get to bed. It was hilarious!
Well, like I said before, itīs hard to believe we didnīt have to walk mass kms today but thereīs no time to get all sentimental because our next journey starts at 4:30 today on the train to Porto, Portugal!
Until next time, take care and keep the comments coming!
Adios,
Bow
Hi everyone at home,
Itīs been an exciting past few days with walking the last leg of the camino. We didnīt really know how we would feel as we approached Santiago yesterday. It was very exciting to arrive at our final destination all in one piece but there were definitely parts of us that didnīt want it all to come to an end. Santiago is a wonderful city with narrow streets and a lot of history and great architecture. As we entered into the old city yesterday we bumped into so many people that we had walked with or met at some point over the past month - it felt like a homecoming.
We went to the pilgrimīs mass today at noon and the church was filled with people we knew. It was a similar feeling to going to church on Christmas Eve - a lot of excitement in the air and waving to friends and aquaintances all around the church. After mass was over, many pilgrims hovered at the back of the cathedral saying their last goodbyes. We had to laugh when Philippe (the snorer) said goodbye and said to Bow that he could "enjoy" his wife now that there are no more nights of bunk bed refugios ahead. We had to laugh, especially coming from a 66 year old man!
Since itīs pouring down rain today, weīve decided not to head out to the coast but to travel on towards Porto, Portugal this afternoon. We plan to check out some spots in Portugal over the next couple of days while we make our way down to Marrakech, Morocco.
More tales to come from Portugal and Morocco!
Jill