Am sitting in my Albergue, Jakues in agony. My blister has grown and multiplied to the next foot. I have pain shooting up and down my legs from. Y feet to my hips. I survived a 35 degree heat day up and down one of the steepest ascents and descents. I have sunburn and heat rash and a person (who's name should not be mentioned!) sent me a song, so now I have tears in my eyes - damn you!
Today was hard. To be honest, I started out feeling like I could conquer this leg and maybe three more.... But with 10km to go, my body started to 'rebel'.
The climb today was up the hill of forgiveness (in Tasmania, we call them mountains!). At the top sat the line of pilgrim statues, caught mid stride, inscribed with 'Where the path of the wind crosses with that of the stars'. It was amazing! And out of nowhere a little Spanish man appeared with soft drinks and fruit for the pilgrims to buy! The ridge i climbed with lined sith wind turbines which look incredible in place amongst the green rolling hills and vineyards and fields of bright yellow canola. Maybe they have succeded in giving the wind turbines a 'green friendly' brand...
The descent was on loose gravel, but no slipping for me! Yay! You spend a lot of the time looking down, so it was nice to stop, let my legs stop shaking and to absorb the distant towns. Church towers ring on the hour, on half hour and then 15mins! You can't escape them! They sound like my iPhone ringtone! Haha!
I passed through around 5 small towns today - they are ghost towns... Obviously people live there, but no one is around! Most of the shops don't open till 4pm (supermarkets included)... It's a wonder Spain is in a recession! - please observe the sarcasm!
The most difficulty I am having right now is getting my drink bottles in and out! Where is my hiking bladder!? I walked with a few peopl today - some I caught up with and some who caught me! One was a fast paced Irish girl, Barbara.. She kept me going through a rather boring patch! We talked about traveling alone (she has done heaps!) and finding confidence. She did mention one thing which I loved! We were talking about the fitness aspect on this walk (she is only doing a week)... She said that I should document my belly... She said that you always feel like you want to lose weight, then in 5 years time when you look back at yourself, you think, wow I was skinny back then! Haha she was very right! So belly, although you may be too big for me now, in five years time, I will think, damn you were fine! Haha
I also met up with my Canadian duo... Gigi and Bev. Gigi, as her name suggests is French canadian, and Bev is as honky dorey as they come! They are good to meet up with and always have a story to tell... They especially love the ones where they had a great experience after I didn't have such a great one! Both have incredible stamina and resilience... They are somewhat inspiring to walk with!
Then there was the portuguese woman... We didn't speak much, but just walked side by side.
I also used my headphones today for the first time - to distract me from pain. It was nice, but wasn't loud enough for my feet! :)
Tomorrow I will walk shorter due to my feet... Don't really know what to do with them except drain the blisters now, and hope they harden up tomorrow!
So my Albergue doubles as a hotel... They have a beer garden! Must get acquainted!
Hope you are all well and happy :) shoot me some pain relieving vibes would you? Day 4 on the camino is completo!
"VIRTUAL FOOT MASSAGE".
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