Camino Pilgrim

I fell asleep early yesterday, so obviously I woke up very early. Still waited until 5am until I left the big old church museum building I was staying in.

By the time the sun came up I was already walking next to those maple trees planted on one side of the street. They lasted for the next 20km and, if I remember correctly, they will last at least another 6km (maybe more).

Anywho, having even partial shade available really makes a big difference for pilgrims. I really would like to thank local villages for putting this together! Some trees even had sweaters knitted on them as you can see in the picture. Not sure what the use is, but it looks fun.

Every 900 meters or so there was also a bench next to the trail. Even if it was in the sun, it was still a welcome sight. Dedicated picknick areas also every three kilometers or so. If all of the messeta was this well organized, then no pilgrims would take the bus to avoid it.

I saw some albergues had a wall of pictures of past pilgrim groups that stayed there. It really shows how appreciated the income from travellers is to the small local communities. Very different from the indifference of the big cities along the Camino towards pilgrims (including Santiago itself).

I started the Camino with three fears:
1) weak knee muscle failure on first day
2) weak leg muscle failure on second day
3) physical fitness collapse after 17km stretch in the messeta

Today was the moment where all of those fears had been overcome through personal achievement. Without these fears, I felt free to enjoy things more.

Now I am flowing through Spain one step at a time.