My first Camino ; July 2005 Philda Benkenstein , George , Garden Route

The "Camino", "The Way", "the Pilgrimage of St James”: 823 km over the width of
Spain! And I made it with my own two feet, all by myself!
I flew with Ryan Air to Biarritz, then took the airport bus to Bayonne and from
there the train to St Jean. Shockingly effortless! I was bowled over by the
pretty little town of St Jean - I met a young French teacher and the two of us
spent a leisurely evening walking on the town wall and talking about the big
adventure that lay ahead of us. We decided to set off together the next morning
very early and we walked together for a few more days until she had to break her
Camino (after Pamplona) because of terrible blisters that also got infected.

Most mornings I only started walking between 6 and 7 (you have to understand:
from about 4.30 the snoring gives way to torches, the rustling of plastic bags
, not-so-soft-whispering....) I cannot eat so early in the morning, so I would
walk until about 11 o'clock when I would stop off at a bar/cafe and order myself
a "bocadillo" (a huge roll filled with sheep-milk cheese or a wedge of Spanish
tortilla or jamon) and a milky coffee (oh, the Spanish do know about good coffee
and even with the heat up to 40 degrees Celsius, I still ordered a small
coffee!) I then would buy a fruit as snack for later, fill up the water bottles
and hit the road again. I drank up to 4 liters of water a day! On average I
walked about 27 km per day - I often would park myself under a tree somewhere in
nature and "siesta" out in the open even if I could have reached the Refugio
(you have to listen to the fellow hikers snoring all night long; at least rest
in peace in the afternoon!).I always tried to claim my bed by 3 so that I could
be showered and my clothes on the line by 4; then I would visit churches,
museums etc. Interestingly enough, most of the friends that I made on the Camino
were people that I met on these afternoon/evening excursions. (I walked by
myself, so my socializing times would be evenings over dinner or during
excursions into the cities/towns)

The refugios were so different , some very basic with bunk beds and mattresses
covered in plastic, others with clean sheets, sometimes just a mattress on the
floor, sometimes just a space on the floor where you could roll out your own
thin camping mattress. Only once was the bathroom so dirty that I just would not
use it and had to contend myself with a "bird bath". Three times I took a break
from the communal sleeping by booking into a small pension / B&B (either that or
I knew I was this close to nudging these strange men in their backs and ask them
to roll over and stop snoring - that works with my husband, so surely they were
all just snoring because they needed a woman to nudge them in the back?) Evening
meals were either communal dinners in the refugios/albergues or many bars
offered a special "pilgrim's menu" consisting of a 3 course meal ,including
water and beer or wine for about 8 euro. Because you do not have to carry food
one can get away with a backpack weighing as little as 7 kg - the first few days
I would often see people off to the post office to mail excess luggage back
home. Mine weighed 8kg, without my water , and that was perfect. I carried a
lightweight down sleeping back and a small pillow ; I walked with Nike
cross-trainers (storm Pegasus) and a pair of heavy terrain sandals. Every two
hours I stopped to air my feet and change to dry socks - I only got blisters on
day 10 - because I walked with a young Spanish man who had lots of go (he only
had 10 days to do part of the Camino) and I broke my rule of airing my feet
every 2 hours. Important Camino lesson: As with life, it is best lived at your
own pace!

The terrain changes every few days - you cross 3 mountain ranges. Worst being
the Pyrenees (only because the track is very long, steep and tarred: very hard on
your feet ; my saving grace was that I walked on the gravel on the side of the
path - I think that is why I did not get blisters like most of the other walkers
on the first day already) I do not blame anyone for starting at Roncesvalles (Spain) and not St Jean Pied de Port on the French side of the Pyrenees! It is a terrible climb for the first day.

The central part is very flat and tedious (the plains of Spain...) Many people
just get on a bus and skip that. It was definitely the hardest part for me -
because there were not many people on the road (normally ,even if you're walking
on your own, you would have lots of conversations with people you meet) and this
part I spend long hours uninterrupted, thinking/meditating all sorts of issues,
so I found it emotionally very draining. One of the long hot days walking
through endless corn fields I started thinking about friends who lost their 13
year old child to Malaria last year and suddenly I burst out in tears. I'm
talking sobbing my heart out here. It's just as if I was so stripped of my
normal defenses that I could not control my emotions. I am very glad for
this part of my Camino too : like life there is the bitter and the sweet and I
am happy to have experienced all the different aspects.

I was mostly alone , never lonely. It was amazing how helpful and friendly
people were toward each other. When you normally visit a foreign country you are
just another foreigner ; with the Camino the locals embrace you as a pilgrim
(majority anyway, you'll always have those who only look at the euros you have
to spend!) , irrespective of your nationality. I made a point of attending mass
and/or vespers whenever I could (I am not a Roman Catholic Christian) I walked
in the school/university holidays , so the majority of the walkers were young
people. All very "seeking" : themselves, nature as god, God in nature, a
religious experience of some kind ; looking with renewed interest at the Roman
Catholic faith too (with some credit to the da Vinci Code, I’m sure) I saw a lot
of religion, not so many Christians.

I originally planned to hike a Biblical 40 days , but reached Monte del Gozo
(outskirts of Santiago) the morning of day 31. Along with 10 young people I
decided to stay there and walk into Santiago with them the next morning. At the
end of every day I wrote up how many kilometers I had walked and to my surprise this
totaled 823 km. I always chose the longer "scenic road" opposed to the "road
route" when given the choice. Pretty impressive, hey !?

The cathedral in Santiago was packed - some holy religious holiday and many
people flew in for the long weekend. I found a mattress-on-the-floor at the
Benedicion de San Francisco - some of the young people I had met over my last
days of the walk were devout Catholics and knew that the priests had a
recreational hall where they allowed mattresses thrown out in the evenings. I
was so thankful, because there was not a bed anywhere with so many people in the
city. That evening the young priest delivered a moving mass service, and even
though I couldn't understand Spanish he spoke with such compassion that I
actually got the gist of his message: that we've done great in completing our
pilgrimage, but that Jesus was inviting each pilgrim to walk the Camino of life
with Him.

It took me nearly 2 hours to get my Compostella and then I had to find a flight
out of Santiago - this proved to be a major problem with it being a holy long
weekend. I was surprised to find that the prices offered at different travel
agencies differed so greatly. The cheapest flight was with Iberia bought from a
tiny little Travel agency that I passed on my way to Iberia main center.(a lot
cheaper than Ryan air even!)

I have not said much about the many people I got to know on my long walk. Just
because that would take up another few A4's! I was blessed by kindness,
friendliness, compassion..... I was also occasionally shocked by selfishness,
meanness. The Camino is life and as in life you take your happiness with you...