El Camino/ León- San Martín del Camino: 26k

Alright, I cannot express how difficult writing about the Camino de Santiago will be, so I'll just attempt and hopefully you will be a little closer to understanding what an experience it was. Basically, anyone who reads this should just take my advice: go do it yourself. Buy a plane ticket and start walking. There's nothing more simple in the world than walking.

the cathedral of León

I did the camino with Janel, a great wonderful friend I met at Earlham, the person mejor en todo el mundo para caminar dos semanas solas y juntas, los dos al mismo tiempo. She had been living in Bangkok for 8 months, and I in Valencia, and we both thought what better way to transition to another chapter in our lives than by doing the camino, a completely liminal and transitional space, constantly moving, changing, growing.

first morning walking through the streets of León

the bridge that goes to nowhere

The first day: COLD, raining, and all on the highway, which equaled a rough start. We had a great time nevertheless because we were walking, talking, catching up after a year apart, finding our walking rhythm and the rhythm of the camino. When we made it to the albergue, the hostel only for pilgrims, we instantly took a HOT shower, put on all the clothes we own, and ate a pilgrim meal, which consisted of greasy bacon, fried eggs, and french fries. Most unhealthy meal I have EVER eaten in my life, but after walking so far and shivering the whole way, it was perfect. Afterwards, due to an intense food coma, we napped for a couple of hours, awaking to hunger, which meant going out to search for food to cook with. Dinner tonight? Japanese curry and a bottle of wine to share with other pilgrims. Success?? Hell yes. We made quite a few friends, including Marcos from Galicia and Nice and Bea from Brazil.

first albergue: Santa Ana (ironic, right?)

Marcos!

the brazilian girls!

Janel and I, ready for our second day, and you can't tell by this picture, but freezing our little butts off

Story of the day: We met an australian woman named Carol, who told us about a woman who is walking for her heart, which she just got a new one 3 years ago, and for her donor. This camino is powerful.