Today (11 June 09)was my first day of walking and fortunately, the sun was out and the sky was blue. I started in Sarria. Twenty three kilometers later, I was in Portomarin.
At first I was kind of nervous about what I was doing and where I was going. I barely walked 5 minutes and saw another pilgrim, then another, then a group of cyclists, then a group of Spanish kids, then... You get the picture. Lots of walkers and cyclists were on the Way this morning.
As I walked, GREEN and LUSH are the two adjectives that continually sprang to mind. Galicia is beautiful and unspoiled... Well, unspoiled is the impression on the Camino. A lot of today's trek was among rural farm land with farms few and far between.
There were patches of mud due to yesterday's constant rainfall. So, I was extra careful trying not to slip and slide--and trying to step where there was less mud. The "fun" part came as I walked uphill and upstream. Ok, the water wasn't that deep, not that I would drown or anything. I still had 3 hours of walking to go and I didn't want to do it with wet shoes,socks and feet. Trying to "jump" from stone to stone (and not doing a very good job of it), I finally relented and just walked through the water. Keeping my footing on the pebbles, stones, uneven ground and mud etc, I laughed aloud thinking this is my "outward bound" pilgrimage. Do those adventure weekends still exist?
The other outward bound moment on my adventure pilgrimage was when I was running with the bulls. Well, not running, but sidestepping, not bulls but cows, sheep, dogs and one bull and not in Pamplona..but still in Spain!
Walking along I saw a herd of cattle ahead of me. Thinking they wouldn't be on my same path, I caught up to snap a few pics. (Of course, that is right when the camera decided to stop working. Drat!) I was wrong. They were on my same path..and the path wasn't that wide. I lagged behind hoping the herd/flock/pack?? would veer off but no such doing. Finally, I decided I had to pass them.. . and that meant walking amongst, between and beside them.
I had never been so close to cows before. I was so close that as one of them pooped, it's business splashed on my shoes and pant leg.
I made it to Portomarin safe and sound and soiled at 1:30ish. I am wondering if tomorrow it will be a 'regular' pilgrimage or an 'adventure' one. . . stay tuned.
(Sidebar: I am not an animal lover)
