Another day
of sharing the route with pilgrims. I feel pity for riding so fast as I can
imagine how they must feel when I just speed around them. I know that feeling
damn well from running in the forest. It kind of drawed energy from me when I was
hardly trying to summon up my last energy and a biker speeded like a bat out of
hell. Especially if I consider that the road is totally flat, dull, empty and,
without trees to protect you against the sun. This can really give the
impression that one will be walking for infinite.
I stopped
to have a cup of coffee in a village but the coffee was more expensive and not
as tasty as yesterday, and the internet connection also sucked. That just
reminds me that really nothing can be taken for granted.
The biking
route stretches along the original pilgrim route all the morning. It is
basically an abandoned old road that is scarcely used by cars. Biking goes
today just fine, I use my biking time wisely for grasping a new language and
listening to some old songs. At noon I arrived in small town where I bought
some more ham in a cheap supermarket. This one, however, is not as delicious as
the luxurious Jambon Serrano from Pamplona. The price is almost a third and the
quality is a marked difference, accordingly, but still very tasty in comparison
to our smoked ham in Slovakia (which is, if course, delicious as well, but this
is much better - just a clarification, alright, I will be keep my mouth shut
about food for a while from now on).
This small
town bears an interesting name, Shahagun, and it marks the halfway of the Camino
Francais. With this milestone passed, I wonder what I have achieved so far. All
most difficult parts of the road are behind me, many difficulties have been overcome
and thanks God, I am still here and can move on. There is only one last big
challenge waiting for me: Cruiz de Ferro, a big hill situated 1500 meters above
the sea level which is the highest point of the Camino route for bikers (as I
have already mentioned, my mountain adventure was not really marked in my guide
book). But still, the elevation gain is not so huge (600 to 1500 instead of 200
to 1500) and the road will not be so steep, thus the ride cannot be as crazy
as through the Pyrenees. This hill, however, is somehow special from the spiritual point of view. It is believed
that if you leave a token on that place, something dear to you of a great sentimental
value, you will also take off a burden that torments your soul. I still have one day to decide what to leave
there. However, after this big biking hike passed, there will be more or less
flat terrain and few more days to Santiago and then, one more day to Cap de Fisterra,
another end of the world. This will be basically the end of my pilgrimage, this
ultimate summer adventure. After returning to Santiago and spending some
quality time with contemplation in this holy place, I will take a bus to
Valencia and wait there for my rideshare back home. In the meantime, I will
enjoy the Spanish beaches for 2 more days that I have as a time equivalent of
my food iron ration.
I must
admit that I have mixed feelings now. I have come so far that it is now hard to
believe. If I look back at the first days, full of suffering, exhaustion and uncertainty,
then at scary moments with my illness and injuries, it is a big sense of accomplishment,
but at the same time a a pity feeling that it will be soon over. There were
times of exhaustion and fear, when I really
swore a lot, wished I had not undertaken this journey and rather had
rested back home and enjoy the lazy summer time. However, there were also times
of great sensation, joy and happiness that do not only even up the overall
score, but vastly exceed all expectations. It was really worth of it, every
penny, every second, and every moment of hardship! In no time, I will be back
home, enjoying all the forgotten luxury that we take so much for granted. But I
do believe that this holy pilgrimage gave me not only great experiences, but
also enhanced my life spiritually. Now I feel that I am more humble, yet more goal
seeking, tenacious and determined. This is the schola vitae at its finest.
On my way
to Leon, something quite odd happened to me. I was tired of listening to Spanish
audiobooks and changed it for some music. I am a huge soundtrack lover so I set
my favorite playlist and wanted to continue, but my cell phone refused
point-bland to play it. Coincidentally, it froze 2 times and a hard restart was
needed when I chose the same playlist, but other playlists and programs seemed
to work just fine. I could not explain it, as if I were not supposed to listen
to those audiotracks. Stubborn, as I always am, I grumpily restarted my cell phone
for the third time and then it finally worked. I strode downhill on a road full
of hidden holes and I enjoyed my adrenaline ride until another bigger uphill
challenge was coming. I saw it and immediately changed gears to meet the
challenge easier, oblivious to other things when suddenly my empty bottle of
water fell off from my luggage, and quite coincidentally, right next to a well
that I did not see at all. It is true that I did not have any water left, but
Leon was just in 15 km and I could do without as well, but it was definitely
nice to replenish it. I just cannot understand, how the bottle could possibly fall
out by going uphill, supposing that you tend to lose things when you ride
downhill, and secondly, what a coincidence it can be that it fell out right
next to the well. This is something which can be statistically explained very
hardly and I do not really comprehend it. On the other hand, I always try to be
neutral and very careful by in putting significance to any occurrences. If one
is prone to see the signs of God everywhere, he or she will certainly see it
almost everywhere, similarly, as people who like to call themselves rational,
will use all kinds of excuses and science back up explanations to explain this
or that coincidence. I find myself somewhere in the middle - no extreme was
ever deemed good. Anyway, the great peril lurks in the propensity to see God
sign anywhere which goes hand in hand with profound religious beliefs. I
vividly remember our priest to be utmost careful about it because there are
some people walking around and point out quite obvious stuff as miracles. I
dare not to dash off any explanation of a divine sign here. I just wanted to
remember it because this experience sent shivers down to my spine. From that
moment, I decided to change for gospel music – interestingly, my cell phone did
not protest anymore and nothing else was falling or better said flying away
from my luggage since then.
Be it as it
may, the water was not drinkable anyway which I found out after I had drunk
about a liter of it. Whatever, it tasted equally good and I did not experience
any health problems afterwards, either. There was another
fountain with drinkable water beside the well which I later used for replenishing my bottles.
As already
mentioned, I have arrived in Leon one day earlier- even today in the evening. I
might have done about 140 km, but on the perfect terrain it was really a piece
of cake. The only challenge on the road I intentionally made up for myself
because I was totally bored with riding along the main road so I took a route
on a beaten truck with many ups and down to have a small change. In the
afternoon, the road became totally flat and I rather went on the national road
to speed up. I felt pity for walking pilgrims in this soaring heat when I
speeded 26 km/h.
Leon is
another big city that has a stunning old town full of historic buildings, and
breathtaking architecture. This time I followed the walking route which served
very well as a guide through the city centre. I also had enough time to take
plenty of pictures before the sun set down. When I was doing my sights, a
talkative Italian woman came to me to enquire about the route. We chatted for a
while and I found out that she went on the Camino on a road bike alone without
her spouse. I told her my story and she seemed to be mesmerized with it,
supposing that Leon was only the starting point of her Camino. Later on, I ran quite
coincidentally into a Benedictines monastery with a pilgrim hospice. I said to
myself that it is high time to recharge all batteries and this could actually
be a nice experience. The Order of Saint Benedict is famous for its austere
lifestyle and this reflected also in the auberge even though I cannot say much
to this because this is my very first auberge I have visited on the Camino so
far. These refugios basically consist of two rooms for men and women and in
each of them you find about 20-30 beds. Basic amenities such a shower, living
room, electricity and toilets are included, which right now in my perspective
is an equivalent to a luxurious 5* residence. I do not have to wear earplugs
due to fear of another sneaky insects coming to my ear, I do not have to be
constantly on the watch for upcoming wildlife and I do not need to worry about
Eva and her safety because the monastery door closes at 10 pm and not a soul
gets in and out of here. As I firstly came there, I was totally bewildered and
it took a while until I found somebody responsible for accommodation. The lady
in charge of this precious duty did not speak much English which was actually a
nice opportunity to make use of my Spanish. I managed to speak fluently few
greeting phrases, but when she started explaining how things work there, I was
getting lost and could not follow her anymore. Therefore, I had to follow her
(literally) in order to see what she meant. She showed me around, gave me a
meal ticket, a stamp into my pilgrim passport. There was supposed to be an
evening prayer with blessing, but since the dinner room was supposed to close
very soon, I had to use the purchased meal ticket. I wanted to attend the
morning mass anyway and I can get my blessing there, too.
After
taking a shower, I went to the dining room and was very nicely surprised with
the dinner. I know, now you are smirking that it is so me to talk about food
all the time. Wait before you skip this paragraph because this information is
quite useful to you as well. The dinner cost 9 € I could not believe my eyes
what I got for that. I was served a baguette as a starter, pasto carbonara as
the first course, some sausages with fries as the main course, and few pears as
a dessert. For a drink I got the whole bottle of wine from which I valiantly
managed to drink three quarters. I wish we had such restaurants in Slovakia,
too J I
just could not fully enjoy my meal due to two following reasons: Firstly, I was
so hungry that I totally swooped on it, and secondly, I knew that there was
little time because I had nearly 20 minutes before they closed, and I was totally
alone in the dining room. I know that feeling myself when the customer comes to
a restaurant just before it closes. Anyway, for this price it was absolutely
awesome and I am glad that I could have another warm meal after a while. Having
this dinner and overindulging myself with a bottomless wine brought up my
memories from my voluntary engagement in La Salette, France.
When I came
back to the sleeping room, there was hardly no-one to talk to because all pilgrims
went to sleep before 10:30 pm. I also decided to call it the day earlier as
well, wrote a few lines into my blog and went to sleep.
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