Santarem to Azinhaga – the start of my Camino

John Brierley’s ‘Pilgrims Guide to the Camino’ has tips on the practical path and the mystical path. My practical tips for the day would be – if there is a sudden rain shower you are better off if your poncho is not at the VERY bottom of your rucksack, and you will always end up walking more miles than you plan because you WILL get lost.

The yellow arrows could be an allegory of life! You don’t see any for a while and think you are lost – but 80 percent of the time, magically, one pops into sight and you know you are still on the path. But occasionally a yellow arrow doesn’t appear – and you realize that you really are lost.

Today was actually surprisingly hard. The 12 miles I thought I was walking turned into 16. I didn’t arrive at my destination till 3:30pm – I’m not sure why it took that long, but it did. I developed a couple of almost blisters which, per Hamilton’s instructions, I slapped a couple of moleskin band aids on.  Someone had told me of a pilgrim who the first day decided it was all too much and went home – at the time I was rather bemused but today I saw where he was coming from!  I got through the morning with the help of the nuts and raw chocolate given me by Gerrard and Inez. And then the Portuguese cyclist, who had stayed at the hostel last night and left later than I this morning, caught up to me and cycled VERY slowly for a few miles so he could keep me company – what a boost! By the afternoon, jet lag was hitting me hard and all I wanted to do was lie down in a ditch and sleep! – the only thing stopping me was the realization that when I climbed out of the ditch I’d still have the same amount of miles left to walk. I fished in my rucksack and found a See’s candy lollipop that Kenneth had snuck in before I left – I don’t know how he knew I was really going to need it. Eventually I reached my lodging for the night.  The landlady took one look at me, sat me down and brought me a large glass of water and a bowl of jello. I then promptly fell on the bed and slept.

The most wonderful sight today was fields and fields of sunflowers! The soil here is especially fertile. There were rows upon rows of lovingly tended corn, tomatoes and grapes, but what lifted the spirit most were the sunflowers.