Quite an adventure changing tactics. I was feeling so unwell last night that I just knew it would be a very bad idea to walk today so decided to take the bus to this next stop. Getting confused about directions and finding my way to the right side of the road for the bus was something. However, the bus arrived and I got on. There is quite a bit of political turmoil in Spain at the moment with the economic down turn and the unrest among the workers here. There is talk of a national strike on Sept 29 which will shut down everything for the day. We are told that the bus may be late because the miners are blocking the traffic in places and so this may hold things up.
We are now in Galicia which you can see by the hills and the change in the camino shell signs. they point in the opposite direction from what we have been following up to now.
the alberque in Ribadeo is again dissappointing, not very clean and very sparse. There have been no hospitaleros for the past 4 or 5 albeques and this makes such a difference to the places. they sit open and people come and go and you are not sure who cleans and takes care of the places. It is so different from the Camino Frances where there was always a choice between the private and the municiple alberques and the quality was much better.
I have found a nice little hostel with a small room and bathroom included for 20E and this is worth the price! When I meet up with the others, they have already given up on the alberque, having suffered through a noisy and stuffy night previously and we all end up at the hostel that I have found. We are all tired now and Sonja and Jette are preparing to depart on the bus the following day to get closer to the Camino Frances and to shorten up their journey.
I discover that someone has hijacked my e mail account along the way and I cannot access it. I have learned from this trip that there are very few and isolated places that provide internet access. WiFi or wiffy as they call it here is available everywhere for free and this seems to be the mode of choice for most people. I also think there is a greater risk of personal security begin violated by using all of these public computers so will not do this in future. Hopefully I can figure out how to get into my e mail account, but it seems that someone has changed the password and I cannot remember the secret code that I set it up with 2 years ago and in addition, the alternate e mail is not longer functional. Makes you realize that you need to be very sure about your technology before you leave on such a trip as this.
From the past few days, I have realized that I have not been paying attention to the balance of energy between my body mind and spirit as I walk. I have learned that my physicial ability is enough for the challenge of the mountains here, but I have not been able to rind te time and the space to get balanced in other ways, contemplation and quiet time to absorb the impact of what occurs each day. Hard work and walking each day are taking it toll and so I think this is why I am not feeling well again.
So I think a lot during the day and the night about why I am doing this trip and what I want to get from it. It is an adventure certainly and the beauty and the experience of walking in the north is really something. I do want to go home feeling like I have accomplished something for myself in all dimensions, and not just the physical work of doing the walk, but more the experience of being whole while doing this.
I have walked a very long way through many hardships and moments of joy and triumph. there have been times when I have never felt happier and times when I have felt discouraged and so tired. the experience of walking brings all of life´s moments together in one place and so I take this as a metaphor for how I want to continue and what I will take home with me. it has tested my limits for sure and at this point I am comtemplating what I want to get from the rest of the trip and how I want to go forward.
We are about 150 kms or so from Santiago. Ahead lie 8 days through the mountains and then 2 days on the Camino Frances. Weather still looks good though and that is something for this part of the world.
More later
Maggee
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