The Camino Provides (1/2)
A lot has happened since I last wrote. Between daily walks averaging 25+ km, fatigue catching up with me, and spending time with the friends I had made on the Camino, I decided to take a break from writing and immerse myself in the Camino experience.
The day after I wrote the blog's last entry, I planned to walk around 25 km from Castrojeriz to Frómista. It was a sunny day with barely any tree cover, and I set on the walk, starting with an arduous climb to a hill next to the town. After some detours, I reached Frómista around 4 pm, walking ~29 km. I found that the municipal albergue housing the most number of beds was closed that day. After walking around the city to all the other albergues, I learned they were all full! I parked myself in the main plaza of the city, figuring out options in the nearby towns. An albergue was open and had beds available, but it was 9 km away! That would mean I’d walk around 38 km - the most I had walked so far. I was surprised not to feel irritated or angry by this turn of events; I set out by myself to the town ahead. It was a long walk along the highway under the day's blistering heat. I took a couple of ‘radler’ breaks to keep myself hydrated and feeling rewarded for this extra effort.
Finally, I reached the Albergue Amanecer in Villamentero de Campos around 7:15, when others were already having dinner. The Albergue was beautiful- it had geese roaming around (one of which bit me on arrival!), statues, hammocks, and ample open space. More importantly, it had a kind and gracious host. The host, Naima, refused to take money from me for dinner and offered to fix me a vegetarian meal - wok tossed vegetables with steamed rice. The day was turning around! As we ate, Naima started strumming on the guitar and serenaded us by singing Hallelujah. I forgot about the day’s troubles, but it left me with my first two blisters- one on each foot.
One of my goals for the Camino was to think about what I would like to do for work once I return. I mainly walked alone these days and had enough time to think about this. Crossing through the smallest villages, I was intrigued that you could get great coffee in almost all of these towns and villages. For the last seven years, since I was introduced to the world of coffee brewing, I have enjoyed learning more about the different brewing methods and making my friends and family try the coffees I brew. However, for the longest time, the only coffee I knew was the instant kind. In the smaller cities of North India, ground coffee and coffee beans are almost unheard of - even today! Such a solid contrast to South India, where filter coffee is the staple beverage. I had an idea that I would like to make coffee more accessible to people in the smaller cities in North India. It’s just an idea now, and I’d love to do more research. I’ve been sharing it with people I meet on the way, and they’ve shared their perspectives and ideas with me.
Slowly, a few weeks after leaving my first Camino tribe, I got to know more people I’d been seeing walking the Camino with me and having conversations about Indian politics, spirituality, Berlin’s nightlife, and much more! Once again, I had a gang with whom I could hang out. When we reached Leon, it felt like I knew the entire city. I took some friends to an Indian restaurant, craving a familiar, flavourful meal. That night, the main plaza was full of pilgrims singing songs, talking to each other and having a merry time!
There’s a lot more that has happened and now I am only 160 km away from Santiago de Compostela. I’ll share more in another post.
Meanwhile, here’s some pictures:
