Day 28: Melide to Arzua. 12.5 km.

PW: Another short and welcome trot to Arzúa, 12.5 km down the trail. Another welcome feature was that we did not encounter noise and pace of the hoards this morning and so could naturally enjoy the grassy hedgerows, small towns and green vistas that we passed.

Before we left today, I touched base with my son, Sam, who has moved to Sydney for his work. I think I did well. In the space of 12 minutes and 54 seconds I got, in monosyllabic responses, the low down on his flat, sport events in Sydney, him starting work on Monday and events around him leaving NZ. Admittedly, he’s busy and got a bit on setting himself up in a new city.

I thought about conversations I’d been having in the last month on the Camino. Almost a juxtaposition. Interactions on the Camino appear to be less transactional and more process driven. People have time to chew the fat, so to speak, with many different recipients at the same or different times. In a uniquely Spanish way, people have time to gradually tell their many stories and provide their views (if they want to) and from these stories relationships build based on an enjoyment of each other and a shared common humanity. It’s quite authentic and soulful.

As we get closer to Santiago, and the trail gets more congested, us longer walkers are noting interactions are becoming more transactional; the trail is lacking the specialness of earlier interactions. It is as though we are being asked to return to the modern world again. The question will be how we retain the space to continue to tell our stories and retain some of the positive human interactions that have come out of this not so ordinary walk.

We are physically tired. We walk. We shower. We rest. We know we are getting close to the end of our Camino. Just two more days of 20km each. We’re trying to make sense of this not so ordinary walk.Read more