Day 22.0 - Stage 2 reflections

Ghost villages
I am still intrigued by the lack of residents in the villages i pass through. No matter what time there’s just no one about. Where is everyone? Also, I’ve now passed two failed housing developments, apparently casualties of the 2008 crash. And they have been substantial in size too. So much for the housing shortage… Move to Spain, Theres heaps of space and choice 😉.

Ghost cows
It has taken me almost 500km to see my first cow herd. In NZ we take the herds for granted, but in Spain - which is obsessed with beautiful meat products - there is almost no sign of livestock. I do recall some feed barns, presumably for winter housing, but free range cows or pigs are absent. Ghost cows.

Camino candy
As the km rack up so do the aches and pains. I’ve spent a king’s ransom on bandages and remedies for blisters, but the Camino grapevine is all a-flutter about “Camino candy”. To the rest of us it is ibuprofen, but some folk take candy-size quantities. Other folk are taking more, they’re into the “Camino c0caine” (spelling). The pharmacists don’t even bother interrogating, they just hand over full strength stuff across the counter 😬.

More milestones ticked off
Another milestone reached just a day before León was my personal 500km walked, the km keep accumulating and it’s still barely believable.

Conquering the Meseta
For me a big goal was to conquer the Meseta, I had heard so many stories of the difficulty mentally and physically of getting through the high plains desert that I was a tad nervous. But the spring weather has provided pleasant walking temps (as long as you finish before mid afternoon), cool breezes, expansive green vistas, and arrow straight paths with reasonably good surfaces. It’s been better than anticipated, and I can now add “I walked through the Meseta” to my achievements. Go me.

Stage 2 complete
Which of course means I completed Stage 2 - The Mind. I think some people go deep within themselves during the Meseta, especially during the hot dry months. I didn’t have that experience. I had some solo km sections, but mostly I’ve been walking with other folk and we’ve talked the hind leg off a donkey. No introspection on this leg for me, maybe it means my mind is empty 😁.

So onwards we go after a rest day in the beautiful city of León.

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