GREAT NEWS! No matter whose measures you´re using, as of today I am more than halfway to Santiago! Today we dipped below the 400 km left to go mark, at day 18 on the Camino. Of course, I still plan to go on to Finisterre, which is another 100km or so on the agenda, so I am not really halfway yet...but since Santiago is the official measure for the Camino, I´ll take this milestone all the same. It feels great to really feel we are getting somewhere here, although it is funny to mark the occasion in (quite literally) the middle of nowhere. At this point I am on track to hit Santiago on June 6, which happens to be both my namesday and my parents´anniversary date...it would be nice to have one more occasion to add to the calendar for that day. However, things are still fluid, and mileages may very as we go along, so for now it´s just a working date. But it´s good to have an end in sight!
And just what led me to this auspicious landmark in the long journey?
NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG
Today´s route posed an interesting challenge: not only was it 27K, but 18K of it are along an old Roman road with no towns, villages, cafes or other signs of humanity offering stops or respite along the way...it´s all through empty fields. We´ve never gone that long without some kind of civilization to break up the walk, so that explains why everyone was at the Supermercado last night stocking up on food and water.
I set out along with everyone else feeling pretty strong, and was enjoying the peace and quiet of the open space and country side for about two hours before it started to wear on me. You´d never know that there had once been ruins of Roman villas along this way. It´s just mile after mile of empty field on either side, and it starts to get surprisingly exhausting having nothing to look at. I went about two hours before it started to get to me, and at a couple of points near the end I was even walking with my eyes closed -- sleepwalking! -- because it felt better than just looking at blah.
The weather was cool, overcast and dry...near perfect conditions for walking, which helped a lot. I thought about how this walk is more normally experienced, ie under hot sun, high heat and no shade, and was grateful to have eluded that at least, for it certainly would have slowed me down and prolonged the walk. But I couldn´t help wishing there had been just a bit more sun peeking through the clouds, because the threatening sky glooming over the empty fields got pretty dispiriting at times.
A sort of madness slips over you when you just walk and walk and are bored like that. I found myself feeling logy and zoning out, and was surprised at what a mental challenge it was to go without stimulation. All around me I could see others slowing down as well and it was a collective wearying.
WHERE IS THE TOWN?!
After a certain number of hours on the gravel path, we started to sense that it should be coming to an end, and a town should be coming up somewhere. But despite the flatness of the terrain, we couldn´t see it, which was confusing. The Camino likes to play tricks on you like this, especially on the meseta. You´ll see signs for a town coming up, or you will know one is coming, but you don´t see it until, as in this case, the road dips and you suddenly see it in the valley below the horizon. This happened three times today.
The first town, Calzadilla de la Cueza, should have been a sight for sore eyes, but it actually made one a bit uneasy. It is an odd place, with a mix of rundown old buildings and new lowrise developments being put up, so the whole thing feels like a big empty construction site. (Where are all the people whenever we come into these towns?) There was one busy and bustling albergue with a warm bar and cafe that was quite nice, so everyone congregated there, and I rested for a bit before hurrying on to my final destination. My roommates from last night, Janet and Linda, had kindly added me to their reservation at the albergue in Terradillos, so at least I didn´t have to rush to scramble for a free bedspace...but the walk was so dull and despairing that I was keen to bring it to an end.
The next 9K ran alongside a highway, and although there were two towns between the Roman road and my endpoint, I could never see them until the very last minute, which was maddening. You don´t know how much it helps to be able to see a stop point or destination looming in the distance, especially in the meseta where the general flatness leads you to expect to. So as my confusion and frustration grew, I found myself yelling, ¨WHERE IS THE TOWN!¨into the empty sky. It didn´t matter, there was no one around to hear it. But it was the only comfort to the tail end of the long walk when sheer boredom with the view was making me feel crazy with exhaustion. It´s actually quite liberating to shout out into the world like that, and very therapeutic!
Eventually a last rise over a low hill revealed a building with ALBERGUE on the side, and Linda saw me approaching and hurried out to wave me in. I actually did pretty well today, covering 27K in just over 7 hours including breaks, so I am happy about that. But even that impressive (for me) progress didn´t feel as good as the shower I took as soon as I checked in...I feel a lot better. It is funny how many of us are feeling like today´s otherwise straightforward, pleasant, flat walk, which should have been as easy as yesterday´s, was nevertheless exceedingly draining ...a lot of people are napping before dinner because it just took a lot out of them. I am once again reminded that the Camino is not just a test of your physical abilities, but of your head game, and today was a new level of challenge in that regard.
NOW HEAR THIS
What kept me sane in all of today´s walk, and indeed over much of the past ten days, has been audiobooks. I never listen to audiobooks at home because my peripatetic lifestyle would mean I´d be listening in snatches at a time and would forever lose the plot. But here, I have hours and hours and hours at my disposal, and so when my music started to get annoyingly repetitive, I realized this was a great opportunity to get some reading in. I have been surprised to find myself drawn to more classic material, especially American lit; so far I have discovered or rediscovered both of Mark Twain´s best known novels, Edith Wharton´s House of Mirth, F.Scott Fitzgerald´s This Side of Paradise, and today was cheered by P. G. Wodehouse. It helps a lot and gives a pleasant satisfaction to enjoy books that I know I should read, but would have trouble making time for in real life...I may even listen to one of my favourites, The Count of Monte Cristo, because it is not only long but so good, it will keep me excellent company in the days to come. Just another unexpected benefit of doing the Camino.
No photo today...I didn´t take a single picture of the dreary landscape all day (hence the desert photo from a generic site). But there are better prospects for the 27K tomorrow, so much to look forward to...and every step is another bit closer on the last half to Santiago! Thanks so much for reading and commenting and encouraging the trek along...it helps a lot out here.