Day 6: The long trek

Kevin wasn’t kidding. We walked about 35-40 kilometers today, or 21-25 miles. I’m not sure of the exact number since I lost my guidebook, but I don’t need it.

We left the pilgrim shelter around 9:00 AM. Kevin kept a brisk pace, but I managed to keep up with him just fine. We walked through valleys, fields, cities, neighborhoods, woods, and vineyards. Later in the day, we came across a mysterious old castle perched on a large mountaintop. Curiosity whispered in my ear to go investigate, but I kept going because it would probably take an hour just to get up there. If there were any secret treasures or mysterious relics, they were probably claimed 300 years ago anyway.

Kevin and I had more great conversations today. I learned more about Catholicism and Kevin’s view on the world. Like I said before, we share similar views. For example, he agrees with my opinion that social media isn’t good for people and it should be illegal until at least 18 years old. It hardly gets used responsibly. People will stay on it for hours. Myself included. I did that often when I was younger.

Apparently, in the Catholic Church, it’s considered a sin to attend Mass if attending means neglecting your children. I like that. Kevin explained it to me, saying that parents have a duty to protect and care for their kids. In fact, it’s not required to go to church every Sunday. While many people do, it’s not a problem to miss occasionally. To Kevin, the religion is very faith-based and less about strictly following rules—though those are still important. It ultimately comes down to what is in your heart. If you love God, you’ll naturally strive to do what is good, and that means you’ll naturally follow the Ten Commandments.

At one point, we split off from the main trail so we had to take an alternate route on a busy road. When we got back to the Camino path, we were sitting on a highway bridge directly above it. The path went under a tunnel about 10-15 feet high. Kevin climbed down the side and then jumped down. I stayed at the top and dropped our backpacks to him at the bottom. Then I climbed down and also jumped. When I stood up, I couldn’t feel my phone in my pocket. I quickly realized that I left my phone up on the top before I jumped down! So I had to walk all the way around and back up to the bridge to grab it. Good times.

I found out that Kevin and I share a common passion for the Legend of Zelda games! He’s played about as much as I have in my younger days. We got talking about the different games for a little while. It was nice to reminisce about those times.

After a very long day of trekking, we finally arrived at the town Los Arcos to stop for the night. After asking a local who was born there and knew the area very well, she showed us the only place with beds for pilgrims in town. She was a kind lady.

My back and shoulders have adapted, but today my feet hurt the most. It’s that ache you get when you’ve used your feet so much. I think this is the farthest I’ve ever walked in a single day. Kevin says today was a smaller day for him. I can’t believe that guy.

Oh, Kevin asked the lady if there was a Catholic mass anytime soon. She said there was one tomorrow morning at 7:30! Tomorrow, I’m going to join Kevin and go see a Catholic mass for myself. I can’t wait to see it!

I’m learning so much out here. It’s nice to have a good friend who has a lot in common with me. His broken English is still good enough to have discussions. We laughed at each other several times throughout the day as we tried to correctly pronounce words in each other’s language.

I still have more than 600km left until my destination: Santiago de Compostela. What else will I discover on this amazing journey?