The First Day

Contents

1. The 25km trek

2. The Roncesvalles pilgrim refuge

3. Tomorrow

The 25km trek

Wow, what an adventure!!! Being a pilgrim is absolutely amazing! I trekked 25 kilometers today, which is equal to 15 miles. I have 758km left to walk, or 471 miles.

The setting was absolutely beautiful. It was breathtaking. I walked through mountains, country roads, hiking trails, across bridges, along roads, through cliffside towns, and forests.

It rained off and on the whole way. My shoulders are very sore and my feet ache, but that makes staying the night in a nice, warm, hostel that much more rewarding! Oh man, it feels so good to lay in a bed.

And I had company for the whole trek! Me and Eddi woke up and left at the same time. We made a wrong turn and a local alerted us, so we turned back to go the correct way. We got held up again at another junction, and that’s when Hailee from yesterday caught up to us! The three of us walked all 25km together. These two are incredibly nice people, and we had all sorts of conversation on the way, and as well as long pauses in conversation to enjoy the scenery. We shared our views from our religions in a very open-minded way, and we all agree that as long as you do good, it’s good with God. Doesn’t matter what religion you are.

Although I do stick to my LDS values because they have given me a lot of good, I explore and learn more about other religions, too. I learned a little about the way Buddhist monks live. Hailee tried living with them for 3 weeks, and then decided it wasn’t for her. As for Eddi, he’s a Catholic but he is very mindful and open to other religions and views.

The final last 10km of today’s trek was brutal. Very steep uphill through the Pyrenees mountain range. It was very beautiful, but difficult.

Here are some of the pictures and videos I took today. There’s a lot because it was serene the whole time!

Roncesvalles Refuge

The way dorm rooms work for pilgrims is amazing and super cheap. Most of them are around €15 for one night. I guess it’s not for those who need lots of space and a whole closet to organize their stuff, but I think anybody doesn’t need much to be happy. Give me a bed, pillow, sleeping back, and call me good! Besides, it’s not comfort I’m after, it’s growth.

But gee, I hope every refuge is as good as this one is.

The three of us arrived at our destination for the night, and I kid you not it was straight out of a medieval fantasy movie. It was like I was transported back in time, because I guess I sorta was. That place has some real history behind it.

My total expenses today only amounted to €33. It was €20 for the night, and then €13 for the amazing 3-course meal just for pilgrims! Plus, you have to be a certified pilgrim to get accommodation for certain refuges. All you have to do to get one is to stop at a pilgrim’s office and show them your passport and they give you a bunch of information about the Camino. Tonight was one of those nights which required the pilgrim’s passport, so I feel a bit exclusive!

What astounded me was they have a massive Catholic cathedral, with services every night at 6:00 PM! Dinner was at 7, so I went over and sat through part of a Catholic Church service for the first time. I just sat in the back and observed. It was very different then what I was used to! The preists in the red robes actually exist in real life, it’s crazy. He was reading from this big book (probably the Bible) on a stand in Spanish. He would take a golden cup and an empty plate (I think) and hold them up and read from the Bible. It was neat to see!

Standing there in the cathedral, I got a taste of what a lot of my ancestors from England and Europe believed and practiced during the medieval times.

Huh. I didn’t give that much thought. I have a lot of ancestry from Europe. Mostly Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. I like to think I’m connecting with my ancient ancestors before they migrated to the US.

During dinner, I got to meet the majority of the pilgrims on the same path as me. There’s about 8 of us, and we’re all staying at Roncesvalles for the night. We all said we were planning to stop at the city Zubiri tomorrow, so I think we’ll be companions for a large portion of the Camino! I’m really looking forward to it! Everyone I met came here on their own, just like me. Some of us are from Korea, other Italy, or Spain, America, Brazil, or Taiwan. Some of us are 18, others 48. But that doesn’t matter; we’re all in it for the adventure. Despite the language barrier, we have no trouble connecting. We speak enough of each other’s language to connect wonderfully!

Tomorrow

I plan to get breakfast at 7:00 AM and depart around 7:30-8:00. I have 20km to walk, mostly downhill to reach Zuburi. We’ll see who I end up walking with tomorrow! After what today had in store, I am really looking forward to 32 more days of this! I just hope my shoulders and body adapt.