28/7 One small step in normal life. A giant leap for Emson. Yes, that’s right, I have done a massive number of kilometres – about 160 to be exact. The seismic shift to the west has made it much more feasible to walk to Compostela which is still a tantalizing 300 km away. Considering I only covered 250 km by foot before I rocketed nearer the Heap, it’s likely I’ll need another boost. It will for sure be at the point where the path starts rising later on.
From now on, as I perceive it, it will become more and more like a conveyor belt of pilgrims moving westwards one way or another. The Camino certificate that many are after is given to anyone who completes the last 100 km which means the trail will become hugely crowded. I hear that the hostel at the start of those vital kilometres is always packed to capacity with people sleeping on the floor. Unfortunately, this trail seems to have become more and more of a commercial enterprise with obviously inflated prices of food in the villages and small towns where the pilgrims pass every day.
I meet various kinds of people, some of whom are very strange individuals who are looking for something (that doesn’t exist) But there are some real people who have seen and done some pretty interesting things like Earnest Hemingway in the picture who is writing a sequel For Whom the Nell Calls. In fact he’s a 78 year old American who has spent the last 50 years doing long distance walks. I loved his story of how he started smoking at the age of 21 while in the marines in the Korean war. It was when he was transferring shells to a tank and he had to carry three of these large shells, one over each shoulder and the other somehow balanced on his neck. Anther soldier put a lit cigarette in his mouth out of kindness. It stuck to his lip and he got his first nicotine high. He gave the weed up 10 years later.
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| Earnest Hemingway |
Then there was the bike I spotted by one of the cafes in Leon. It was designed as a replica of one of the earliest BMW motor bikes from around 1923. The guy who owned it was sitting nearby and told us that he had it made from lots of parts and had the frame built specially. It was amazingly comfortable to ride and the old fashioned style of front suspension worked perfectly. There was a pair of chrome handcuffs hanging from the spring on saddle which he used for locking it up.The hostel in Leon was huge with around 150 beds. The building is rather uninspiring and run like a boot camp. In the morning a nun came along and gleefully emptied the money from the many automats. Cant help thinking the Camino has become nothing but a tourist business. However, Leon is a very nice place to hang out as you can see from the shot of a bar outside the hostel in the evening. D
