Deficit of sleep
September 4, 2017
Day 4 on the Way!
Laila manages to wake me up only after the second attempt.
This albergue was full last night – around 150 people, this made it clear it was not going be quiet after 22:00 (as it’s supposed to be according to the rules). So I used my earplugs, put my head under my shawl and tried to sleep. I guess I succeeded, because I suddenly found myself sitting upstaight in my bed after hearing someone screaming! This nice pilgrim, having indulged a bit too much in some holy wine, has taken up a battle against the deamons of the world! The battle must be a hard one and there must a lot of deamons because he is screaming furiously! Those standing around are confused – should they help or should they run? Those who were initially in support of the holy wine evening, now are expressing their support through singing, even though they are out of tune, at least their singing is loud. It’s around 3am, the party continues. I get my earphones and start listening to some mantras. I am not sure when it got quiet, I listened to my mantras twice. It’s 6.45am when we leave the albergue – actually, Laila is the one who leaves, I crawl. Her ability to sleep even in these conditions is admirable. I am envious of it!
The road is relatively easy, there aren’t too many steep climbs, and, as we get past another turn of the road, the nature rewards us with some incredibly sweet grapes! Everything would be great if it was not for my lack of sleep – it even worse than my ankles and even my kidney. It feels as if my whole body is going through some testing mode. Now for breakfast we reward ourselves with a big, delicious and warm croissant. The evening will have another reason for some celebration – the first 100 kilometres will be completed. That’s a lot for me.
We have some tasty sangria in the evening, and there are only eight of us ladies in the room. Thank you, Universe!
Day 5
Even though the conditions are great for a good night’s sleep, it’s a sleepless night for me. The lack of sleep affects my mood, and I get moody. Everything irritates me, but what really gets me is my inability to manage my own body. I am finally ok with my left foot, but my right one is a proud owner of five blisters, three of those are under the big toe sort of towards the heel. My back, my shoulders and my thighs are alright. Today I should be careful on the road – the climbs and slopes are rocky, and it’s slippery. The nature is breathtaking, I wish I could just take a rest and sit for a moment. From time to time the birds, en route to their sunflower fields, give us a magnificent concert. This in turn creates a sense of belonging in me – the nature feeds us all.
We come across a fig tree on the roadside – oh, how delicious it’s fruit is! The blackberries are still our favourites, but we are becoming picky and look for the bigger ones only.
We decide to have our breakfast/lunch break right next to a shabby looking house, which proudly carries a „Bar” sign. I must say that our own Food and Veterinary Department would have it shut immediately , I mean every possible rule of sanitation has been broken… but who really cares when they serve the best-in-the-world mango juice with whatever!
It’s extremely hot outside (I managed to get my shoulders burnt in the sun) so this delicacy is right on time. Having rested and now energised, we continue our way, Laila is carrying her large backback, but me my small one. We each to our own thoughts. I am thinking about some elderly ladies I met earlier. Some of them are walking with quite large backpacks, others prefer smaller ones, but all of them sort of dress up in the morning, apply some rouge, some mascara, a drop of perfume – beautiful! I am looking at them with eyes full of love, and I can’t help but think about our own women who are past 60…in ten years that’s going to be me. I’d like to look like these ladies. I had a small chat with one of them, she said that she is walking the Camino so that her body doesn’t get rusty, and so that she can have a break from her husband. How nice is that!
There are also some elderly couples here, they walk hand in hand when the road is straight, but when it gets challenging, the gentleman walks first keeping an eye on his lady. This is also love.
26 kilometres done today, but tomorrow another 28 await us.
