Camino de Santiago

Day 16 – Veda de Valcarce 45km I slept very well. I had started at 7:20, but then I stopped right away to have breakfast, so I actually started at 7:45. I met Celine from the South of France. We spoke a lot about spirituality and yoga, and I told her about the Bhagavad-Gita and New Mayapur, which she would love to visit. We really enjoyed the conversation. We also had some delicious figs on the way!We stopped at a Café. Then at Villafranca we parted ways. She stayed there and I went to have lunch. I ran into Gaby. It was nice to see her again. She was also staying there for the night. I had a delicious tagliatelle with spinach and cheese.    Beautiful nature to Veda de Valcarce I went to Vega de Valcarce. The nature and views are so beautiful! My right knew was hurting all day. I think it was because I went down a lot the day before. Going down is harder than going up! And it's the worst for the knees, even with walking sticks. I arrived at 6:20. I asked someone at the h...

 Day 11 Sahagun 46km The hostel was the worst, and freezing. However, I spoke with the volunteer before I left, and he was nice.   I started walking to Calzadilla. I stopped at Carrion and had breakfast with Sion from South Korea. We had a great conversation. He's sharing something about his trip every day, so he stopped to do that. We parted ways, and then I met Patrick, a priest from Wisconsin. I enjoyed meeting someone spiritual, and we had a great conversation. He has done hikes before, like the Grand Canyon, and the Ice Age hike in Wisconsin. I was surprised to find out that he paid US$6,000 for his trip! It was pre-planned, and they booked all the hotels for him. That price only included breakfast. I ran into Kayla and she said she's also going to Sahagun. She's doing the Camino on a bike. We had met briefly on Day 1. Although she's on bike, we're pretty much in the same place, because she took some breaks.  Breakfast with Sion from South Korea I took a ...

Day 6 - San Milan and Santo Domingo de la Calzada  32km I heard that there might be some issues with getting a visa to Idnia. I will be going there in January. So, I spent an hour in the morning applying for it. I cropped a photo from last year's application, because I wasn't about to go to a photo studio in Spain. Due to this unforseen event, I started walking late. I went off the Camino for my first detour to see two monasteries in San Milan. I walked for more than two hours all alone. Not a single human or car was in sight! I was starting to get worried that I might not get anything to eat. I finally arrived in a town called Badaran where I took breakfast. Of course, it was a bocaddilo de queso (cheese sandwich), because there was nothing else to eat as a vegetarian. I also got a Napolitana (the Spanish name for pain au chocolat).  I continued to San Milan and put my thumb out to hitchhike. The second car I saw stopped! It turned out to be a Moroccan and an Algerian. We exc...