Day 6 on the Camino

October 7, 2009

It was a longer day of walking, 12.1 miles. It was also a strange day. At first it was rainy, then it got cold, and at the end the sun came out. It wasn’t comfortable until the end when we reached Molinaseca, the highest point of the camino, 4936 feet.

This walk/tour has been fantastic. Given the choice of walking 500 +/- miles for about 30 days or walking a bit over 100 miles in 11 days, I choose the latter. I feel so decadent, pampered. We walk and just when we get tired the bus is there and so is lunch and at the end of the day we are driven to our hotel (except for today where we actually walked to our hotel) where all the arrangements have already been made. Right by our hotel we pass a post that says in Japanese and we can't read all of it, but it says something about a loop in Shikoku and 88 temples. We knew right away that this was an act of friendship from the Japanese to Spain regarding the kinship of the two pilgrimages. We are so touched and warm that we have been able to appreciate both.

We are given our keys and all we have to do is bring up our luggage to our room. Dinners are in the hotel or close by and all the meals have been fantastic. Further, the information given on the tour is so thorough that we should get college credits...assuming we pass the final. It is a luxury that we are not accustomed to but we are enjoying it. I couldn’t imagine a better way to see Spain.

The Camino de Santiago is becoming more and more popular. There are so many walkers and each year the number grows. Fortunately, we have not been impacted by the increasing popularity. We do not have to fight crowds or worry about anything except our own stamina to finish each day. Everything is good and Emi and I cannot be more thankful that we have had this opportunity to be here on this tour. I may hate tours in general but I love this one in particular.