33/38 All systems go!

I woke up feeling much better with a calm and pain free stomach. I checked my emails one more time before I went to the bus station. My house sale transactions were finally completed after weeks of frustrating delays. The road was cleared of all obstacles, I had cleared a lot of excess baggage, hopefully my body had had enough time to heal.

Video still: signing in at Sarria

By one pm I arrived in Sarria, the town where I resumed walking. I was looking for El Camino when a man came up to me and pointed in the right direction with a “buen Camino”. I was back! After one month of moments like these, his well wishes still overwhelmed me.

Video still: El Camino Frances

I could not believe how many hundreds of pilgrims there were out there. I did not mind a bit, it was a privilege, a very humbling privilege. The first night in a full albergue was just wonderful. I connected with quite a few pilgrims, who would become familiar faces from that day forward. I was given beautifully cooked wild mushrooms by a French pilgrim, a young German pilgrim allowed me to throw my socks in with his dryer load, met an English one with a most unusual name and a matching personality, another German pilgrim gave me natural clay bandages that cleared the last of my tendonitis without the risk of life threatening side effects.

It was raining all day, but I was singing all the way, so happy, no not happy, elated to be walking again. Walking meant celebrating not bleeding anymore. Walking meant celebrating life.