Spain 2018, part 4 (Way of St James: Arrés – Ruesta)
The path I took to climb to the top of the hill on which the village of Arrés is situated leads directly to the pilgrims’ albergue and I registered at once, but in order to sort myself out, I first had to go to a nearby bar/restaurant/hostel where my big backpack was actually taken. For some reason the Post Office serves only that one place in Arrés. I barely managed to drag myself to the bar, took my big backpack and returned to the albergue.
I hadn’t stayed at mountain huts or hostels for quite some time, and this is a similar facility. So, I selected a lower bed, leaving my things there, went to take a shower and to wash the clothes I wore that day. I was so tired and exhausted that I could barely manage to do anything at all. Like all the others, I put my laundry out on drying racks that were set up on the other side of the house where it was also sunny, so it all got dry very quickly.
Afterwards I asked the hosts to help me organise the transportation of the big backpack for the next day and very kindly they did. They also said that at 6 pm they would take the pilgrims for a visit of the local church that was less than 100 m away, but I had no strength even for something like that. Instead, I sat on one of the chairs in front of the albergue in order to try to recuperate.
As it turned out, this was the only place I stayed at during my entire Way which had no fixed price, either for the accommodation or for possible food. It actually functions on the principle of donations – you pay what you think you should. There is a box for the purpose and it suffices to put the money in. There are more places like that along the Way, but I just did not happen to stay at them. This albergue, however, did not have an internet connection, but I had to use the one provided by the local cultural and social centre. I could access the wi-fi connection by going out and sitting on a low exterior wall which like a bench goes around the centre, while right in front of it there is the street. Still, no vehicles passed there, so I could do nicely what I wanted to do.
Day 4: “Why am I doing this?”
I did not praise the Post Office in vain yesterday. In addition to the parcel with my things which I sent to Santiago to wait for me there, the guy at the counter also proposed to me another service which they offer. I had already heard of this before, but I did not deal with it a lot. However, keeping in mind my experience from the first two days, I was delighted now. This concerned the service in which the Post Office offers to transport your luggage to the next destination and to the place where you are going to stay, i.e., a door-to-door service. When I returned to my room, I immediately sent an e-mail and to cut a long story short, my big backpack was transported by somebody else and not me. Let’s not kid ourselves, I would have been screwed if I carried it myself regardless of those minus 4.5 kg. Still, since the weather forecast said there could be some showers in the afternoon, I had to put more things into my small backpack so I still ended up with some 6-7 kg, but that was in any case significantly better than if I carried it all myself. By the way, the price for today’s distance was 5 euros!!!
Of course, at some point I did ask myself: “Why am I doing this?” wondering at the same time if I was cheating by having somebody else transport my big backpack. The answer was very simple – I love to walk. Burdening myself with a huge number of kilos was not important at all. I was not here to pay for some sins, not that I don’t have them, but if I wanted to bring some balance into my spiritual state through some torment, I might have as well stayed at home and flagellate myself. Hopefully it would work.
Still, for those of you who are expecting me to come back with some kind of a halo around my head (although I would not bet on that myself), I’m starting with my lessons from the Way:
Lesson 1: “It is easier to carry 6 kg than 20 kg.”
In front of me: 812 km
Behind me: 55 km
I must mention that although they did not mind my desire to give them lessons and fully appreciating my jocular tone, a lot of my friends reacted by replying: “You don’t say?!!”, “Tell us about it.” For this reason, I feel the need to defend my lesson. It is not just some general story known to all since way back when. The figures were not selected randomly, but were firmly founded on my hard and painfully gained experience. So, the lesson has its weight (there, again some weight!). On the other hand, the lesson may also serve symbolically for the surpluses of any kind which we carry on our backs and which we need to get rid of – just look at how many people complain about all sorts of back pains. And, as a supplement to my lesson, let me conclude: make a general makeover of your life and get rid of all the unnecessary surpluses!
But, let me go back to Arrés. At 8 pm we had a community dinner which we had to sign up for when registering and actually everybody had signed up for it, which was nice, but for me it was primarily a rather tasty experience. I was essentially quite unaware of the people I was sitting with at the same table, since I was so tired that I only had a sensation of floating. That first day I remembered only Beli (from Spain), since she was sitting outside at the same time as I, and Angela (from Italy) who came to the albergue half an hour after me and asked me where she should register.
Still, after the dinner, I did walk to a couple of nearby viewpoints (all of them less than 100 m away), since the surroundings were truly beautiful, lit by the setting sun, and I wanted to record this before going to bed.
I really enjoyed the dinner and thought I would sleep well that night, but actually I had problems with some completely unexpected and puzzling dry cough, so eventually I slept poorly, as well as little. Already at 5:30 some people in my room started to become active, so in the next hour or so, I only dozed, but then I got up and got dressed.
Before moving on, I spoke for a while with a man from Barcelona who finished his walking around nature right there in Arrés and I complained to him about my problems with blisters, so he gave me some advice, as well as the remains of his personal travel pharmacy. With time I will learn that this is a common habit on the Way.
I brought my big backpack to the bar-hostel where it had been delivered to me the night before and I was a little confused, as well as worried, since there was absolutely nobody there. I had been shown the night before where to leave the backpack, but it still seemed quite odd to me just to leave it in some side hallway. Yet, there was nothing else for me to do then, I left my backpack as instructed, returned to the albergue, took the rest of my things and moved on. That day, I was the last to leave the albergue.
In front of me, there was a stage of around 28 km. The Way passes near villages Martes and Mianos, but in order to get to their respective centres, it is necessary to get off the track and climb a hill. So, this was out. On the other hand, in order to get to Artieda where I knew there was a bar-restaurant, there are around 18 km, so my walking was really arduous.
The situation was partially alleviated by the landscapes through which I was passing. Once you leave Arrés, the Way leads between huge grain fields, the path is wide and mildly inclined, and so it was relatively easy to go there. In addition, I had left at 7:10 and it was really nice to walk in the freshness of the morning. At some point I saw a pilgrim from the albergue in front of me, I was not sure who it was, but I did not try to catch up. I only stopped every now and then in order to take photos of the wonderful areas I was walking through.
Admittedly, when I came to a large modern granary-type of construction, I came across Beli who was just leaving and who was in fact the pilgrim that was walking in front of me. We greeted and then she went on having rested already, while I stayed there and for a while enjoyed the shade created by the granary.
Later at some point I came across another pilgrim from the albergue (Ulrike, a German lady) who was sitting in some shade by the Way and resting. We exchanged greetings and I slowly started to understand how it all goes. Everybody leaves when they want, mostly very early in the morning, and then people make a stop where it suits them and make breaks when it suits them.
So, soon after, I came across a small river crossed over by a bridge that was the Way, but I went down to the river, took off my hiking boots and enjoyed the chilly waters. Then, on the other side of the river, in the shade under the bridge I noticed Beli, so we waved to each other and then she followed my example, taking her shoes off and enjoying the river.
In a while I continued with my walk and then I came across Angela, a 23-year old pilgrim from Italy. She was also sitting in some shade and resting. The point is that the Sun was shining in all of its glory, it was the end of June, which meant that it was very hot.
I focused on my goal of the moment and this time it was the village of Artieda in which there was a bar! That was a real goal. Actually, I came there together with Isabel (Beli) whom I met again during the walk and as it turned out the bar had a fantastic shaded terrace, so taking a beer there was the proper form of refreshment. We were soon joined by Angela.
I ordered a sandwich here and it was very tasty. Isabel was the first one to leave and after some time Angela and I followed suit. She had finished her basic studies of architecture and was getting ready to start with her master studies, but she needed English for that (which she already spoke very well). For me, this was great since it allowed me to let my brain rest for a while, plus I thought I may help her with some advice, so we continued walking speaking English all the time.
This afternoon there were still almost 10 km to be covered and at some point Angela and I missed a turn, since we could not discern the official yellow arrow, so we decided to continue straight and when we got to a dead end had to turn back. Occasionally we walked close to an artificial lake on the Aragon and it all continued to be beautiful, but the day was really long and it was all too strenuous for me.
Finally we did see remains of some medieval castle or fort, I still did not know what it was, and it turned out to be Ruesta, our destination for the day. Other than the pilgrims’ hostel, there are only a couple of other houses left in function. All the rest are ruins, but they seemed fantastic.
A good portion of the ruins was fenced off and it seemed they were undergoing restoration. Because of the pains in my feet I tried to avoid making any steps other than the ones necessary for functioning, so I didn’t go to see the ruins better, but later I learned that these are remains of an 11th-century castle. The village is rather off the beaten track, even when travelling by car, but it certainly seemed very attractive and interesting.
Although this day I reached the albergue as late as 5:30 pm and although my feet with blisters and a couple of bruised toes hurt a lot, after taking a shower, washing my clothes and having a short rest, I realised my body was not as tired as the day before. I was very glad about it and the internet worked perfectly, so I could easily post my thoughts for the day.
Day 5: “Am I out of my mind?”
When one is on a spiritual journey of any kind, it is normal that there are questions. I guess this is the case with me now. Last evening when I was preoccupied with getting my body back to a functional state I felt something was “on my mind.” It was only later in the evening when I lay in the bed, in the frenzy of impressions, physical exhaustion and problems with falling asleep that I realised what this was about. It was one of the essential questions: “Am I out of my mind?” I guess that’s why I could not fall asleep easily.
Although the question persevered until the dawn, when some people with whom I shared the room in the pilgrims’ hostel started to get packed and what not already at 5:30 am, there was no answer, but the question still kept hanging above my head.
In such a mood I continued with my journey today thinking about how I love to walk (as I have already said) and then I thought if I love to walk that much why don’t I go to the Danube (I live close by) and walk my heart out there and not come here where with sleep deprivation and painful feet I drag myself along some paths and trails. And thus, completely unexpectedly, I came to Lesson no. 2:
”If you like doing something, don’t complicate things and do it in the simplest way.”
I can see that I’m quite good with this Guru who has been hiding in me for all these years, just waiting to pop out. Who knows what else she’s going to come up with.
In front of me: 785 km
Behind me: 82 km
In this section of the Way, the Post Office transports the luggage from place to place only on workdays and since the following day was Saturday, this turned out to be a problem. The local taxis also want to transport the luggage to the next destination, but they charge 43 euros! Still, I managed to negotiate with the host of the albergue a significantly more favourable price, so this was also settled in a satisfactory manner and I could be more relaxed and more really present when socialising with the other pilgrims. At 8 pm we were again all together having dinner and this was great. Both the dinner and the company. These were actually all the same people with whom I shared the accommodation the previous night, but I was starting to get to know them better now.
That night I slept poorly and insufficiently again, but I was still determined to get up and start earlier in the morning.