Le Chemin de Saint Jacques de Compostelle

I have typed out a lot of my journal I kept along the walk. It is somewhat entertaining to me to read back through it as it reminds me of how exhausted and all the different things I went through. The journaling really had a lack of structure, but it is realistic of how I felt and what I was capable of writing after packing 20+KM a day. Although after the first few days I definitely progressed on my writing ability ;)

27th March 2010:
So yesterday I traversed over the Pyrenees by foot from St. Jean Pied de Port. I really enjoyed the bus ride in the rain through the darling Basque French countryside. When we were on the bus several people got off on different stops, but the only travelers who stayed on were myself, several other girls and a middle-aged man with his mother, who I later saw making the hike as well.

Retrojournaling:
So the first day there was loads of wind and sun and a steep mountain traverse. I had met some girls off the bus and then we had had dinner together, Alissa, Frances, Amanda, the photographer from Vancouver, and myself. The first walking day we had shared most of the walk and made it in under 8 hours, despite the wind and our packs. It was gorgeous but I do remember being focused on the goal of just continuing while listening to my body. We had been told it would be the hardest day and more or less it has been. It wasn’t as pleasant because of the wind, but it was incredible. We met some other people on the way Sasha, the Hungarian with excellent English, and Mark, Ko, and others. We went to a shared dinner and pilgrim’s mass with more of the pilgrims. At mass the priest’s blessed us in our many different languages and then we went back to the hostel. There was a choir of snorers, being in one large dormitory with something like 100 bunk beds. I had some weird dreams and there were some rude women speaking loudly because they couldn’t sleep, but I have slept better since.