Walking on a sine wave

15.25 miles, 35067 steps, 6 hours

Started the Camino in Triacastela which is 135Kms from Santiago. It took me an entire day to reach the starting point after landing in Madrid. The train to Sarria was 7 hours after my flight landed and I used the time to explore Retiro Park in Madrid as well as a hop on hop off bus tour. The train ride was supposed to take 4.5 hours. However once we reached Ourense, I found out the track was shutdown. All train passengers were transferred to a bus that came an hour later which took us to the next station 40 minutes away. Then we got in a small 2 coach train and reached Sarria at 9.15 pm. Reached Triacastela 30 minutes later in a Taxi.

The next morning I woke up bright and early at 5 am to start the walk at 6 am only to see that it was pitch dark. There was no way I was going to walk through forested hills alone so I went to a bar for breakfast. By 6.30am, I was anxious to start but was hesitant as I couldn’t figure out where the path was. Suddenly a young Spanish couple appeared and started talking to me. When they heard it my first day, they offered to walk with me and that is how my journey started. I walked with them for the next 5 miles through forests, small abandoned villages, fields and streams. Sunrise came and everything looked even more beautiful in those first morning rays. We crossed just 2 other peregrinos ( pilgrims) during the walk and reached Samos with its beautiful monastary. They stopped for breakfast while I continued ahead towards Sarria after cafe con leche.

Finally, I was walking alone and the feeling of being on the way was surreal. I was pinching myself as it felt like being in a dream. The dream was broken when I was called by a man behind me. I stopped and realized very quickly that this person was creepy. He kept asking my name and saying Mui Guapa. I told him I didn’t want to talk to him and called my husband asking him to stay on the phone. It was scary to be accosted like this in the middle of nowhere and thankfully I ran into another pilgrim a few minutes later. This was the only such incident during my entire 6 day walk and a reminder that one can never let their guard down. Made it to Sarria by 1 pm in 104F heat. I was exhausted but happy that Day 1 was on track.