Coming down the mountain

When I awoke the next morning it was a little before 8:00 and Antonello and Tori were leaving. When I was getting my stuff together I was reminded, rather firmly, by the owner of the Albergue that leaving time was at 8:00 and he seemed to blame my whole country for the lateness. It was an interesting human interaction for sure.

I met Antonello and Tori at the next café for breakfast. There I said goodbye to Antonello and this time I don't think I'll catch up with him. We were both still a little sick and this would prove to be a most interesting day. I and Tori stayed and chatted with a mother and son from Australia. I still had almost no energy and that was reflected in my communication skills.

I and Tori started walking and immediatly I had to poo. But this was no ordinary poo, this felt about as liquid as my pee. I barely held it in. There is a saying in Icelandic: "Ad ganga i haegdum sinum!" and loosly translated it means to walk while one has to shit. That's what I looked like. It was about 2,5 km's to the next town and sure enough when I stopped there and got to a toilet my suspicions were confirmed; I had diarrhea.

Some say that this day and the walk up to La Faba are supposed to be the hardest part of the journey. Those people started somewhere after Saint-Jean-Pied-De-Port and have not walked from there to Roncesvalles. But I'll give them that this mountainous area is pretty steep and hard and that walking it while having diarrhea and being sick to boot, brings it a little closer.

It's about a 2,5 km distance from one town to another on the top of the mountain and I stopped at them all and sure enough I had to poo. As soon as we started walking again I had to shit again and so I walked with my ass firmly clasped. It was an interesting experience to say the least. The mountainous area was so beautiful but it's awe eluded me a bit as my pain, my diarrhea and my fever sort of clouded my mind. But I wanted off this mountain for some reason and Tori was giving me all the energy I needed. She didn't mind all the breaks I took, she was so consoling, comforting but still energetic and driven. I'd say I got through the day on borrowed energy.

We met some wonderful people along the way, like the Irish man who had traveled all across Asia and my favorite man from Brazil, but I had no energy to really soak in all the great experiences. I had some croissants for breakfast but I couldn't really eat anything substantial after that. At the top of the mountain Tori wanted some Doritos. I thought I could maybe stomach them so she bought me a small one. Slowly slowly I finished my small bag and had to hurry back to the bathroom. At that time I finally said that it was time for Imodium, I couldn't afford to dehydrate and I couldn't have to poop the whole time we were walking. "Ad ganga i haegdum sinum" is not a fun experience. And thank god for Imodium!!!

We came down the mountain at about 19:00 and arrived in Triacastela. We had walked 26 km's in a very steep mountainous region all the way from La Faba and we had done it in my condition. I'd say it was an achievement for Tori as well because of the "added weight" she had to pull with her!

When we got to Triacastela the Albergue's were all full. We walked from Albergue to Albergue to find a place and at the last one we got a bunkbed to stay in. One of us could have stayed at some of the Albergue's we saw but we started the journey together and we would end it together. Kasha was also there and so was a cool Argentinian man we met the day before. Tori had dinner with them and I tried to have my juice with them but I couldn't keep my head up or eat anything at all. I was finished. I went up to bed and fell asleep. Before that we had heard from Antonello. He was feeling sick too and had puked twice that day. He still powered on and I think he walked 40 km's that day. He has to be in Santiago the 19th and I hope he makes it. Ultreia my hermano, Ultreia!!!

I had done it. I don't know why I wanted off the mountain. As we were coming down the mountain there was a thunderstorm following us. It was covering the whole mountain. It was a beautiful coincidence for sure! :)