Day 22, thoughts of the Camino.

Hola, well it has been 22 days of walking and our walking conversation has turned to sharing thoughts about the mental and physical challenges of walking for so long. After 22 days of the albergue lifestyle, the daily routine, and knowing that Santiago will be here in 10 days, we are being careful to not get too elated yet or to give up. Mentally the communal (sp) lifestyle can get to you, no private time, take your shower, do the laundry, go shop and prepare for the next day, many of us would like to sleep in for a change also. :) It´s funny though because after you do the chores and you have the time to share beers or vino with others, relax, have dinner, and just chill, you become ready for the next day and all of it´s challenges. Physically the Camino is a challenge as well, the daily pounding of your feet on rocks, gravel, hot pavement, etc. does not allow healing time for blisters or injuries but yet we walk on! The Camino cares for us and lately it tests us as well, I am anxious to reach Santiago but it is still about 162 miles away. Today was very fun, we walked from Astorga to Foncebadon, about 32km. I walked with my Camino friend PK, he is from Korea, he is 25, and he is very smart. He is learning English, French, and Spanish as he walks the Camino, we have had pretty good conversations for sure, always smiles and laughs. Foncebadon is very cool, it is a tiny mountain town, there are bulls, goats, chickens, etc. just wandering all through the town, by your hanging laundry or your outside table, very cool. I´m staying in an albergue that is a restored stone building, it has 1 toilet and 1 shower for 35 people but it is fun. I´m having dinner here, there are only 2 choices for dinner, no town store but we have beautiful views everywhere, it is at 1450 meters altitude, life is good. The road in town is dirt and rocks, I think you need a good car or jeep to live here. The hike today was full of elevation gains and losses with the last 6km uphill to Foncebadon. Yesterday we walked from Villavante to Astorga, it was an easy 23km walk. Astorga is beautiful, very many sacred sites, a Catedral, and much to see, I really enjoyed the afternoon there and took many nice pictures, the albergue was huge but crowded. I´m not sure if I mentioned this before but many places in Spain do not have toilet seats, you sit on the toilet, different and cold, lol! Buen Camino!