El Camino Day 4 Melide to Arzua - 14 kms
After a good nights rest recovering from the excesses the evening before we woke up as scheduled and took stock of the injuries. Apparantly people had recovered somewhat and since we had only a small walk today, we did not to visit any medical facilties.
After a good breakfast we took to the Camino in rain with our hoods from the start. Everyone is now so used to the rain capes that its now part of our routine.
This stage of the walk came as a surprise in that we walked during long periods through beautiful countryside with absolute silence. All the senses were in full function, and all the natural sounds such as birds, flowing brooks and the blood rushing through the veins were creating a deafening roar in my ears. It was as if the ears were using automatic adjustment of volume in the absence of sound.
I was listening to the sounds of silence.
At one point I could hear a stream but could not see where it was. I followed the sound and saw a small stream flowing under a head of vegetation with a beautiful meadow and an idyllic place to meditate and forget the world. I wondered how many pilgrims had stood at the very spot and took a few deep breaths to absorb the energy of the spot.
Later we came to a small town and the smallest sounds were deafening to my ears used to the silence. A hedge trimmer was like a chain saw and a car going by was like a plane taking off.
It stopped raining, more wonderful nature, a Frenchman with his bags on a donkey, and getting almost runover by a car while I listened to The Byrds' I was so much older then, I am younger than that now with tears rolling down my face......
This experiece is infectious and I can see how some people get hooked on doing this for long periods.
By 11am we had already reached our destination, and nearly carried on as we could not believe how quickly the walk was over for today.
We are now 38 kms from the end and two medium walks will see us in Santiago on Saturday!
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