Day 10 Camino de Santiago July 15, Ventosa

We're now in the heart of one of the most prolific wine growing regions in Spain and if we are walking about 6.5 hours a day, 6.49 are through vineyards.  The grapes are beautiful, but green as green can be. Probably need to come back in a couple of months.  Along one fence, someone had made countless crucifixes out of sticks and twine and tied them to a fence.

 Towns are between 2 and 10 kilometers apart and can often be seen from about 5 k away.   The first thing you notice is the cathedral.  Lot's of people in Spain bicycle and since the Tour de France is going on, people are biking on the trail constantly.

 




  And now for a lesson perspective.  This is a picture of snail all over anise plants.  I thought, "Hmmmm....I wonder if the farmer planted the anise plants an little did he know that he would also make a little money off of the snails, or did he know that snails love anise plants and he makes a little money off of the anise plants?"

  These are the hiking poles that Luis left for me.  Kevin says they make walking easier by 15 - 20%, however, I think it's more like 16 - 21%.  Actually, they've been a life saver for me.  

 






 Simple pleasures for a simple person - sucking on straw.  Actually, it tastes good and keeps my mouth moist while walking.

"Once in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew and had to live on water and food for countless days!"  W. C. Fields

Day 9 Camino de Santiago July 14th, Logrono

I give you a Liverpoolian - Kevin.  Great guy.  Social worker traveling for about six months.  Sounds more Irish than what I think English sound.  Great stories and storyteller.  For example:

People from Liverpool are called Scouces from an old word that means stew which the locals eat.  People from Newcastle are called Geordies because the coal miners in Newcastle and only Newcastle use a type of head lamp made by Geordie, but here is the best one- the people from Hartley are called Monkey Hangers because during one of the wars with France a French ship crashed off the coast of Hartlepool and the only survivor was a monkey who the locals hung...as a spy!!

Today was a nice short walk, only 12 k to the town of Logrono, the third biggest on the Trail.  It's a city of 150,000 and is extremely clean.  Which doesn't explain the Restaurant Bacteria.

Right next to the Restaurant Bacteria was the Bar El Dorado, which is cool, but why have a picture of the Duke from his movie, "The Quiet Man"???  

    




Along the trail, many reminders pop up now and then to remind you that it is a religious Trail, regardless of the other reasons people have for hiking it.  This was a shrine to the Virgin Mary. 

It was right after this that we saw a guy named Raj, who we had had dinner with the night before, walking toward us, toward Logrono, but without a pack.  I figured that he had said, "Bugger this stuff!!!"  Thrown his pack away and was off to catch a bus. He had left his wallet in the Auberge and had to walk back two hours and get it!  

There is a beautiful lake on the trail, which is odd, because the day before I had just said to Kevin, "Kevin, I haven't seen a lake yet!"  

   









After the lake there was a "famous" pilgrim who was stamping people's credencia and giving away fruit and walking canes....just because he was a nice guy!   People do nice things like that on the trail for no reason.  

The other day, I saw a guy sitting outside my hotel that I had passed by many times in the last week and he is traveling with 10 other Germans.  He saw that I was tired and said, "Sit down and have a drink!"  I told him that I would as soon as I got checked in.  After checking in and showering, I went outside and he was still there.  I got a drink and then after awhile, went to the restroom.  When I returned, he was gone and one of the girls said, "Walter paid for your drink."  I'm going to have to remember this trick!!

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.

Sir Winston Churchill

The Safari - Day 2 Zagora

Day 2 of the Safari meant driving across southern Morocco to near the Algerian border and eventually to the town of Zagora, where we would hop on camels and go about 6 miles into the desert and get a taste of Berber nomad life.  To do that we had to wear something to shield the wind from stinging our face, hence the Lawrence of Arabia look.

 



But this is Morocco and there is always time to wait....and wait...and wait... and we did and decided to have tea.  Me being a germaphobe, makes it difficult to drink out of glass that may have not been properly washed since... well since it was blown in a factory.  However, that is one of my goals, to be a bit less germaphobic and it begins in trusting that my body, over the years, has built up some immunities.  I was also quite thirsty.




   I can't imagine what the Berber guides must be thinking... actually, I can and it must be something like this:
a) let me get this straight. You gringos own big homes with comfortable air conditioned bedrooms with a nice bed and shower... and you pay money to sleep in a giant tent with 20 other gringos with smelly feet?
b) We're trying to earn our way into civilization and you gringos, think that it's "fun" to live like we suffer.  Amazing!?!?!

  Our main guide Ahmad was quite an amazing person. He could speak Spanish, Arabic, Berber, French, English, German and a bit of Japanese... and he was earning about 10 bucks a day.

Our secondary guide could only speak three languages, Berber, Arabic, and French.  He wasn't as friendly as Ahmad, but warmed up over the time.  I think I know what set him off.  I couldn't ride a camel because it takes the manhood out of me in a very painful way.  I have a long trip ahead of me and have no desire to be neutered along the way.  I told Ahmad that I'd walk and he gave me the reins of the 10 camels, which were all tied together and I led them.  We talked quite a bit along the way.

   



The Brits all rode camels...but then they ARE Brits.  Okay, I'm just having fun with them.



















Everyone was complaining of the pain, but me.  Smart move for once. See, I can make good decisions!!  It was difficult to walk up even the smallest sand dune, but knowing that I would not have the opportunity too often, it was fun.  I decided to wear sandals instead of my hiking boots.  Good decision #2 because the sand was so fine it got into everything.  Several of the Brits cameras stopped working because of the sand.
     We went into the desert to see a sunrise and stayed in tents that had 6 bedsides in them.  The beds were just layers of blankets.  Glad I bought my sheet.

     For dinner, we ate in the main "mess hall" tent and had couscous and chicken...  A lot of couscous and a wee bit of chicken.  The bathroom was better than I expected.  Still had squat toilets, but at least there were toilets.  Not much water so everything just kind of hung around...if you get my drift.

    At night, the Berbers, all six of them, played their instruments and some people, with the aid of hash, danced like they knew what they were doing.  I was quite content being a wall flower, though I must admit I admired the uninhibited people.

   Early came early, though we stayed up till 2 in the morning and looked at a gazillion stars.  Nothing like seeing stars to make a person feel rather insignificant.

    The sunrise was awesome and worth getting up with only a few hours of sleep.   I took several pictures of the camels who somehow looked more tired than me.  We left the camp within 25 minutes of waking and that included eating "breakfast".

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.

Sir Winston Churchill

 

Ait Benhaddou - Morocco - June, 2012

Ait Benhaddou, Morocco  June 2012

Today was the first day of the safari and our first legitimate stop was to the old town of Ait Benhaddou.  I say legitimate because we made several stops at shacks along the way to get a drink, go to the bathroom, all of which are squat toilets.  I'm sure that Mohammed got a kick back.  More power to him.

    You've probably never heard of Ait Benhaddou, but you've seen it many times, unless you've been in a cave or never seen a movie.  It's where many great movies were partially filmed, "Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, and the list goes on.

I don't usually take photos of garbage cans, however, Ait Benhaddou had one... and that was rare to see in Morocco.  Funny, I had to go to a ghost town to see a garbage can.  

As tourist, we learn that the UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has taken over control of the Ait Benhaddou site and it does many things to protect it from the ravages of time and the greed of mankind.  You are allowed to wander the streets, but you must have a guide with you.  Fair enough.  I've seen what not having a guide can do to archaeological sites, and for that matter, what guides taking bribes can do to sites.  If it means employing one more person, good enough for me.

I think this ol' feller has been around since the original gladiators fought.  He earned a few dirham for sitting in the sun, playing music, and making the world a better place.  Thanks, mister.

There were about 450 people living here, but they've all been moved to across the river because during the flood season, they couldn't cross.  Now there are about 25 people who still live here as caretakers.  The people are berbers and don't like being told where they can come and go.  Who does...but get in line!

UNESCO wants to make Ait Benhaddou as authentic as possible.  So they are destroying anything that  has been put there artificially, such as the gates used in Lawrence of Arabia.  The arena that was built for Gladiator has been completely destroyed and nowadays looks like an open field with a bit of a depression in it.  I understand UNESCO"s thought line, but really?? you couldn't just have a sign that says, "added for the Gladiator scene"?  How many tourist are going to come here if it's just another set of ruins.  Marketing 101 fellas!!  If you really want it to be in it's original state, level it.  The locals have been fighting for many years to keep Lawrence's gates!

The world isn't black and white, UNESCO, despite that we want it to be.

 "Don't be afraid of giving away power, because only the powerful can give away power." -SWB

Day 8 Camino de Santiago July 13th Viana

Camino de Santiago July 13, 2012 Day 8

We, Kevin and I, hiked 18K today to the town of Viana.  On the patio, people had written their favorite mottos.  I wrote mine... see it later.  If you know me, you won't be surprised.








We've decided that we are going to be "guided" by our guidebook, not "dictated" by it!  Big difference.  It gives a distance of how far you need to travel each day if you want to complete the trail in 30 days or so.  Well...... we're not in a competition.  Life is good on the trail.  Lest you think I'm eating gruel out of tin cups and sleeping in sweat holes with roaches and vermin, think again.




   

I thought the food would look like something out of Monty Python, but no, no, no!!  Every morning there are bakeries, and that means cafe con leche and fresh hot croissants.  Dinners are out of this world good and not just because we've been hiking 8 hours a day.

 My shirt is soaked and sometimes I think, "Cripes!   I could fly the camino in one hour in a jet!  What am I doing?"  But then I think of the great people I've met.  The fun dinners where the wine and/or beer is flowing and people are laughing!"  And I know the next day I'm going to get a great workout!  Exercise and good food.  Two of life's staples!!  And the trail?  beautiful flowers abound...like wild artichokes.



















 We've decided that we're not going to be like certain northern Europeans that we won't mention, however, everything seems to be a competition to them.  When they ask you how far have you hiked today, they don't really care.  They just want to tell you how far they've hiked, which is farther than you've hiked.  It's very competitive... but only if you are in the race?  I'm not.

    The views of castles in the distance framed by almond trees is special.  Not many of them back in the old home town.  I won't be here forever, so I have to take the time to enjoy them.

Many times, you come across little things that people have done, in the spirit of just being nice, like making an arrow on the trail out of rocks to show the way, or making a smiley face out of rocks to make you laugh... or building a two person hut with a bottle of wine inside, just in case you get caught in wicked storm.  It would be fun to get caught in a storm in this mini castle with the right person, no?

Not a bad way to have dinner every night...al fresco?  A Pilgrim's Menu is three servings- salad, entree and dessert!  While hiking!! I can't get over it!!

   







Aviana is no metropolis, but they do have an art museum, featuring local art.  It was right across the restaurant where I was sitting and I first noticed it because of the building.  Stunning.  The art work wasn't 1/2 bad either.  A nice relief from the dusty trail.