Preparation inertia

I've read countless websites that says you need good hiking boots to complete the Camino. Granted I'm only doing the 100km one, I still think it makes good sense to go in a pair of sturdy boots rather than try to survive with trainers or my pair of Teva sandals. The common advice is also to not walk the Camino in a new pair of shoes but rather to "wear it in" and get it properly seasoned before attempting a long hike with it.

So although the Camino is more than a month away, I decided to get my boots as soon as possible. Headed down to Queensway today with Les, Gil and Apy to try get a pair but despite much searching, the lack of sizes and self imposed price constraints led to me leaving Queensway empty handed. Checked out a few backpacks as well and though I spotted a few that I rather like, I decided to do a price check first before committing myself to one.

So here's the situation. In order to be fully prepared when embarking on this Camino, I need to be prepared in 3 ways. Spritual, Logistical, Fitness.

Logistics: I'm evidently lacking behind in this area. No boots, no backpack, no sleeping bag (anyone wants to lend me a sleeping bag). All I have in preparation is a Lonely Planet book on Spain.
Fitness: A few runs have been done lately but I really should start doing 10km walks in Macritchie in preparation
Spiritual: I would really love to read up more about St James. Understand his spirtuality. And again, I'm nowhere near this.

The only thing I've done which remotely prepares me for the Camino is purchasing the aforementioned Tim Moore book. It does make for rather humourous reading and I've tabbed a few pages contained interesting anecdotes which I shall paintakingly type onto the blog to share with everyone.

For now, do enjoy this video summarising the Camino and Santiago De Compostela.

Naive me

Another thing Rainer mentioned was that to get to Santiago De Compostela, you could choose either to walk this pilgrim route, otherwise known as the Camino, or you could simply take a train direct to the church. He knew about this from reading Tim Moore's book "Travels with My Donkey: One Man and His Ass on a Pilgrimage to Santiago"

Since I had a week to spare between my graduation ceremony and flying home, I figured I could take the pilgrim route and be back in London in time to fly back to Singapore.

How wrong and naive could I be. The original route of the Camino snakes through the northern part of Spain into France. It is 800km long and takes pilgrims about 4 weeks to travel. The path itself sounds fantastic, across the pyrenees and through a vast number of spanish towns, each with its own history and culture. Some also containing relics of various saints.

I'm however constrained by time and so I'm doing the minimal 100km required to receive the Cathedral's certificate of completion, the Compostela.
At the start of the pilgrimage, each pilgrim will be given a passport which we will have stamped along the way as we pass through each town. On arrival at Santiago De Compostela, if the stamps show that you have either a minimum of 100km on foot or 200km on bicycle, you'll be entitled to receive the Compostela. There will also be other benefits attached to the Compostela such as cheap lodgings, discounted airfare out of Santiago and discounted meals.

Of course the C9L2 Storeman/Clerk/Personal Assistant in me does not have a single clue how gruelling or easy this 100km may be. My more able NS friends have told me that it takes about an hr to cover 4km and so judging by that estimation, I'll need about 25 hrs of walking, which split over a 4 day period would mean 6-7 hrs of walking each day. And to add, in the middle of a hot spanish summer.



But in all honesty, the 100km walk itself does not concern me. Rather, what worries me is what I'll be missing out on by not doing the original 800km. A town where red wine flows from a tap? Sounds amazing...

In Rome, the urban myth is that when you toss a coin into the Trevi fountain, you guarantee your return to the eternal city. On my last trip there, I chose not to toss a coin in. Simply because I know no matter what happens, I'll definitely be going back to Rome and I don't need an urban legend to guarantee it.

Likewise, despite having not even embarked on the trip, I know I'll be returning some day to do the 800km route. For now, I'll contend myself with the 100km hor'deurves.

My Camino

4 years ago, Rainer told me of a place in Spain called Santiago De Compostela. I was telling him about my pilgrimage to Rome in 2000 and he recommended Santiago as another place to make a pilgrimage to. As I listened to him describe Santiago, all I could think about was "there's no where in this world that could beat the sight of St Peter's" and then he said something that struck home.

"And they have this incense thing, that's hung to the ceiling and it swings across the whole church"

That was it. I was hooked. As much as a pilgrimage should be inspired by something more spiritual, I was just amazed with the idea of viewing such a phenomenom.

Somehow, in the 4 years that followed, I never really looked into the possiblity of going to Santiago De Compostela. Until now.

In the past few months, friends and fellow uni grads are making their summer travel plans. The graduating batch especially all want to sign off in style and so trips to Ibiza or a round europe trip have been planned. But nothing seemed to entice me. And then one random day studying in the library, I thought about Santiago De Compostela. This is exactly what I'm looking for.

I'm not looking for a reconnection with God as a lot of people like to dramatise it to be. To me, a relationship with God is something nurtured over a period of time, like any other relationship. I don't expect to make this pilgrimage and suddenly see a bright glow of light, be enlightened and raised up to heaven. But I do expect to understand a bit more of myself, of God's plan for me, of God's work throughout the world.


So this is it. My summer plan. Santiago De Compostela.