I am in the big smoke

Ourense, finally a internet site
I broke the day in as usual with 5k´s before sunrise then another 5 k´s as the sun come up I have really been enjoying the mornings I am always first away breaking the trail for the day and usually in at least 2 to 3hours before the next walkers arrive, so I have first choice of the bed.

After Salamanca it was a pretty straight forward 65k´s although it was slower than usual as I had scrubbed my feet back to they bled with a nail brush then soaked them in mecruchrome for 2 days(old SAS method) although I used a half bottle of scotch before the initial scrub, but between that and a pair of silicone innersoles I have gradually started to walk like a normal person although once all that was right my little toe that had bled became infected so I now walk with a slip on shoe with the side cut out and on the right my good shoe on the left but it all works well and thats all that matters.
From Zamora the weather has been perfect clear blue skies but only max at 35 c and that is late in the afternoon so I was able to walk most of the day but I still found myself doing 30 plus kñs by lunchtime it was straight forward walking from the floodplains then up to the first catchment area on the rio Else followed that up and over the dam and across to another catchment on the river negro I was able to swim everyday even though water was frezzing it was good on the feet.
Fields of corn,sunflowers ans maize had replaced the lunar landscapes that preceded salamanca.
I was getting km fever again after a number of 40k´s and from a small town Tabara I thought I would push to 46k to a village(my book said a bed )but when I arrived it had closed down and the next bed was 10km away so of I set the longest 10k ever I struggled in on unbelievably sore feet to find a pool on the river it was late but it did not matter I was in there and I am sure it helped, I vowed there would be no more 50k´s.
I have stayed in Alburges for the last 10 days as that has been the only thing available most have been really good but with still not a person speaking english it becomes tedious trying to communicate the last few days I have slept in the disabled room to get away from the spanish as they do not stop talking, still I have managed some good times a german couple could understand a bit and we had dinner together, I had dinner with 4 mountain bikers(touring) which is very big over here, but after a tedious hour of communicating we reverted to shouting a famous sporting name then sculling our drinks they would go "sergio garcia" we would all cheer and drink I would respond "cadel evans" etc etc etc, we were all legless but much laughter. The mountain bikers have spread the word and I have a name "the australian kangaroo" because they cannot believe the distances I walk or the speed that I do them as I am the only aussie on the track when I register it is always "you the kangaroo". The last 6 days has been the most enjoyable all in the mountains it has been very taxing physically in fact 30k´s is it the mountain passes have been extremely steep at times 1600m straight up, the mountain bikers have to carry their bikes it is so steep they have impressed me with their ability to take their bikes where we have walked although they do take advantage of the downhills. The walk has taken me through villages lost in time and that is exactly the way they want it, some villages only have 1 or 2 families now living there as it is to difficult to survive but once a year they return from all over the world clean their houses out and set about having a fiesta quite incredible to have that sort of feeling for your birthplace. Each village has a fountain as you enter and leave with a major one in the centre of town as well as a washing pool which are still used and is how i have been doing my washing you scrub it on the cement side it is incredible how well it works. These fountains run 24 hours a day and the water is delightful yet south of salamanca the same setup but none of the fountains has had any water for many, many years. In some villages donkeys and carts are used for firewood etc they have wooden wheels and axles I fossicked around in some ruins there are things we would have in museums but here!
I spend my early evenings in the bars always 2 or 4 in a village I just people watch everyone smokes and in every bar there is at least one person with a throat box from cancer but it does not seem to worry anyone, they engage me as best I can but it is always the same Si, Seville to Santiago, si australian, it has become tedious but enjoyable at the same time. Everyone outside of the large towns grows there own vegetables etc they are out tilling as I pass in the morning there is always a cheerful response to my call of "Buenos" I must call first though other wise nothing.
Every spaniard has a dog, most have two dogs then again nearly all have 3 or more dogs and they bark incessantly on my passing but are always behind good fencing and have been no worries.
The church and the state which is pretty close seem to keep nationalism to the fore virtually no internet out of the towns and television is solely spanish the newspapers seem to carry very little overseas news unless directly related to spain. Most people have said they would like to learn english but do not have the opportunity.
To give you some idea of the hills I have just encountered over the last 130k´s there was a railway line running basically along the same route it had over 120 tunnels.
I have seen more churches,crosses and symbols of christianity then can be imagined but it seems to please some and that matters as for myself, the crisp, dense mountain air that seems as though you have to push through it of a morning, the quiteness of the open track, dramatic vistas on all sides as I walk, being a voyuer of people as they go about their chores and daily lives in the same manner as their fathers and fathers before that did, but still having to maintain my own disciplines to make everyday run as smooth as possible, in other words the washing as soon as I arrive at my destination, organising food and water for the next day having the backpack in the right manner as to gain access to the things I may need. Simple things but they have made a memorable walk, still not there but 3 walking days left and I will be in Santiago but lets not think about that!
I am staying in a hostal today in the old centre of town it is quite lovely so I will enjoy the few hours and eat and drink merrily, which brings me to a point I now believe I was born with a beer gut after 23 days of consecutive marathons it is still there so one can only assume it is there forever.
I hope this finds everyone in as good spirits as I feel and I am in, Life can only be lived through actions, actions will give a response.

Ian

Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living."