I miss you guys

[Gwaihir]

I haven´t actually met any of you, but I miss you anyway.

I hesitated to get the forum patch but the postage was too expensive. Even so you could have easily recognized me.
I was the one with the wild hermit look who carried a way-too-long-staff.

Whenever I walked past tourists they would stare at me as though I came from another world

The upside of walking very remote areas (I crossed the Morvan and the Auvergne national park) is that you have the entire world to yourself. I slept in albergues a few times but carried my tent, which was a welcome escape from the snorers.

The downside is that I did not get to meet a lot of pilgrims. There were some adventurers I met from the US. And a guy in Santiago who was sailing the world. And two dutch pilgrims who shared a bit of the journey with me.

But that´s about it. Next time I might stay in albergues more

 

[lovingkindness]

Hello @Gwaihir

I haven´t actually met any of you, but I miss you anyway.

That’s nice….

I hesitated to get the forum patch but the postage was too expensive. Even so you could have easily recognized me.
I was the one with the wild hermit look who carried a way-too-long-staff.

…and I was the one wearing a black knee-length rubbish bag….

Whenever I walked past tourists they would stare at me as though I came from another world

Ditto

The upside of walking very remote areas (I crossed the Morvan and the Auvergne national park) is that you have the entire world to yourself…..

That resonates with me. I find it such a relief to be physically alone. Something inside unclenches.

I slept in albergues a few times but carried my tent, which was a welcome escape from the snorers.

Hmm, snorers. Did you know that the composer Alban Berg included a snoring scene in his opera ‘Wozzec’ (Act 2, scene 5 )?

The downside is that I did not get to meet a lot of pilgrims..

…That’s another upside for me. I talk too much when in company.

There were some adventurers I met from the US. And a guy in Santiago who was sailing the world. And two dutch pilgrims who shared a bit of the journey with me. .

Gwaihir, you might find the writings of Sylvain Tesson inspiring. Tesson has walked many a grand distance through wild places. He once spent six months alone in wintertime, in a cabin besides Lake Baikal, Siberia (youtube video). I have just finished reading his book, L'axe du loup in which Tesson walks from Yakutsk in Siberia to Calcutta in India, retracing a journey of someone who escaped the gulags. The man has such heart!

But that´s about it. Next time I might stay in albergues more

…and that’s about it from me, too. Fewer albergues for me, though, what with the way things are in the world just now. I’ll probably return to tent-dwelling…

Cheers
Lovingkindness

 

[Turga]

in which Tesson walks from Yakutsk in Siberia to Calcutta in India, retracing a journey of someone who escaped the gulags.

I guess you are referring to "The Long Walk" by Slavomir Rawicz in which he himself and three companions reaches India after a walk of nine months from Siberia through some of the harshest places on earth including the Gobi desert. A great read.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I guess you are referring to "The Long Walk" by Slavomir Rawicz in which he himself and three companions reaches India after a walk of nine months from Siberia through some of the harshest places on earth including the Gobi desert. A great read.

Yes, and I've seen the awesome survival movie version, "The Way Back", directed by Peter Weir in 2010. It is based on a true WW2 inspired story about a few men who escaped a prison work camp in Siberia and walked 4,000 miles to India. I discovered it at the same time as the beloved movie "The Way".

 

[lovingkindness]

I guess you are referring to "The Long Walk" by Slavomir Rawicz in which he himself and three companions reaches India after a walk of nine months from Siberia through some of the harshest places on earth including the Gobi desert. A great read.

Hi there, @Turga
Yes, Slavomir Rawicz. Whilst researching the journey Tesson came across other moving accounts of people fleeing from Siberia to India, including that of a large group of adults and children -Old Believers fleeing persecution, many of whom died along the way. So sad.

What touched me was Tesson's decency, his desire to find out for himself whether one could actually walk such a journey as Rawicz allegedly did. He concluded that the journey was plausible, though there are inconsistencies in Rawicz's claims-wikipedia (I've returned Tesson's book so can't quote the page).

Cheers