Our First Peregrino Stamps

Why the Portuguese Camino? What can I expect?

Why am I hiking the Portuguese Camino?

Well, there are several reasons.:
1) A primary one is it’s been on Kate’s bucket list for a long time. We’ve been taking turns checking things off our bucket lists; sometimes hers, sometimes mine & frequently an adventure is on both of our lists.
2) Since I was young, I’ve always loved traveling, meeting people from other countries, learning about their culture & history.
3) I’m an avid hiker & since receiving my new hip 18 months ago, it’s healed remarkably well, so it seems this is a perfect challenge for me.
4) It’s exciting attempting something unusual & accomplishing a goal many people would never attempt or even consider.
5) I’m doing this for my own reasons.  I realize other pilgrims are doing their Camino treks for their own reasons which can include religious or spiritual reasons.

Our trekking route from Porto, Portugal to Santiago de Compostela, Spain:

Portugese Camino Coastal Route

What can I expect?

1) Less pilgrims/trekkers than on other routes.  According to the Pilgrims Office in Santiago, 60% of pilgrims walk the Camino Frances (the French Way) which is the walk fead you n the film, The Way staring Martin Sheen. Only 22% walk the Portuguese Camino.  Of those that walk in Portugal, 2 out of 3 choose the Central Route.  Consequently we’ve chosen the far less traveled Coastal Route.
2) Weather: similar to Northern California in September. Temperatures: average highs in mid-70s, lows in upper 50s. Rainfall: averages 5 days/month; more rainfall after Day 5 when we cross country not Spain.  Likely to be windy & cool as we travel along the Portuguese coast.
3) Distances:  265 km (165 miles) total in 13 days; range 13-24 km (8-15 miles ), average 20 km (12.4 miles).  One rest day after Day 8.
4) Elevation: Sea level to 300 feet;  flatter during first 5 days in Portugal, then more elevation when we get into Spain.
5) Hiking Surface: Boardwalk (over sandy areas), gravel, cobblestones, pavement (in towns & cities).

My scallop shell-symbol of the Camino

The scallop shell is the symbol of St. James, one of the twelve apostles. According to legend, after he was killed by Herod, his body was transported by ship to Padron, Spain & then on to Santiago where he was interned in the cathedral.  Consequently all the different Camino paths converge on Santiago de Compostela.

My scallop shell, a symbol of the Camino

Beatitudes of the Pilgrim

The Beatitudes of the Pilgrim is a prayer that was recited at our Shell Ceremony.  It says
“Blessed are you pilgrim,
** if you find that the Camino opens your eyes to the unseen;
** if what concerns you most is not arriving, but arriving with others;
** when you contemplate the sights of the Camino & find them full of names & new dawns;
** if your backpack empties of things, as your heart doesn’t know how to fit so many emotions;
** if you discover that a step backwards to help another is more valuable than a hundred forward without awareness of those at your side;
** when you have no words to give thanks for all the wonders in every nook of the Camino;
** if you search for the truth & make of your Camino a life, and of your life a Camino, after Him who is the Way, the Truth & the Life;
** if on the Camino you meet yourself & make yourself a gift of time without hurry, so that you may not neglect the image of your heart;
** if you find that the Camino is rich with silence & the silence is rich with prayer & the prayers are encounters with the Father that awaits you;
** because you have discovered that the true Camino begins at its end.

“Receive this concha (scallop shell), the badge of the pilgrim, that all may recognize you as a pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela.”

My Camino Journey

I’m getting excited. In 2 weeks I fly to Portugal to start a 14-day trek on the Portuguese Camino’s coastal route. My partner, Kate, says a hike like this has been on her “bucket list” for a long time. Well now we’re about to do it.  We’ve been training all spring & summer, taking frequent hikes in the Cascades of Oregon & Washington & the Columbia River Gorge. About 18 months ago, I received a new hip & it feels great, so I think I’m ready to go. I’d be lying though if I said I didn’t have any misgivings.  Our trek will require hiking daily, up to 15 miles each day. Although Kate’s done that before, I never have. So I'm feeling a little nervous. But also confident that if I just can't hike a particular section for any reason, I can just summon a taxi to get me to our next night's lodging.

A couple months ago we learned of a group called the American Pilgrims on the Camino, Portlandia chapter.  It consists of people who have hiked one or more of the many Camino routes or are planning to hike one of in the near future.  We learned Camino pilgrimage routes have existed for hundreds of years & there are 42 different routes that cross Europe, all ending in Compostela de Santiago in northwestern Spain.

Receiving my scallop shell from the American Pilgrims on the Camino, Portlandia chapter

Shell recipients, some of whom we may meet on our trek to Santiago

In July we were honored to participate in a “Shell Ceremony” when each person who will  hike the Camin received a scallop shell, the symbol of St. James, the apostle whose remains are interned at the cathedral in Santiago. We also received a blessing for oir journey called the “Beatitudes of the Pilgrim” & a hearty "Buen Camino" cheer from all those assembled. 

Costa Rica Adventure

Kate & I visited Costa Rica for 8 days in March 2017. Since we’re both avid birders, we enjoyed all the tropical birds that were new to us.We flew into San Jose, met up with two family members, then drove our rental vehicle to Quepos on the Pacific coast about 4 hours away.  We stayed at Villa Tekla, a beautiful, 3-level home & used it as our base of operations for 5 days while exploring the area.  Highlights of our visit included visits to Raintree Conservation Project, Parque National Manuel Antonio, Parque National Manuel Ballena, Eco Hacienda Baru, Restaurante Georgiana in the Central Mountains & all the birds & animals we saw.  Although visiting Costa Rica had been on our bucket list for years, we can’t check it off.  We liked it so much, we want to return!

On our last day in Quepos, we took a sunset sail
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Kate at Rainmaker Conservation Project a few miles north of Quepos

White-faced capuchin at Manuel Antonio National Park 

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Trekking impressions

* Amazing views of Machhapuchhre (“Fish Tail”), the sacred mountain, emerging from the clouds at the end of the Modi River Valley

Machhapuchhre, early am, Sanctuary Lodge, Birethanti

Machhapuchhre with rice fields, Modi River Valley

* Enjoying socializing and free drinks with fellow trekkers at well-deserved Happy Hours at the end of each day 

Happy Hour around the fire, Gurung Lodge

Free drinks, snacks, socializing

* Delicious, filling breakfasts eaten on the lawn of the Himalayan Lodge, Ghandruk, while gazing up at the peaks of the Annapurna Range 

Lunch on lawn, Basanta Lodge, Dhampus

* Our 30 year old porter, Min Bdr, hiking along effortlessly wearing flip-flops while carrying our extra gear & water in a large, conical basket secured with a strap across his forehead

Altho this porter is wearing tennis shoes, our porter wore flip-flops on this rugged trail!

* Trekkers wearing hiking boots/shoes & using trekking pole while porters & guides wear flip-flops or tennis shoes, don’t need poles & carry our extra gear & water

Min Bdr, our porter, is on far right & wears a green & red uniform provided by Ker & Downey.  Each porter carries the extra gear & water for 2 trekkers in these green dufflebags.  The bags are placed in conical baskets carried on their backs.

* Finding small black wiggly leeches on our hiking boots searching for ways inside our socks next to our skin 

Don checking for leeches after hiking through wet, shady area 

* Climbing up, up, up over thousands of stone steps carefully & laboriously placed in the sides of mountains by Nepalese people over hundreds (thousands?) of years

* Climbing all day for 6 hours and never reaching the top; other days climbing down, down, down

* Saying Namaste over & over again to everyone I pass, never failing to receive a Namaste and smile in response, whether from a child, a young man or woman, or an elderly person

Interested in the foreigners assembling across the road to begin their trek

Curious about the trekkers passing by his home

Bath time

Apples for sale along our trekking path

Namaste I say. She smiles & says Namaste while continuing her spinning

Young mother & child we pass by

Curious children at a school we pass

* Learning to say Lakshmi when someone sneezes (she’s the goddess of wealth & prosperity)

* Frequent stops to catch my breath, mop my brow, and cool my over-heated body while admiring the incredibly gorgeous scenery all around me

Catching my breath & admiring the views

* Emerging from my room at 6 am to watch the sunrise begin to light the peaks of the Annapurna Range which are bright, sparkling & clear in the early morning air and gradually turn them from  pink to yellow to white

Ken using chair & pillow as impromptu tripod

Annapurna South at sunrise

* Nepalese children singing folk songs & linking arms to block our passage until we make a small, voluntary offering; then  receiving a lei of marigolds from a Nepalese child in celebration of the Festival of Diwali, the Hindu 5-day Festival of Lights

Happy children dancing & singing folk songs while celebrating Diwali, the Festival of Lights

James making small contribution in order to pass the childrens' "blockage"

Children had a school vacation because of the festival & knew where to find trekkers!

Rajendra G, our superb Nepales program guide, with kids

We've been "lei-ed" with marigolds

* Wet clothes drying on lines in front of our rooms, hoping they’d get dry before morning

Clothes drying outside our Himalayan Lodge rooms

More clothes drying outside our Gurung Lodge "cabin"

*Passing hundreds of trekkers, donkeys and porters going up into the mountains & hundreds more coming down

Donkeys with jangling bells passed frequently

We shared the trail with herds of goats

Labors struggling to haul a pizza oven (!) up stone steps as we walk down

Tigers & Rhinos & Muggers, Oh My!

It seems everyone in our group felt a let-down once our 6 days of trekking were over & we were headed to Chitwan National Park.  However, that mood improved markedly shortly after we arrived at the posh Kasara Jungle Resort.  We given just enough time to visit our open-air, modernist & minimalist rooms to freshen up.  Then we were whisked off for an elephant ride.

Ram, our bus driver, with our bus transport

Eric & Helen climbing atop their elephant

Our first encounter with a one horned rhino 

Spotted deer 

Grass as high as an elephant's eye

Endangered gharial crocs at breeding sanctuary

A "wolverine" about to get soaked

Now Kate's turn

Setting off our our dugout canoe ride

Our two other dugouts sliding down the Rapti River

Sunset on the Rapti River in Chitwan National Park

The group was ferried by jeep to a staging area where we saw 4 large elephants and a baby elephant.   Each adult elephant was "saddled" with a small deck-like structure.  Four people at a time climbed a tall wooden structure then stepped onto the  foam padded box with rails perched atop "our"  elephant. Then the handler urged the elephant forward and she  lumbered off, followed by the calf.   Within minutes we saw our first animals, spotted deer, then a one-horned rhinoceros grazing in 10-12 foot tall elephant grass!  During the nearly 2-hour ride, we saw a mother rhino & her calf, many wild boars, hog deer, monkeys, and birds.

Saturday morning we had another opportunity to view wildlife when we took a jeep safari ride.   During the drive, we saw 20+ species of birds & 2 crocodiles.  This type of croc, we were told is called a mugger.

We saw another kind of crocodile when  we visited a breeding sanctuary for endangered gharials.  Gharials are odd looking reptiles.  These crocs have a long skinny, almost stick like,  snout with a bulb at the end and hundreds of spiny teeth!  During our tour we heard a Bengal tiger roaring loudly.
After a sumptuous buffet lunch we walked down a dusty dirt road outside the park to visit a traditional Tharu village (the 3rd largest of the 40 ethnic groups in Nepal).   As we toured, we learned about these people, their history & a bit about their daily  life.

Then we boarded dugout canoes, carved from magnolia trees, for a quiet, peaceful float down the Rapti River which borders the park.  Since both Khamel, the naturalist, and Rajendra, who accompanied us, are expert birders, we saw lots more birds.  As we enjoyed a spectacular sunset,  a huge crocodile slid off a sandbar into the water.  This would have been  the perfect ending to our Chitwan NP visit.  However, as we neared our take-out, we spotted two male rhinos facing off from opposite sides of the river. They looked huge and dark standing in the water.    Our guides said they'd never witnessed this. What a special ending for our visit to the Nepalese countryside!