I slept good last night and took my time setting off on the trail. Just outside of Villaviciosa, the Camino bifurcates, with the North fork heading to Gijon, the other to Oviedo and the Primitivo.
Early during the planning for this trip I read about the monastery of San Salvador de Valdedios about 5 miles outside of the village of vice and today I looked forward to visiting it. I hiked through some beautiful countryside. Who would not want to live in the Valley of God, I thought.
When I arrived, I noticed the gates were closed. I walked up to a notice board with the schedule. Should open between 10:30 am and 1:30 pm. I read further. Cerrado Lunes. I must admit I was upset, as though it has been closed intentionally so I could not see it. In a bit of a funk, I left and began a nearly 500 meter climb. By the time I reached the top, I had forgotten about the monastery! Not too long after, I stopped by a coffee bar and found Oliver from Germany. He had been 60/40 on doing the Primitivo. “I am 100% now!” he told me. Mimi and Martine from France were lunching at the same spot. They had also attempted to visit the monastery. “Don’t schedule anything for Monday in Spain!” advised Martine.
I relaxed for a while after Oliver and the two ladies set off. I thought about the monastery and realized that missing the visit there was really of no consequence. Instead, I had a good training session for the climbs to come. Then I, too, set off. It had been very hot before the lunch stop, but now a mountain-born breeze swept the valleys. Still, I began to feel tired, but kept pushing myself along country roads. It was as though the previous day’s marathon had taken a lot out of me.
With about an hour left to go before reaching my casa rural for the night, I was walking along a wooded path and a bench appeared. My tired body was drawn to it and I was unstrapping my backpack as I neared it. I plopped down and heaved a sigh of exhaustion. Without looking around, my eyes focused on a tree directly across from me. I stared at the tree for a long time.
My tiredness disappeared. I took a long draught of water, made myself comfortable on the bench and removed my glasses. Apart from that morning at the beach, I had not stopped long enough to relax and meditate. And now I did. This was something I had planned to do as well. The gates to meditation were not locked. They were wide open and they swallowed me up.
El Peregrino 