Day 6 - camino de Santiago

Done!! Bloodied, bruised and broken we stumbled our way into the city. Sadly it was so foggy that we couldn't see the famous church from the hill above like you're meant to, but that didn't bother us too much.

We arrived just in time to attend the church mass. It was entirely in Spanish but I still enjoyed it. It was a huge church that was struggling to figure out how to modernize. There were donation ATMs in the corner and multiple confession booths scattered around which had time tables attached to them. At the very end they had a huge metal container that was strung up to a pulley. They put some frankensence (is that how you spell it?) Inside and got 10 priests to fling it around as fast as they could by pulling on the rope.

Just as Pablo and I ordered a taxi to drive us to the airport, my blister which had been growing throughout the trip finally popped. It was a like a celebratory firework consisting of pus and blood.

Well, that's it! 118km done in 5 days!

Day 5 - Opedraozo

Originally we had intentions of doing a 40km hike to allow us to arrive at the finish line on Thursday. However, after our  exhausting 30km hike yesterday we decided to change our plan and do two 20km hikes instead.

The weather was perfect today. Nice and sunny. We stopped off at one of the hundreds of bars along the way to enjoy some fresh home made chicken pie and a Coca-Cola - I need a break from beer.

Towards the end of our 20km hike we hobbled up to our motel like zombies and instantly gorged on the -brains- internet.

Pub crawl day 4

Today was much longer day than all the others. We needed to hike 30km to reach our hostel in Arzua. The hike was lovely, not because the views were amazing, but because the journey was rewarding

Towards the end our feet were bloodied, blistered and bruised. Only two days more to go.

Along the way we stopped at a place know for having the best octopus in all of Spain. The rumors might be true. It was amazing. It was drenched with salt and olive oil which made the dish super tasty.

As soon as we arrived we decided to enjoy several beers and some gin with a couple of Spanish friends we met along the way. They seemed super lovely, but I can't be sure because I couldn't understand a word they were saying.

Day 3 Puertomarin to Palas de Rei

This hike was beautiful! It was sunny all day. It was a 26 km slog and I decided to tie my soaked jeans to the outside of my bag to dry as I walked. Sadly my plan didn't work since this area is still very humid. God 2 - Matt 0.

Once again Pablo drank his way to the finish line and I waddled behind him quietly. It was a great hike, we talked philosophy just like we did back in Australia and got to see some beautiful views. Once we arrived at our destination we enjoyed a 12 Euro meal which comes with two main courses, a desert and a beer. Great value.

Day 2 - Sarria to Puertomarin

After a pleasant sleep in at one of the most basic hostels I've ever seen (and I've been to South East Asia), we decided to start our hiking adventure.

We stepped outside at 8am and a crack of thunder raced across the sky. God had unzipped his trousers and was letting us bathe in his holy urine. It was a solid 24km of fog and rain. An atheist doing the pilgrimage hike; I should have seen it coming. God 1 - Matt 0.

On the bright side we managed to stop off at a few places to try a few great beers and enjoy some tapas. I love the bar culture here; you order a beer and you get complementary simple snacks like cheese, bread, or chorizo. I eat a lot but Pablo, who is a short skinny Spaniard put me to shame. He eats and drinks far more than me. It's almost as if he's viewing this entire 5 day hike as a very very long pub crawl.

Another thing I've noticed is just how chaotic Spanish architecture and town planning is. The roads are curved and dirty and the houses and broken down and unkept. It's a pleasant change from the ultra clean and organized Dutch way of life.

Day 1 - Madrid

On 2nd December 2018 I flew down to Madrid to meet Pablo and Africa. Only two weeks prior I had made spontaneous plans to do the Camino de Santiago (pilgrimage hike). The full route is long, beginning in France, but we decided to just do the last 120km of the hike from Sarria to Santiago de Compostella.

Meeting up with Africa and Pablo again was great. They're both adults and working full time. Africa is working at Caf which is some type of development bank, and Pablo works at Maxam which and sells ammunition to other countries. I wanted to ask if he was ashamed of his career in indirectly arming African drug Lords, but silenced myself instead. Africa has a chocolate Labrador called Congo - I'll never understand her families obsession with naming mamals after places.

After a nice standing tapas meal at Pez tortillas in La Latina Pablo and I said goodbye to Africa and headed for a 6 hour trainride to Sarria. The trainride went smoothly except for a small hiccup where I was humiliated by an employee for not wearing shoes. You don't need to know Spanish to understand "wtf are you doing?! That's so wrong!!".

The human brain

I've talked quite a lot on this blog about artificial intelligence and how it'll change human culture. I think AI has the potential to replace us mentally (in terms of creativity, imagination, problem solving skills, everything). I think this because I believe human brains are nothing more than chemicals swirling around in our heads. However, I read an interesting line from the book I'm reading currently called "Homo Deos". The author largely agrees with me but also stresses that since we don't know the inner workings of the human brain that well, there could be discoveries that await us that will prove that humans are superior in some ways.

It first I was taken back by this idea. While, I think this is possible, I suspect the opposite is more likely. I suspect that as we discover more about the human brain, we will actually discover how simple and inefficient it really is. Just like when astronomers discovered that the earth was not the center of the Universe, once neuroscientists figure out how the brain works, I think humanity will have to square it's shoulders at another realization of how mediocre & not special we all are.