Writer C Fong Hsiung

Day 6, September 20, 2022: My last day at the Camino and the culmination of years of planning. I woke up excited to start the last 25 km to Santiago de Compostela. After an early breakfast, Carla, Giulia, John and I said goodbye to Pensión Jardin and the grandmother who guarded its door. Karen and Tom preferred a later start. Around 9:30 AM we passed what appeared to be a dog pound. All four of us stopped to admire the dogs through the fence. Most seemed friendly and curious. We cooed, coaxed and said, “Hola,”, but they just stared at us with soulful eyes. I imagined them thinking, “These foreigners are such idiots.” So we ended our non-conversation and moved on. Not long afterward, while the four of us stopped at a cafe, Karen and Tom caught up to us. After a few selfies and a brief rest we joined the other pilgrims back on the trails. Our speed-walking friends bade us farewell and promised to meet us at our final destination in Santiago de Compostela. I had no idea what to expect the...

 This post was first published in 2023 Day 5, September 19, 2022: More than a year has passed since my Camino in Spain from Baiona to Santiago de Compostela (part of the Portuguese route). Since then my fingers have rested well even if my feet remain active. Now that I’m planning to walk the last 150 kilometres of the St James Way in September 2024, I’m urging my fingers to write faster before my next Camino catches up. On day 5 of the walk, John, Giulia, Carla and I left our hotel in Caldas de Reis at 8 AM, leaving Tom and Karen to catch up later—and catch up they did, with time to spare! The daytime temperatures had been unusually high at 30+ degrees Celsius, and we thought we could beat the heat with an early start. Today’s distance was under 20 km, and we expected to reach Pensión Jardin, our hotel in Padrón shortly after noon. This part of the Camino was one of the most scenic. We passed by charming villages with lush landscapes and grapevines overflowing with grapes. At one p...

This post was first published in 2023 September 18, 2022: Today our 23-km walk started outside Hotel Avenida in Pontevedra twenty minutes earlier than usual. The air felt cool and crisp as we took a few selfies in front of the hotel. Shortly after, just before nine, we crossed a massive bridge. Along with my group of six, many pedestrians carrying backpacks marched across the tiled span like busy ants with purpose; another new day had begun for the pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago. My friends and I were now into our 7th day together since we started out in Porto–4th day since Baiona where our Camino officially kicked off. The morning sun greeted us with a splash of light through fluffy white clouds and lit up the entire sky, while the water reflected back bluer than blue. John snapped a few pictures here which is how I can recall that spectacular scene. With the passage of time, my memory would have faded but for the pictures my walking buddies and I took along the way. Carla wore a ...

This post was first published during Summer 2023.   Day 3, September 17, 2022:   Life has a way of throwing you off track, and then it takes a superhuman effort to get back into the flow. I went through a major downsizing during which I realised how much junk we’d accumulated. We sold our house, bought and renovated a condo apartment, and then moved in, all between November 2022 and February 2023. My new place is starting to feel like home, and I’m also re-establishing my routine. I won’t deny how hard it is to resume writing once you break the habit. A few weeks ago, my Spanish Camino experience came flooding back to me when I met a pilgrim at the airport in Barcelona. She had cut short her 800-kilometre walk because of blood clot complications. The Camino energy hit me like it hadn’t since I completed my 128-km walk. I relived day 3 outside Alvear Suites in Redondela at 9 AM, the place where my last blog post ended. Six walking buddies and a selfie… it’s time to start anothe...

September 16, 2022: Compared to the day before, today’s 16 km from Vigo to the next hotel, Alvear Suites in Redondela, seemed short. With over 25 km behind me and Santiago de Compostela 103 km away enticing me forward, I felt optimistic and ready. My neighbourhood walks and forest hikes leading up to the Camino often covered 16 km or more, so yes, my brain said, “Let’s go.” At 9 am after our requisite selfie outside our hotel in Vigo, my five friends and I headed off towards the town centre and found our first yellow shell and arrow marking the direction towards our destination. As we walked through the city streets and narrow pavements, I noticed that most stores were closed except for the fruit and vegetable sellers’. Freshly rested from my first good night’s sleep since leaving home a few days ago, I couldn’t help my buoyant strides. I smiled and responded with a sunny, “Gracias,” each time someone wished me, “Buen camino.” Once outside the city we came to a steep hill. I wondered h...

September 15, 2022: No more counting down. Day 1 of my hike to Santiago de Compostela had arrived. Filled with nervous energy I brought my suitcase to the front lobby at 7:30 AM to be transported to the next hotel in Vigo. Then I went to the cafe to join my friends for breakfast. At 8:50 AM, the six of us stood outside the hotel, each strapped with a backpack. We kicked off our walk with a picture of our wrists displaying our blue wristbands with the Buen Camino inscription, a gift from Carla to identify ourselves as pilgrims. She took a picture of our hiking-shoed feet, blister-free for now and ready to go. I felt giddy with excitement just as, I’m sure, my friends were too. And so the six amigos took off for an adventure of a lifetime. As we followed the route we mapped out the day before, I kept an eye on my Camino Ninja app. The little blue dot never strayed too far from the red line representing the route to Santiago. We walked along the coast, passing beaches and sometimes walkin...