From Barcelona to Tehran: Day Six

Day Six: Chillaxing   

                                

May 5, 2012; Distance covered today: 0 Km; Total: 385 Km

Today, I woke up with some soreness. I thought I needed to give my legs a little bit of rest, and at the same time, I would discover this little village called Gruissan.

When I went to the office to pay, I saw a mountain bike with luggage outside the office. The owner was checking out. I waited for him. I wanted to have a chat with him. Then I happened to know a very interesting person. He was on the road for three months already. He was form Paris, biked along the Atlantic coast down to Spain and did a big part of Pilgimage route. He had no idea where he wanted to stay the night, he had stayed in campgrounds only a few times. Basically, he asks farmers if they need help, then he gets food and a place to stay. There is a word for this in French, “Woofing”. Apparently, it is very common to do woofing, but it should be for 5 days. What an interesting idea to get to know people and their culture. At the same time, you get to use your upper body to keep the balance in your body. I am going to do that if possible. He also played flute. He would stop at monasteries and help them for food and shelter, also, he gets to play his flute. He was a very interesting person.

Two Cyclists but Different in A[[roach

My Interesting Friend

So… I decided to take a rest today. I walked to the village and bought some groceries. There I went to a shop to take a look at some fish. There was some kind of food like Olevier, mashed potato with caviar and some herbs. I tasted it and liked it. I wanted some. She gave me as much as I wanted, a portion, and wouldn’t accept money for it. I insisted, but she said she wouldn’t get any money from me. She even gave me a spoon. She thought I didn’t have one. Her name was Christine.

Christine, the Kind 

Later in the afternoon, I went back to her shop to give her spoon back. I bought a small pie and went to her shop, but she was closed and would come back the next day. I gave the spoon to her next-door shop and ate the pie myself.

Many Houses Were Like This

One of the things about travelling alone is the loneliness, but this also pushes you to talk to people more. When I was going to the shop to give the spoon back, I talked a couple of people. Some old ladies were sitting outside on a bench. I just stopped and started talking to them in broken French. It was fun. One of them asked me to stay in her “plage” and when I said that I didn’t have money, she said I could stay for free. There you go.

From now on, I am going to meet and talk to as many people as possible. That’s my mission.