“
America, golf course, a rush of mobile phone ringing suddenly rings!
Tom, an ophthalmologist in his sixties, said calmly, "It's mine, wait a minute." "Then hit a nice cutting ball.
The call came from a French sheriff. From the moment the answer button was pressed, a series of things that Tom had never imagined happened irreversibly... (Note: All the screenshots and GIFs of the movie in the main text are from the film "Pilgrimage Road")
”
The sheriff on the other end of the phone told Tom that Daniel had died in the French Pyrenees, a place Tom had never heard of.
Daniel is Tom's only son and his only relative in this world.
Pyrenees National Park. Image source: ca.france.fr
Straddling between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, the Pyrenees is the natural border between France and Spain, with an average elevation of more than 2,000 meters above sea level, and the highest peak, Aneto, is 3,404 meters above sea level; it is covered by modern glaciers. (Source: Wikipedia)
This sunny thunderbolt made Tom instantly discouraged, and he just wanted to get his son back as soon as possible. On the way to France, bits and pieces about the relationship between father and son could not stop playing back before his eyes.
<h1>My PhD is not going to be completed</h1>
Tom loves his son Daniel. But their relationship is not too harmonious.
The "deviant" son, although considered by his father to be self-destructive, Daniel chose to give up his Doctorate from the University of Berkeley and break into the vast world alone, without a mobile phone or limiting his journey.
For Daniel, this is not indulgence, but the pursuit of his own ideals.
Tom, an eye doctor, his "conformist" father, is the full extent of his life, with his busy and well-organized work and leisure in the golf club.
Tom could not understand his son's "willfulness" and seized every opportunity to preach to Daniel.
The last "father and son together" - on the way to drive Daniel to the airport, Daniel once proposed a father-son trip, but Tom refused.
Tom:
You know, most people can't be that dashing, carrying a bag and leaving everything behind.
Daniel:
Oh, but I'm not most people. If you don't get your blessing, that's okay, but don't jump to conclusions and don't judge me.
Daniel's agitation did not work, but was taught a lesson by Tom.
The last of their peers just broke up.
Seeing each other again, it is a time of eternal separation.
<h1>Madam, have you taken the pilgrimage? </h1>
In an improvised morgue in France, a grief-stricken Tom sees a cold Daniel. On the first day of the pilgrimage, Daniel was accidentally killed in a storm near the Pyrenees.
He counted daniel's belongings one by one, and his son's "ridiculous wish" to see the world would be silent forever with these equipment.
At that moment, Tom made a decision.
Without waiting for a moment, he knocked on the sheriff's residence late at night, asked for help in the cremation of his son's body, and the next morning, he picked up his son's backpack and took the urn with him and stepped into the Pilgrimage Road!
Poster of The Pilgrimage Road. Image source: trip.chinaso.com
This is a 2010 American film, and although Tom's reasons for starting are regrettable, the whole film is deep and humorous. The main filming location of the film is the "pilgrimage road" that many people dream of!
The pilgrimage route, a trekking route that transcends religion, originated more than 900 years ago. Pilgrims set out from all places, without a unified and fixed starting point, but all headed for Santiago, where St. James, one of Jesus' twelve disciples, is said to have buried, forming an intricate network of routes, also collectively known as the "Way of St. James."
Hikers on the Pilgrimage Road. Image source: drifttravel.com
At the shop or church where the trekking departs, buy a passport exclusive to the Pilgrimage Route, stamp it at hotels, restaurants, bars, churches, etc. at each stop, and when you arrive in Santiago, you will receive an exclusive Pilgrim Certificate. (In addition to hiking, you can also ride or ride horses on this road)
Image source: backpackers.com.tw
The French Way is the most popular. The line is about 800 km long, starting in France and crossing the Pyrenees to Santiago. After arriving in Santiago, many people will continue to The Finisterre Point, at the "0" km monument of the Pilgrimage Road, to see the scenery of "The End of the World".
Old towns, church inns, idyllic mountains... The picturesque European scenery and splendid cultural heritage on the way make everyone who steps on it feel worth the trip.
Today, the route itself transcends religious significance, with hundreds of thousands of hikers setting foot on the path for different reasons.
Scenery on the Pilgrimage Road. Image source: ricksteves.com
There is no reason to go – for Tom, the reason for going seems simple.
Sheriff: Do you know why you want to take the pilgrimage?
TOM: I guess it's for Daniel...
Sheriff: You're walking for yourself, that's all.
TOM: If you say that, I don't have much to say.
The loss of his only son left Tom wrapped in sorrow and indifferent to everyone's concern. The sheriff, who had already made three pilgrimages, had been kind enough to tip that the stubborn Tom was still carrying his backpack.
The stubborn Tom could not listen to any persuasion.
While still walking around — despite the iconic shells that serve as directional signs along the way — Tom reversed his first foot and arrived late at the humble lodge where he was camping.
When stamping the first stamp of the trip, Tom had a brief conversation with the lady of the inn:
Have you ever walked the camino, senora? madam? ）
homeowner:
When I was young,I was too busy. And now that I'm older, I'm too tired. When I was young, I was always too busy; now, I am too old and too tired. ）
There are only a few words of dialogue, simple but inexplicably touching.
Completing Daniel's "last wish" while still moving is the only motivation for Tom's trip, even though he knows nothing about hiking or the road.
<h1>An 800km adventure of an urn </h1>
This unplanned extra-long hike is not destined to be smooth sailing.
For Tom, the real walker of this pilgrimage was the late Daniel.
At each signpost, Tom would silently take a handful of ashes from the box and scatter them.
And he himself, just the carrier of walking, walked, is the only purpose, the sooner the better.
What scenery along the way, what kind of companions, it doesn't matter.
Please order the enthusiastic Dutch fat Jost. Encountering Tom twice, he took the initiative to ask for his peers, was the first person to walk with Tom, and also contributed the most laughs in this film
Sarah, who travels by chance, is deeply dissatisfied with Tom, who is walking in front of him. At the beginning of her travels, she told everyone that she had come to hike to quit smoking.
The inspired writer Jack complains to Jost about Tom.
Jack was the last to join, and in search of inspiration to write, he was always "neurotic" and gushed, forcing a deep meaning to every tiny encounter.
Tom never talked to anyone about the iron box he cherished the most, the pain he didn't want to be touched.
The story of the urn was accidentally learned by the Dutch fat man Jost, who told it to the writer Jack.
When Jack asks Jost Tom if he would like to write the story of the urn into the book himself, Jost's answer is rough and sharp.
A "humiliating Sven" rescue – shortly after coming out, Tom accidentally dropped his backpack containing the urn into the river while resting against the railing by the bridge! The water was turbulent, wrapped in the backpack all the way down, in a hurry, Tom had to jump into the river and desperately retrieve the backpack.
This desperate backpack rescue allows the arrogant and stubborn Tom to begin to physically get closer to the pilgrimage road, which is a completely different way of life from the previous golf club.
Tom swam desperately toward the backpack.
Sudden slap - after a thrilling stay, when Tom was packing his bags, the urn suddenly fell, and the unsuspecting Sarah rushed to help pick up the box, and Tom rushed to grab it back, but was inexplicably slapped by Sarah.
Tom was directly blinded by a sudden slap.
It turned out that Sarah had been devastated by domestic violence, and this slap was just a conditioned reflex after being held by Tom. This awkward "conflict" also makes the self-enclosed Tom see that sadness is not a reason for indifference, and that everyone who walks has his own untold story.
After a drunken attack, Tom once slandered Jack because he disliked the writer Jack's incessant gushing, and he himself was taken away by the local police for drunken trouble. Later, it was Jack who bailed him out with the credit card that Tom had ridiculed.
In the territory of the Jeep Walled People – and the real biggest shock to Tom from the heart was the experience in Burgos. On the street, Tom watched as his backpack in the doorway was stolen by a teenager! Chased all the way to the gypsy gathering area, or chased the thief away.
This was undoubtedly another thunderbolt for Tom, who decided to return to the United States the next day, even feeling that his whole hike was simply "ridiculous".
Tom shouted desperately from the sky in the Jeep Walled Quarters.
Just when Tom gave up in despair, the father of the boy who stole the bag led his son to apologize, returned everything unchanged, and invited Tom and others to his family's party as compensation.
During the meal, he told Tom that when he arrived in Santiago, he should take his son's ashes to the Muxia Seashore, where there was a shrine.
Tom: Ishmael, i'm not a very religious man.
Gypsies: Religion has nothing to do with this. Nothing at all.
On departure, Gypsy's father deliberately asked his son who stole the bag to send Tom and his party out of the city.
<h1>
The end is also the beginning
</h1>
The bag loss incident deeply stabbed the solid ice in Tom's heart about his son, making Tom almost quit; but it also completely melted his indifference and strengthened his determination to go on.
Since then, the scenery has been bright all the way, and in the eyes of those who have a heart, it is different.
Tom also took the initiative to compromise with the writer Jack, defusing the embarrassment between the two.
Jack also revealed his story to Tom.
The combination of four people walking together also makes people extraordinarily nostalgic or longing for the feeling of "on the road", simple, pure, without detailed background information, but there is a "jianghu happiness" of heart-to-heart communication.
The incomprehensible "minority" has become the mainstream on this road, and the story of people is as wonderful as the grand scene on the way.
Tom, an ophthalmologist, took the initiative to check everyone's vision.
By the sea, at the end, Tom sprinkled the last of his ashes into the sea. The film ends with Tom dressed as a walker and confidently walking through the bustling crowd.
On Tom's back, it was still Daniel's backpack.
It was also his own backpack.
Sprinkle the last ashes.
Start your pilgrimage at any time
For most people, spending the rest of the month hiking like Tom and his party is too much luxury. According to the regulations, if you want to get an official San Diego hiking certificate, you need to complete at least the last 100 kilometers of the hiking trail (or 200 kilometers if you are riding or cycling).
Itinerary - Starting from Sarria, about 115km from the end point, the last 5 days of hiking on the "French Way" is a good choice.
Fly from the country to Madrid, the capital of Spain, and take a high-speed train to Sarria on the same day;
It is also possible to reach Sarria directly from Santiago Airport in 2 hours by bus.
Sarria, though small, is arguably the most densely populated place on the French Route. Many Romanesque buildings have been preserved here, and it is full of ancient history, and in 1230 AD, Lyon and Galicia king Alfonso IX died here on their pilgrimage to Spain, which adds a lot of legend to it.
Grab a pilgrimage passport at a local shop or church in Sarria and the real hike begins!
Itinerary: Sarria > Portomarin > Palas deRei > Arzua > Lavacolla > Santiago de compostela
Day1 : Sarria - Portomarin (23 km on foot, about 7 hours);
Day2 : Portomarín - Palas de Rei (25 km on foot, 7.5 hours);
Day3 : Palas de Rei - Arzua (approx. 28 km, approx. 8 hours on foot);
Day4 : Arzua – Lavacolla (about 28 km on foot, about 8 hours);
Day5 : Lavacolla - Santiago de compostela (about 11 km on foot, about 4.5 hours).
Upon arrival at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, you will receive your own pilgrim certificate.
cathedral. Image source: doncamino.com
Life is also a pilgrimage - a hike, may not change anything, the important thing is not to walk, but why to walk.
For Tom, give himself a chance, before blindly opposing, try to respect and understand his son's choices, and after this, find a real self that has been sealed in dust, is his own "pilgrimage path".
Life is also a pilgrimage, and every walk that follows the heart is the "pilgrimage road" of the self.
—END—
Photo: Ebony
This article was first published on the WeChat public account: outdoor adventure outdoor