DAY 193 - VISP TO SIERRA : 20.2 MILES (40,400 STEPS)

1 November, 2011

20.2 miles (Total: 1891.3 miles) 40,400 steps (Total: 4,086,201 steps)

Getting up now requires at least an extra thirty minutes and the support of a cocktail of pain killers taken at least forty minutes before then. I don’t mean to sound like a wimp as I am sure that there are millions for whom this is not a temporary challenge, but a permanent requirement. On the positive side, I am impressed by how quickly we just adapt to new realities whilst most of the limitations and frustrations of getting ready are a factor of time, and by simply allowing more time, the greatest obstacle can be removed.

For some reason Halloween is a very big deal in Switzerland … I am not sure why but the town squares and stations were packed with young people in high spirits and the shops were decked out in ghoulish displays of pumpkins, broomsticks, and cob-webs. Some people get a little wound up about this, but my view is that anything which gets people coming together in community, having common collective experiences has got to be a good thing. The down side of the ‘collective experience’ is that the shops don’t re-open until mid-day when the Halloween ‘spirits’ have worn off.

I get the train from Brig to Visp and stride off in the direction of Sierre. The later start in the morning and the shorter days due to the onset of winter mean that I have to get a move on if I am not going to be walking along 

busy roads along the dark that presents an added risk, especially the day after Halloween. I make it into the centre of Sierre just as darkness was falling, but missed the turning down to the station so walked to the edge of town and then had to double back – never a cheery experience.

Fortunately, I had loaded a new song onto my iPod the previous evening after having seen one of the most energetic and pulsating music videos of recent months on MTV – ‘The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie’ by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers filmed at Venice Beach. The song was on loop most of the day and it certainly gave me rhythm to keep me going and to forget the discomfort of my shoulder.