I've seen a lot of Dung

Killarney Races...definitely a trip highlight.

When you tramp about Ireland for a few weeks and walk in an out of little towns and villages, you are going to cross a lot of little farms and deal with sheep, cows, goats, horses and dogs. I have stepped in a lot of dung the past week.

Thursday saw me hitch-hike to Wicklow, bus to Arklow for lunch (The Streets of Arklow...Van Morrison), bus to Waterford to pick up and ship something for me Mum, then onto Cork. I love Cork. Spent the next day walking out to Blarney and back. Scoffed a bit of the Castle for me 'bro and really enjoyed lunch in the village square. Cork in a working class sort of small city and the outskirts and really tight. hilly and closely packed. The downtown was really dense and fun to browse.

Saturday, it was another bus to Killarney and the Sugan Hostel, the best yet. 24 people packed in a space 1/2 the size of my house, mixed dorms and lots of interaction with the Germans, Americans and French. Of course, Polish people as well.
Killarney is a beautiful spot. I did a 16 km hike out to the big Torc waterfall, then stayed the next day Sunday as a day of rest. Read the English news all morning and worked on the betting sheets for the Killarney Horse Racing in the afternoon. A glorious day and actually was up a Euro at the end, betting with the bookies instead of the Tote.

Monday was back on the track again, this time a 100 km walk on the Kerry Way, from Killarney to Kenmare to Sneme to Waterville. The walking was magic, coming out of Killarney, into Kenmare. The hike to Sneem was the first real, warm, sunny day of the trip and I enjoyed it immensely. A glorious day topped off with a stay in a B&B and an astounding meal. The village has 2 town squares connected by a bridge, surrounded by the ocean and the low mountains of Kerry. The best town yet.

Wednesday was the best hike day of the trip from Sneme to Waterville (and back on the bus line!) T-shirt weather, big, high views and cool/warm spring air. A stunning day and one to remember forever. Walking into town (5 mi instead of the 3 km the book says), I hitched a ride to Cahersiveen, where I am now. Got another laundry done and huge pork roast meal for 8 Euros. That and a Guinness after 30 kms on a hot day...priceless.

Haven't been online much. The places I'm staying are so small that the village might have a payphone, no bank, no ATM, no internet cafe.

I'm done walking. Will be here for a day, then off to Galway and the Aran Islands. Who knows after that.

My sense of time is toast, Between the travelling, the solitary walking and the Irish sense of time, life is a nice, slow blur. I am keeping decent notes. My average day is a very healthy breakfast of tea, yogurt, bread, cheese, juice and banana, followed by 7-8 hours of walking with a lunch of bread, cheese, water and a chocolate bar. Dinner is grocery store prepared salads and stuff in town, or the pub (BIG meals) if I've been walking all day. Have a Guinness with dinner and usually one later on.

It's a dream life, I'm busy, but not pushed in any manner. I'm eating and drinking well. Meeting lots of traveller's and about the same number of local people. They are more than friendly. I love it here. Don't want to come back. Could easily spend 2 months here without breaking a sweat.

Cheers for now. Bruce