On the Dingle Way...

I have spent the last three days now walking the Dingle Way, a waymarked way of 112 miles around the Dingle Peninsula. If you look at a map of Ireland, you'll see the little peninsulas dangling off the SW of the island. Dingle is the one at the top. Below Dingle is the Iveragh Peninsula, where my friend and I walked the Kerry Way two summers ago, and below that is the Beara Peninsula, where I walked the Beara Way that same summer. I love these walks because it slows down your pace of travel and exposes you to people and places that you would normally overlook. Not to mention you have heavenly scenery the entire time. I picked Ireland in the first place because I figured it would be a safe place to travel as a woman travelling alone.

So, for my walk so far, starting in Tralee, I walked 12 miles to a village called Camp, which is made up of a pub, gas station, and B&B. After a beautiful (luckily sunny) day of walking along the Slieve Mountains, I was warmly welcomed everywhere I went and reminded again why I love Ireland so. The next day I headed another 12 miles to Annascul, a village famous for being the final resting place of Tom Crean, an explorer who was part of Shackleton's Antarctic voyage and responsible for coming up with the idea of eating the dogs they had with them rather than starve to death, among other things. In between was a stop at Inch Strand, a beautiful beach. Yesterday I walked another 12 miles to Dingle. This walk was a bit more difficult as it was raining for most of it and I missed one of the markers, made a wrong turn, and spent half the day just following roads on my map to make it to my destination. I ended up in a maze of country roads that led around sheep and cattle farms and was guided by a kind lady in a direction that took me through a road that consisted of mud and manure. To get through it as best as I could I ended up grabbing onto the hedges and was stung numerous times by the stinging nettles, something I'm starting to get used to.

Needless to say, I made it to Dingle and decided it would be best to take a day of rest as my body was beginning to feel a bit broken down from my backpack and walking on tarmac roads. Dingle is a very lively town with music nightly at what seems to be every pub in town and enjoys high levels of tourism. They have a town mascot named Fungi, a dolphin that hangs out in the bay (I have yet to see it, however). I prefer the small villages with less tourists and more locals, but it's good to mix it up and the scenery is beautiful, of course.

It's been neat walking and running into the same walkers in each town that are on the same schedule/route as I. So far, they've all been Dutch. A woman with her two grown daughters have been very friendly--they are camping along the way, something that I'd like to do if I was walking with a group. But they said the other night they were attacked by deer ticks and midges. For now I'm comfortable sleeping indoors and after being outside all day with the elements it feels like a luxury to return to civilization. Not that I'm in the middle of nowhere in Papua New Guinea or anything, but just far enough outside of my comfort zone to make me feel cut off temporarily from creature comforts--a great way to clear your mind and regain perspective.

Tomorrow I walk to Dunquin and would like to spend the next five days walking if all goes well.