28. Jul 2025

Wigry - Bakałarzewo

Video: Early morning bird call...

Photo 1: View of the monastery from the other side of the lake...

I knew this was going to be a challenging week with rain in the forecast and long distances to walk. I decided to keep my biorhythm on the Baltic time schedule to help me get an earlier start. Crossing the border did not change the rising of the sun. So I got up today at 4.30 am in the time zone of Poland, but my body said it was 5.30 am. My goal is to have about half the hike done by the time I take a lunch break. Today's and tomorrow's hikes would be a little over 42 kilometers and on Thursday almost 41 kilometers. I need to start early to make it by early evening.

Photo 2: Every day is like a puzzle that has many different pieces, and at the end of the day you look back and see the completed picture called "Today". The route is one puzzle piece, particularly if there are obsticles, detours or wrong turns. Finding sources for food and drink, a sleeping space, and dealing with weather conditions are other pieces to the puzzle. Then there might be a God-appointment or a God-talk which gives the final picture of "Today" a completely different foccus. Sometimes you might have a piece to the puzzle and you just do not know when and where to place it.

Bogdan was a piece like that. Back three weeks ago I has handed this puzzle piece by a hostess of a hostel in Latvia. She said Bogdan speaks some German and he might be able to help me find places to stay the first two weeks in Poland. She gave me his telephone number and a list he had given her once of possible places to stay for a night on the first part of the Camino Polska. With the rain I have had and that was still coming, I decided to try to find other options to sleeping in my tent. On Sunday afternoon at the monastery I took the time to rework my route using Bogdan's list. The receptionist at the monastery helped me place a few calls, but I was not able to reach all the contacts that I wanted. I then called Bogdan and discovered that I would be walking through his city Suwałki by noon today. He insisted that we meet and then have a cup of tea together. It was a puzzle piece of about an hour and a half of the picture called "Today", but it really helped me to line up other pieces for the coming days. In this photo Bogdan is making a call for me. He was a great help and an answer to prayer. Walking to Wigry on Saturday I was feeling overehelmed by the puzzles I would have to solve the next two weeks in Poland. I am starting to see the picture now...

Photo 3: It did rain quite a bit today...

Photo 4: Birds in flight...

Photo 5: I was so glad to have a bed and a dry place to stay this night. The whole week, except Thursday, I will be staying at places that Bogdan helped arrange. Tonight I stayed at a private house near a lake that had three rooms available for guests. I met my first two Polish pilgrims here, two women who also started off today in Wigry. However they took the bus to Suwałki, about 17 km from Wigry. I do not remember the names of the hosts, but they were very friendly people and prepared Polish dumplings, pierogi, for us to eat. It was rainy and I arrived later than I wanted. The two Polish pilgrims were finished eating by the time I had my shower and put on some dry clothes. Kati (photo) spoke some English and stayed to help translate. She was also very intetested in hearing about my travels and experiences. After the meal I offered to say a prayer of blessing for everyone. Kati and the hosts were very touched by this. Particularly the hostess had tears in her eyes. I assured them that Jesus loves them and was prompted to show them the photo I posted from July 24 of a wood carving of Jesus hanging on the cross and facing the church. I said that as Jesus hung on the cross, he saw us. He did it for us. It caused him joy in his suffering to know that we would believe. The tears kept coming. It was a special moment. I was sure glad that it rained and I needed to change my plans...