St. Ives Problem/Solution 1

Solution
This is a trick puzzle, to which the trick answer is:
 * $1$.

The narrator is travelling to.

The man he meets, with the colossal entourage, is, by assumption of the definition of the word meet, travelling in the opposite direction, from St. Ives.

Technically, as it is not specified whether the narrator is travelling alone or not, the answer should actually be:
 * at least $1$.