St. Ives Problem/Solution 1

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

The narrator is travelling to St. Ives.

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 $1$.