Day 6
Viana- Naverette-23Km
Where is the Red Cross ? Both of us in quit a lot of pain, to add to our woes we missed an arrow on the way out of town and found ourselves on a country lane that was heading for lostville. Rather than go through thesoul destroying process of retracing our steps we decided to go cross-country towards what we assumed to be a main road in the distance. Eventually we found ourselves on a very busy road heading towards Lograno.
Dave was now becoming increasingly worried about his leg. As Dave is not one given to complaining, I realised that he must have been in a bad way. There was no option but to find the hospital. Hospital checks were going to take a few hours so it was decided that it was probably best that I moved on. We agreed that I should aim for Naverette as, should Dave be able to carry on, he could catch up by bus. Shook hands with Dave as I went to find the route feeling that this was probably the end of his Camino, when we had come this far it seemed a cruel end.
The exit from Logrono was along a long walking and cycling path that must have been at least 3Km long- a great facility for any town.
A hot day but not uncomfortable, no features of any note on the walk. Naverette, like many of the villages on the route, seemed to be undergoing some type of refurbishment. The albergue was not open when I arrived , so I dumped my sack outside and found the nearest bar.
To my great surprise Dave, with leg bandaged, arrived just as the hostel was opening. He had been given antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, but no pain killers, as if he needed pain killers then it was time to stop.
Went to the bar next door to watch out for any familiar faces as the perigrinos trailed in. The "healer" arrived with two young ladies in tow- more hands on tonight I expect!! He was closely followed by our Bavarian dinner companion, who made arrangements to meet with us later-never seen again.
Had a really good perigrino meal with a guy from Cork followed by over-generous portions of Spanish spirits
To sleep
Friday, 19 September 2008
Friday, 8 August 2008
Day 5
Villamayor-Viana-31.5km
It was dark as we set out, so extra care watching out for waymarks. Initially steep downhill, then fairly flat. Had travelled about 6km when I discovered an open flap in my sack, most of my toileteries were somewhere back on the track. Also realised that my feet were going to be a problem for some days yet. Coupled with that, Dave's leg was becoming a worry as it was very obviously swollen. Broke habits and treated ourselves to some pastries in Los Arcos. Surprised to find a bakery open so early on a Sunday. The pastries turned out to be stale, which was very much in keeping with the hatchet -face that sold us said items.
The Camino seemed even busier today- what is very striking is how slowly some walkers move, I imagine that their camino must last for months rather than weeks. Very meandering path today but eventually arrived in Viana in the rain.
Albergue was good but glad I managed to have a choice of bunks as here they were stacked 3 high. Was bemused by a guy in the dorm who was offering his hands-on healing services to young ladies but shunned all contact with male walkers.
Had dinner with a 70 year old man who had walk walked all the way from his home in the Black Forest. Were less impressed when he dissappeared at the appearence of la cuenta.
The "healer" was still offering free gropes as I fell asleep.
Villamayor-Viana-31.5km
It was dark as we set out, so extra care watching out for waymarks. Initially steep downhill, then fairly flat. Had travelled about 6km when I discovered an open flap in my sack, most of my toileteries were somewhere back on the track. Also realised that my feet were going to be a problem for some days yet. Coupled with that, Dave's leg was becoming a worry as it was very obviously swollen. Broke habits and treated ourselves to some pastries in Los Arcos. Surprised to find a bakery open so early on a Sunday. The pastries turned out to be stale, which was very much in keeping with the hatchet -face that sold us said items.
The Camino seemed even busier today- what is very striking is how slowly some walkers move, I imagine that their camino must last for months rather than weeks. Very meandering path today but eventually arrived in Viana in the rain.
Albergue was good but glad I managed to have a choice of bunks as here they were stacked 3 high. Was bemused by a guy in the dorm who was offering his hands-on healing services to young ladies but shunned all contact with male walkers.
Had dinner with a 70 year old man who had walk walked all the way from his home in the Black Forest. Were less impressed when he dissappeared at the appearence of la cuenta.
The "healer" was still offering free gropes as I fell asleep.
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
Day 4
Puente La Reina- Villamayor de Monjardin 31Km
Out at 6am as usual but this time with the luxury of a coffe for breakfast. Crossed the beautiful 12th century bridge over the Rio Agra as we left town. Feet are now quite sore. As well as multiple blisters I have developed cracks under two toes on my right foot.
There was a pattern to todays walk- every town on the route was built on top of a hill that could be seen for miles around, on top of that town stood the church and the cCamino had to pass by the front door of that church. Day turned out to be very warm and sunny, so it was just a matter of topping up with water at every chance.
Decided to break out and treat ourselves to a roll and coffee in Estella but before we could agree on a cafe we had exited the town. All was not lost, relief presented itself a mere 3.5Km away in Irache. Here, thanks to the generosity of the local winery is a free wine fountain alongside the water fountain. Under protest I sampled the wine!!!- just for the photographs I'll have you know. The wine was surprisingly not bad at all.
Shortly after we bumped into the first P wearing Jesus attire, it turned out later, that as well as being fluent in many languages, this new age traveller had a smattering of Irish.Villamayor, of course, was on top of a hill-650m. Veiws of the surrounding countryside were quite impressive.
Booked into the first albergue we encountered- it was only while I was showering that Dave gave it close inspection,-building was a shed and it was pretty delapidated. Thankfully this was not our resting place for the night. I made my apologies, gave a donation for use of the shower and quickly left.
The other albergue,run by a Dutch religious society, turned out to be quite ok. The P menu offered here was an improvement on our previous meals. Apart from Dave and myself the rest of the guests stayed on fo a 2 hour prayer meeting after dinner. We just wanted to boost the local economy and wash away the pain
Puente La Reina- Villamayor de Monjardin 31Km
Out at 6am as usual but this time with the luxury of a coffe for breakfast. Crossed the beautiful 12th century bridge over the Rio Agra as we left town. Feet are now quite sore. As well as multiple blisters I have developed cracks under two toes on my right foot.
There was a pattern to todays walk- every town on the route was built on top of a hill that could be seen for miles around, on top of that town stood the church and the cCamino had to pass by the front door of that church. Day turned out to be very warm and sunny, so it was just a matter of topping up with water at every chance.
Decided to break out and treat ourselves to a roll and coffee in Estella but before we could agree on a cafe we had exited the town. All was not lost, relief presented itself a mere 3.5Km away in Irache. Here, thanks to the generosity of the local winery is a free wine fountain alongside the water fountain. Under protest I sampled the wine!!!- just for the photographs I'll have you know. The wine was surprisingly not bad at all.
Shortly after we bumped into the first P wearing Jesus attire, it turned out later, that as well as being fluent in many languages, this new age traveller had a smattering of Irish.Villamayor, of course, was on top of a hill-650m. Veiws of the surrounding countryside were quite impressive.
Booked into the first albergue we encountered- it was only while I was showering that Dave gave it close inspection,-building was a shed and it was pretty delapidated. Thankfully this was not our resting place for the night. I made my apologies, gave a donation for use of the shower and quickly left.
The other albergue,run by a Dutch religious society, turned out to be quite ok. The P menu offered here was an improvement on our previous meals. Apart from Dave and myself the rest of the guests stayed on fo a 2 hour prayer meeting after dinner. We just wanted to boost the local economy and wash away the pain
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
Day 3
Trinidad de Arre- Puente La Reina-31.6 Km
Headed off at first light, sans breakfast, just behind the singing German. Unhappy feet , but the wonderful morning stopped me dwelling on that. Sorry that we were not stopping in Pamploma as it looked like the sort of place that would be fun to explore. Took 2 wrong turns, mea culpa to one of them, only set us back about 20 mins.
Soon we were beyond Pamploma and Cizur Manor and heading for Alto del Pedron- a mere 450m climb. There were a lot more trekkies (as Dave called them) on the path today, Pamploma is a popular starting point with Spanish peregrinos. Alto del Pedron, the focus of today is in the centre of a vast wind farm as well as being the site of a really beautiful large metal sculpture dedicated to the Camino and its participants.
By the time I had passed the peak my fluid intake was in excess of 1 lire/hr (apple brandy etc. will do that to you- learn). Going downhill, the first 300m as well as being very steep was also a mixture of boulders and stones and not appreciated by my ever more delicate feet. After that the path was pretty good and it was just a matter of keeping my thirst happy. Dave had now started to get some painful twinges in his left lower leg, so both of us were quite happy to c reach Puente.
The albergue, run by a religious order, had the benifit of a large garden, so we were able soak up the sun for the afternoon admiring the storks as the glided overhead and occassionaly hobbling to the slot machine to replinish stocks of awful San Miguel. Already the P menu is the obvious reason for plenery indulgences, but lets be fair, no one could sin that much. This evening the cafe itself more than made up for the menu, especially as I was "liquered" on the house. Dave must lack the look of THIRST,clearly tattooed on my forhead, as when we returned to the dorm on of our roomies approached me with a bottle of apple brandy and insisted I sample a generous sample, I obliged three times. It is important to build friendship between nations and I was just doing my bit
Is this a walk or a pub crawl.
Funnily enough I did not manage to get to sleep until about three hours after lights out
Trinidad de Arre- Puente La Reina-31.6 Km
Headed off at first light, sans breakfast, just behind the singing German. Unhappy feet , but the wonderful morning stopped me dwelling on that. Sorry that we were not stopping in Pamploma as it looked like the sort of place that would be fun to explore. Took 2 wrong turns, mea culpa to one of them, only set us back about 20 mins.
Soon we were beyond Pamploma and Cizur Manor and heading for Alto del Pedron- a mere 450m climb. There were a lot more trekkies (as Dave called them) on the path today, Pamploma is a popular starting point with Spanish peregrinos. Alto del Pedron, the focus of today is in the centre of a vast wind farm as well as being the site of a really beautiful large metal sculpture dedicated to the Camino and its participants.
By the time I had passed the peak my fluid intake was in excess of 1 lire/hr (apple brandy etc. will do that to you- learn). Going downhill, the first 300m as well as being very steep was also a mixture of boulders and stones and not appreciated by my ever more delicate feet. After that the path was pretty good and it was just a matter of keeping my thirst happy. Dave had now started to get some painful twinges in his left lower leg, so both of us were quite happy to c reach Puente.
The albergue, run by a religious order, had the benifit of a large garden, so we were able soak up the sun for the afternoon admiring the storks as the glided overhead and occassionaly hobbling to the slot machine to replinish stocks of awful San Miguel. Already the P menu is the obvious reason for plenery indulgences, but lets be fair, no one could sin that much. This evening the cafe itself more than made up for the menu, especially as I was "liquered" on the house. Dave must lack the look of THIRST,clearly tattooed on my forhead, as when we returned to the dorm on of our roomies approached me with a bottle of apple brandy and insisted I sample a generous sample, I obliged three times. It is important to build friendship between nations and I was just doing my bit
Is this a walk or a pub crawl.
Funnily enough I did not manage to get to sleep until about three hours after lights out
Monday, 4 August 2008
Day 2
Roncasvalles to Trinidad de Arre-40Km
Woken up by rain beating the roof at 4 am. By 5 am pencil torches were beginning to stab the darkness and within another 30 mins the place was a hive of activity. We were on the road just after 6- no breakfast. Felt a little tenderness in one foot, then the other. Not too pleased to be feeling pain on only the second day.
We were soon off the road and ankle deep in mud- should have worn boots rather than walking shoes. We were still not totally clear of the hills and the combination of slippery stone and mud made for some hairy descents. Encountered very few walkers on early part of journey but were continuosly passed by 2 wheeled pilgrims. Had a number of encounters with a German walker who was singing every time our paths crossed.
The plan was to stop at Larasoana, but finding a town with every street dug up and neither the albergue or any cafe open made the idea of stopping here less than inviting. After a lot of tooing and froing we decided to move on to Trinidad de Arre. By this stage it had become quite hot and I found that I needed to take on a bottle of water at every fountain. Reached Trinidad (outskirts of Pamplona) at 4pm. Qiute sore feet by that time. The albergue was a marvellous ancient building set in the rear garden of the church. This particular site has provided shelter to pilgrims since 11th centuary. After my shower realised thatI was being fast tracked to membership of Cripples United.
Hobbled into town for my daily dose of Pilgrims fare, at least the bottle of wine that comes with it ensures its quick passage through the body.
Doors were locked at 9, so that saved me the trouble of indulging in riotous behaviour. The singing German slept in the bunk above me- thankfully quietly
Roncasvalles to Trinidad de Arre-40Km
Woken up by rain beating the roof at 4 am. By 5 am pencil torches were beginning to stab the darkness and within another 30 mins the place was a hive of activity. We were on the road just after 6- no breakfast. Felt a little tenderness in one foot, then the other. Not too pleased to be feeling pain on only the second day.
We were soon off the road and ankle deep in mud- should have worn boots rather than walking shoes. We were still not totally clear of the hills and the combination of slippery stone and mud made for some hairy descents. Encountered very few walkers on early part of journey but were continuosly passed by 2 wheeled pilgrims. Had a number of encounters with a German walker who was singing every time our paths crossed.
The plan was to stop at Larasoana, but finding a town with every street dug up and neither the albergue or any cafe open made the idea of stopping here less than inviting. After a lot of tooing and froing we decided to move on to Trinidad de Arre. By this stage it had become quite hot and I found that I needed to take on a bottle of water at every fountain. Reached Trinidad (outskirts of Pamplona) at 4pm. Qiute sore feet by that time. The albergue was a marvellous ancient building set in the rear garden of the church. This particular site has provided shelter to pilgrims since 11th centuary. After my shower realised thatI was being fast tracked to membership of Cripples United.
Hobbled into town for my daily dose of Pilgrims fare, at least the bottle of wine that comes with it ensures its quick passage through the body.
Doors were locked at 9, so that saved me the trouble of indulging in riotous behaviour. The singing German slept in the bunk above me- thankfully quietly
Sunday, 3 August 2008
Day 1
St Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles-1390 m climb, 31.7 Km
Left earlier than advised, 6.40 am, as hostel was not due to be open until 4 pm, but saw sipping a few beers in Roncesvalles as a better option to hanging around in St. Jean. It had rained heavily overnight so there were little streams running down some of the roads as we made our ascent. Our (us being yours truly + Dave Giles) energy was bolstered by a vast resevoir of enthusiasm, so we relished the climb. Dave managed to hold out till 8.30 before having his first beer. It was not long before we were passing Perrigrinos (pilgrims) from the higher Albergues. Unfortunatley the weather began to close in after about 2 hours and soon visability was down to about 20 mts. The majority of the climb was on road. As soon as we left the road progress slowed as now we were seeing how much mud 2 weeks of rain could produce. By the time we reached the top visibility was as little as 5 m. Every 10 m of mist seemed to reveal a new walker. Only sound to be heard was the ringing of cowbells. Looked for visible signs of a national border but found none. As we started our descent the rain started in earnest but it made little impact on our enthusiasm. Came close to travelling some of the downhill on my arse but was saved by my stick. Dave gave a good impression of Guzzle as the slippery surface was no problem for him.
Reached Roncesvalles in under 6 hours-pretty happy with that-shame that we dident get to enjoy the views.
Joined many wet perrigrinos sipping beer for the afternoon. Had my first pilgrim menu-time alloted for the meal 45 mins, we then had to vacate restaurant for "real diners". Settled down for the night in a dormitory of 90 fellow travellers, almost like being back at school, but had a feeling that the snoring might be a little worse
St Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles-1390 m climb, 31.7 Km
Left earlier than advised, 6.40 am, as hostel was not due to be open until 4 pm, but saw sipping a few beers in Roncesvalles as a better option to hanging around in St. Jean. It had rained heavily overnight so there were little streams running down some of the roads as we made our ascent. Our (us being yours truly + Dave Giles) energy was bolstered by a vast resevoir of enthusiasm, so we relished the climb. Dave managed to hold out till 8.30 before having his first beer. It was not long before we were passing Perrigrinos (pilgrims) from the higher Albergues. Unfortunatley the weather began to close in after about 2 hours and soon visability was down to about 20 mts. The majority of the climb was on road. As soon as we left the road progress slowed as now we were seeing how much mud 2 weeks of rain could produce. By the time we reached the top visibility was as little as 5 m. Every 10 m of mist seemed to reveal a new walker. Only sound to be heard was the ringing of cowbells. Looked for visible signs of a national border but found none. As we started our descent the rain started in earnest but it made little impact on our enthusiasm. Came close to travelling some of the downhill on my arse but was saved by my stick. Dave gave a good impression of Guzzle as the slippery surface was no problem for him.
Reached Roncesvalles in under 6 hours-pretty happy with that-shame that we dident get to enjoy the views.
Joined many wet perrigrinos sipping beer for the afternoon. Had my first pilgrim menu-time alloted for the meal 45 mins, we then had to vacate restaurant for "real diners". Settled down for the night in a dormitory of 90 fellow travellers, almost like being back at school, but had a feeling that the snoring might be a little worse
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