Navarrete to Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Day 10 Navarrete to Najera (16 kms)

A misty, moisty morning and we have our rain jackets on and off from the start.  As the wind gets up, we decide to leave them on, as much for warmth as protection from the misty rain.  We are carrying a bit of extra water today as there are apparently no fonts between here and Najera.  The Camino has been rerouted through the village of Ventosa which is a bonus for those peregrinos who have not yet had breakfast.  The first of two bars on the main (only!) street is doing a roaring trade…the second one is empty…Location!  Location!



The way ahead



For much of the day the trail runs parallel to the main N120 highway.  We digress temporarily to climb a rocky pathway lined with many cairns…a tradition is for pilgrims to bring a stone from home to place on a cairn here.  We don’t have a stone from home but we find one to place anyway.

Here we also find a sheltered spot for elevenses and boil the billy before heading to the top of Alto de San Anton where we can see the sprawl of Najera, still 7 kms away, and the flat-topped hill called Poyo de Roldan, said to be the stone thrown by Roland to kill the giant, Ferragut.  Closer to town, we are caught in yet another brief, heavy shower of rain.  This time a picnic area with rotunda is nearby and we sit out the rain here while having a drink and snack. 

Waymarking into Najera is not good and pot luck is required to some extent.  Once again our hotel is right on the Camino and we find it with no trouble at all on the banks of the Rio Najerilla.

After the now traditional rest period and shower, we go for a walk and are entertained by a band of wandering minstrels…totally disorganised, alternately playing and chatting with passers by, but somehow providing  continuous entertainment on various brass and wind instruments as they stroll along.

With some difficulty, and no thanks to the street signage, we find the albergue to have our Credentiale stamped.  Here we meet Lauren, our Canadian friend, and together we search for the supermarket, which we walk straight past on the first run.  Sometime later, having retraced our steps, there it is!

Lauren recommends the Meson El Bueno Yattara for dinner and we enjoy the Menu de Peregrinos (€8.50) and the genial service.

Day 11 Najera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada (22 kms)

Breakfast today is most unsatisfactory!  Partaken in the dimly lit hotel cafeteria, no tables are set, and there is a very limited choice of sweet pastries.  We can choose one pastry each to have with a glass of orange juice and a cup of tea or coffee.  We have to request butter and jam…one of each is provided for us to share.  When we have the temerity to ask for another pastry AND another cup of tea and coffee, much banging of crockery and coffee machine ensues, so we don’t dare ask for more butter and jam!

Exit Najera in the shadow of the imposing red cliffs which have numerous man-made caverns carved out – goodness knows how they are accessed, or for what purpose.  The birds love the nesting opportunities. 



Lamb transfer



As we walk along the gravel road, we are passed by a small white van with lambs bouncing around in the back.  We round a curve in time to see it pull into a field beside another small white van.  From Van 2, we estimate somewhere between 12 and 15 lambs are transferred into the back of Van 1 to join those already there.  There would have been no bouncing when that van hit the road!!



Balloning on Sunday



As we continue towards the village of Azofra, a hot air balloon drifts into sight.  It disappears for a time as we walk through a cutting, but as we emerge, we see it poised over the village and watch as it makes a perfect landing in a nearby field, basket upright!  We continue along a dirt lane and pass a rollo…variously described as a boundary stone, a pillar used to hang villains, and a cross.  Rolling wheat fields, now mostly ploughed, on either side of the trail before the gentle climb to a picnic ground with concrete recliner ‘lounges’ where we boil the billy and enjoy the passing parade of peregrinos, and the company of Gunther and Hilde, probably for the last time as we are planning a rest day tomorrow.

Feet up!



The ‘resort’ village of Cirinuela is built virtually on top of the original village of Ciruena.  Cirinuela boasts a magnificent golf course, palatial club house, a complex with swimming pool, tennis courts, playgrounds, gymnasium and other sporting facilities, alongside many townhouse style condominiums.  Shortly after passing through Ciruena, we catch sight of the spire of the cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada.  Entering the town precinct, we meet a party of men, one of whom is totally blind.  He walks behind a friend and is guided by a strap.  What an achievement!  They are enjoying a celebratory wine before meeting up with ‘the missus’ or three in town.

We find the albergue for our stamp and a map of the town, and again find our hotel almost right on the Camino.  Our host is a genial fellow who speaks no English at all.  We manage most of the ‘check in’ without incident…room key, internet, breakfast, etc…but he phones his son, who speaks English, to ask us whether we want 2 beds or one big one!

A variation on the Menu de Peregrinos tonight…Pizza Espagnol with beer and cider in a bar with only locals and no-one who speaks English…being Sunday night, families are out and about – the adults inside mostly drinking coffee while the kids play in the street outside. 

Day 12 Rest Day – Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Who is Santo Domingo?  Briefly, Dominic Garcia spent his whole life assisting pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela.  Around 1039 he built a bridge over the Rio Oja so pilgrims wouldn’t have to wade through the river.  He also built a hospital and a church and ultimately retired as a hermit near to where the city would be built to his memory.  He is the patron saint of road, canal and port engineers, senior citizens and gerontologists.

A sleep in today, a delicious, leisurely breakfast, a visit to the lavanderia (laundromat), and a tour of the Cathedral filled in the morning.  A charge is made to enter the cathedral and museum area – peregrinos and those over 65 get a cheaper rate, so we qualified on two accounts – and is good value for money.  We spend some time exploring the rooftop and the crypt as well as the cathedral proper.  This is where a pair of white chickens is kept in the church as a reminder of a miracle. They are well cared for and are exchanged for a fresh pair every 15-18 days.

A young pilgrim travelling to Santiago with his parents caught the eye of a barmaid. When her advances were rejected, she put some silver in his bag and reported it stolen.  The young pilgrim was apprehended and strung up on the gallows.  The parents prayed and continued to Santiago.  On their return journey, they were surprised to find him still alive with Santo Domingo supporting his feet.  They went to the judge who had just sat down to a meal of roast chicken and couldn’t be bothered with them.  He said that if the boy was innocent, the chicken on his plate would sit up and crow…and it did!!



Lunch



After this uplifting experience, we find our way to an open bar for a coffee and lunch snack of specialite locale Tortilla Rellena…a potato frittata split in half and filled with tuna, peppers, cheese, cucumber, sour cream, and maybe a couple of other things, with sour cream and peppers on top.  Quite yummy!  The afternoon is spent catching up on blogs and generally resting before the next three days which are apparently quite tough.

Dinner sees a return to Menu de Pereginos and a relatively early night ready for an early start tomorrow.

Estella to Navarrete

Day 7 Estella to Los Arcos (25 kms)

Starting the day with freshly laundered clothes, courtesy of the hotel for a modest charge of €5 euro, we make our way back to the Camino.  Strangely, it doesn’t seem nearly as long as it took to get there last night.  It’s overcast and misty as we climb steeply out of Estella.  This town has a different feel to us…a mish-mash of buildings, new, old and in between, and not much soul. 



It´s wine o´clock!



At the top of the hill we find the Bodega Irache winery, and set in the wall, is a fountain dispensing water and red wine!  We stop for a taste – as we can’t see the sun, we have no idea whether or not it is over the yard arm!! – and it’s not a bad drop…the wine was nice too!

We pass through the village of Irache where we see the first camping ground of our trip, and then pleasant walking through oak forest for quite a few kms, to the village of Azqueta.

Into the vineyards and we climb steeply again, this time to the hilltop village of Villamayor where there is a cistern (shallow pool with font, said to date back to Islamic Spain), but the water quality is questionable.  We do, however, fill our water bottles at the town square.  Elevenses today are taken on a stone wall overlooking the way ahead in the company of Gunther and Hilde from Germany.  We keep meeting them along the way – their Spanish equals ours, but their English is much better than our German…hence we get along nicely!

More vines as we undulate towards the road where we meet Mary and Maggie who have stopped at a font under the trees for lunch.

Fortunately, the sun has remained behind the clouds up to this point because once we left the oak forest, there has been no shade…a real problem in summer, we think.  As we walk along a gravel road, at about 1.00 pm, the sun comes out and it becomes quite hot again.  On with the sunscreen, have another drink, and trudge on.

We meet a group of French tourists, complete with a local guide, resting in a small pine plantation, the first shade of the day.  They are on a tour of Spain and are walking one section of the Camino as part of this tour.  We cross a small footbridge back onto the main road, pass through a cutting, and Los Arcos appears just below, seemingly out of nowhere.

We stop at a shelter where we decide to purchase a Coke from the vending machine.  John notices you can also get Camino shells (*) from the same machine.  We scrape together some coin, and the process begins, much to the amusement of several onlookers.  He puts in some coins, presses some buttons, and ends up with 2 shells, 2 cokes, a chocolate bar he didn’t press the button for, and 10 cents change that he wasn’t entitled to!!

(*)Very briefly, the legend of the scallop shell and its rather spurious connection with the Camino…St James attends a pagan wedding where the bridegroom and his horse disappear into the sea.  St James saves them from drowning, and when they surface, they are covered with scallop shells.  Because of this and a couple of other “connections,” pilgrims now carry the shell on their pack.

While all this was going on, Elaine is sitting outside.  A young man gets off his bicycle, walks past, points to the bell on her walking pole and says, “Fuji-san!”  She says it is from Mt Fuji and he tells her he is Brazilian but Japan is his home country.  She tells him that just this morning she has lost the bell from her other pole.  He goes to his bike bag and returns with a Japanese coin which he gives her to replace the lost bell!!  She now has it firmly attached and will treasure it.

Los Arcos is really just one long narrow main street leading to Plaza Santa Maria along which are many albergues and even more peregrinos.  We get our Credentiale stamped at the Albergue Austria and find our hotel in a nearby plaza.

We eat each night at an establishment offering Menu de Peregrino.  Choices vary as does quantity, quality and price.  So far we have managed somewhere between €8.50 and €12 for 3 courses, bread, and vino/water – the most expensive not necessarily being the best – which has fitted into our daily budget quite nicely.  Tonight John orders Natillas, thinking it might be a tart of some sort.   Surprisingly, it came in a lovely ceramic crock and was, in fact, runny custard! 

Day 8 Los Arcos to Viana (19 kms)

Overcast, misty and humid as we start the day with a walk through the village, across the stone bridge and then the usual steady climb.  Today looks like being an ‘ups and downs’ day, most of the ‘ups’ being on reasonably new stone pathways – sort of like the Camino version of Tasmanian boardwalks.  A cluster of cairns alongside the track is more Asian than European, but we add a stone anyway.  Another village, Sansol, wrapped around a hill, but no vipers this time.  Don’t know whether they start at the top of these places and build down or the other way around…but probably start with the Cathedral which is ALWAYS at the top!  Another small village, Torres del Rio is tucked away in the shadows of the hill and the bar here is alive with peregrinos having breakfast. 



Stone shelter



A small chapel is on the side of the track – built to commemorate the appearance of the Virgin of Le Puy.  Also along the way we see small, square, stone ‘shelters’ the purpose of which we are not quite sure…maybe for shepherds in bad weather?  We are now descending in to “Barranco Mataburros”…the ‘donkey-killing ditch’...so you can imagine how steep it is!!  And an appropriate place to have lunch, boiling the billy as we sit on a low stone wall which surrounds a small vineyard.  Private garden plots, mostly veggies, line the trail, as well as wild blackberries, fig, olive and almond trees.  In season, you could do quite well eating off the land.  At the moment, blackberries and almonds are good, figs have a way to go and olives are still very green. 

We are surviving the Camino better than some – we see bloody toes, blisters which require the wearing of sandals or flip-flops, heavily strapped knees and ankles causing painful gaits and heavy reliance on poles.  We enter Viana on a trail adjacent to the main road and after checking in to our hotel, feel the need for refreshment, so join our Dutch friends – 3 chaps walking for a week before returning home to convince their wives to join them next year – in a beer and cider. 



Cathedral



The Cathedral at Viana is small but awash with gold behind the altar with sculptured figures of the saints in alcoves from floor to ceiling.  Just behind our hotel is the ruin of another church, still with some frescoes visible and very old foundations giving a very good idea of what the original building was all about.

We need a couple of supermarket things but must wait until after 6pm, which is when the shops open!  Only the bars open during the day and everything else, including the shoe shop, the clothing shops and the supermarkets are open from 6 – 9, which is when the people come out to play. Tonight we have our Last Supper with Mary and Maggie – they pull out at Logrono tomorrow, but we are walking on so will not see them in the morning before we leave. 

Day 9 Viana to Navarette (23kms)

7.40am start today, just after first light.  We enjoy the sunrise on our very flat, easy walk to Logrono…not Lasagne, as one of our party was wont to call it!...and we enjoy some respite from the previous days of rolling undulations.  We pass from the region of Navarra to La Rioja, and immediately notice an increase in the intensity of vineyards – this being the premier wine region of Spain.  A wetland provides nothing in the way of birdlife as it is almost dry, one of the downsides of walking at the end of a hot summer. 

On our way down the hill into Logrono, we come across a man standing outside his house who stamps our Credentiales.  Possibly his mum, the senora, offers cups of tea and coffee for any donation.  She also has souvenirs which are of interest to the French and Americanos, while we show more interest in the dogs which are kennelled all about the casa.  He tells us the geneology of the 8 dogs, two of which are showing signs of disability brought on by age, and we finally make our escape and continue into Logrono.

The waymarking of the Camino into the city is fantastic and as we walk along the river, following the scallop shells embedded into the pavement, we come to the Officina de la Peregrinos with a toilet!  You may wonder why this is noteworthy…public toilets are very few and far between on the Camino, and sometimes so are the trees!  The city itself is quite interesting, and we slow down to enjoy the comings and goings of city life. 

The Camino out of Logrono passes through the city gardens for some way, albeit on the first of 6 kms of concrete pathway – not great for the feet, but easy walking.  At the end of the concrete is the Pantano de la Grajera, a water storage.  We lunch with the squirrels, which are too nifty to allow a photo, at tables and seats under the pines just short of the dam wall.  As we pack up, the rain begins, necessitating the wearing of rain jackets for the next couple of kms.  Fortunately we are able to remove them as we begin to climb and the humidity increases.

Vineyards as far as the eye can see and gas guns are used to ‘scare’ the sparrows and grouse away from the ripening grapes, but they obviously haven’t told the birds because the sparrows just fly to the next row of vines and the grouse duck in under where they can’t be seen – for the moment!  At a turn in the track, a huge silhouette of a bull fills the sky…no longer in use as an advertising medium but retained for its tourist value.  Along the side of the track runs a cyclone fence – pilgrims use this to place crosses made from grass, sticks, plastic bits and pieces, nails, etc. woven or stuck into the wire mesh.

Almost into Navarrete we meet a flock of sheep and goats with their shepherd and his two dogs.  The shepherd wanders along in front with the dogs at his heel and the sheep and goats follow, stopping if they have time to climb on a stone wall to eat the vines, or roses, or whatever from gardens, and watching to make sure they are not left behind.  We join the procession for the next kilometre or so, watching carefully where we put our feet.



´Honeymoon suite?´



Our accommodation, right on the Camino, is a pension run by 2 hombres.  Beautifully restored and furnished with many historical relics displayed around the entry area, we have a most comfortable night, after having a ‘Commonwealth’ dinner with Kiwi Lisa, and Donna and Lauren from Canada in the Café Los Arcos.

Rest day,then on we go!

Rest day – Pamplona (10 kms)

Rest day in Pamplona starts with a huge buffet breakfast during which we pack a contraband lunch!  Intend to do some laundry but local lavandaria is closed – it is Sunday after all!  So it’s off to the Cathedral to see if we can find the place to get our Credentiale stamped…no, but we do find the entrance to the Cathedral and spend time absorbing the atmosphere and admiring the architecture – gothic, in this case – and the carvings, stained glass, etc.  It is a rather special place. 

Still looking for the stamp office, and obviously looking vague, we are asked by a local man passing by, “English, French, German?”  We say, “Australian,” he says, “I’ll speak English.  What are you looking for?”  He gives us directions to the Jesu & Maria Albergue nearby.  It is closed, with a queue forming outside for the best beds when the door does open.  We meet  some Dutch peregrinos, just arrived and looking for coffee and bread.  Surprisingly, we are able to give them directions to both the albergue and mini-mart where bread and maybe coffee is available. 



City Wall Pamplona



We decide to walk around the city wall from the Cathedral.  At the City Gate we meet a man who speaks no English, but we find out that he has family in Chile and Melbourne.  He gives us directions as to how we can follow the wall almost around the entire city, and still get back to the hotel.  A fantastic experience for us to test our comprehension of Spanish and make ourselves understood with our very limited vocabulary.  We part from our new amigo with a cheery wave and set out on our circumnavigation of the city.

From the top of the Wall, we look down and see paddlers on the river, families, sometimes 3 generations, with the kids on bikes or scooters, the “Running of the Bulls” holding pens, and people generally taking the air.  In the gardens we find a ‘children’s farm’ tucked away between two of the ramparts – goats, deer, ducks, chooks, geese, guinea fowl, swans, peacocks – spectators look down on the animals from about 7m above. 

We have our lunch on a park bench in these beautiful gardens, and then make our way back to the hotel to create our Chinese laundry. 



Then we set off on another adventure to the train station to book our tickets from Santiago to Madrid at the end of our Camino.  Once again our amazing grasp of the Spanish language enabled us to do this, albeit with some reliance on the good humour of the man in the ticket office.   A moment of panic as we leave the station, look at the tickets, and think that he has sold us return tickets instead of one way…again his good humour shines as he explains that everything is OK and we don’t need to return to Pamplona!  While at the station we are approached by a lady who wishes us “Buen Camino” and explains, in a mixture of Spanish and French, that she has done the pilgrimage and shows us her silver shell necklace and tells me I must get one in Santiago.  What a good idea!!  



Plaza de Castilla



The Jesu and Maria alberge should now be open so we make our way back there for our stamp, on the way finding a restaurant in the Plaza de Castillo with a Menu del Dia for €13 which we decided to sample a bit later on.

And we do…our dinner is amazing – 1^st plate of spag bol…a full Aussie serve, followed by 2^nd plate of cordon bleu/steak with chips, postre (sweets) of caramel custard/icecream, accompanied by bread and bottle of red (plonk!)   In retrospect, the plonk was not a good idea – can’t be bothered packing tonight and also can’t remember when we two have ever polished off a full bottle of red! 

Day 5 – Pamplona to Puente La Reina (24 kms)

Still feeling alcohol lassitude, ie the effects our bottle of plonk, we make our way through the suburbs of Pamplona and out into the countryside.  Spanish people love their dogs and because so many live in small apartments, dog walking is a major activity.

We seem to always start the day with a climb of some sort – today it is not very long but quite steep up a walking/cycle path and then onto a minor road to Cizur Menor.  Not much shade so we take a seat in a bus shelter to have a drink and a dried apricot.  Here we meet a lady from Bulgaria who is now living in Spain and speaks about as much Spanish as we do.  We have a lovely ‘chat’ and we move on before the bus comes.

Now for the real climb of the day…long steady climb past the Guendulain castle ruin which sits in the middle of ploughed paddock. 

After this exertion, we find a shady spot beside a sunflower crop for our ‘elevenses.’  No sooner was the stove fired up, than a huge tractor and trailer came thundering up the path.  John has to move his pack out of the way – fortunately the stove is safe.  The man parks the tractor and trailer in the sunflower field then comes walking back down the path.  We have our cuppa and are just picking up our packs to move on when an even more thunderous noise approaches.  This time it’s the same man driving a huge harvester which would have completely wiped out our picnic and us as well!!  We leave him to his harvesting and move on up the hill.

Private enterprise is alive and well in the village of Zariquiegui where a couple of  Dutch ladies have set up their camper van alongside the track, complete with plastic chairs and a table with thermoses and cups to serve refreshments to peregrinos who are panting their way to the top of Alto de Perdon, still two and a half kms away and getting steeper as we go.  The ridge tops of both sides of the track are lined with wind generators – we think they are electric fans purposefully put there to create a breeze to keep us cool…well, whatever works for you!

Joining the Pilgrims

Fantastic 360 degree views from the top and life-size steel silouhettes of peregrinos across the ages…a great opportunity for silly photos!!

And we have just about sweated out the last vestiges of last night’s plonk!!

The descent to Uterga is steep and rough with lots of loose stones making our footing unstable at times.



Local transport



Caught up with Maggie and Mary at the drink machine where we introduce them to the joys of ice cold Nestea.  From there we move on to Muruzabal and Obanos, where the heat of the day has really kicked in and we find it necessary to sit in the shade of the beautiful old sandstone church and eat icecream from the only shop we have found open today. Fortunately there are fairly frequent fuentes (water fountains) for us to replenish our water supply, especially on hot days.

All the villages we walk through seem to be almost uninhabited during the day.  The shutters on the houses start to go up about 10 in the morning…don’t know what happens between then and about 6 pm, but at that witching hour, the whole village comes alive.  People emerge from houses, shops open, children play in the street while the adults sit in the plazas outside coffee shops and bars and all talk at once while enjoying a drink or three!

3 kms down the road and we come to Puente La Reina.  We don’t even have to stop walking to find our Albergue – just walk off the track and into reception which is a little kiosk on the side of the track.  Accommodation is basic but interesting is the fact that in the bathroom, we are provided with shampoo, shower gel, 2 shower caps, a body sponge and 2 combs, but only one small bath towel and a hand towel! John finds both the shower cap and the comb extremely useful, but would trade both for a larger towel!!

After last night’s feast in Pamplona, we decide to eat light so John goes shopping for a baguette and ham as well as Powerade to try to up our hydration – it’s really hard to keep up with just water.  The other reason for eating in our room is that dinner is not being served until 8.30pm by which time we are more than ready for bed. Tonight…it’s been a long, hot, hard day!

Day 6 – Puente La Reina to Estella (25 kms)

Puente La Reina Bridge

An 8.00 am start to the day, walking through the narrow streets of the village where unusually, some of the small cafes were open and serving breakfast to hungry peregrinos.  John is in stone bridge heaven so far, and the bridge at Puente La Reina does not disappoint…we walk through an arch leading to the bridge and then across to the path along the Rio Arga which we follow for a couple of kms before bidding this particular river farewell...we kept it company for the last few days.

While climbing up the very steep track towards the highway, we meet a German couple who have already completed 2000km on various Caminos in Germany, France and Spain, and all in the same boots!  This provides some light relief… there isn’t lot to smile about when all you can do is breathe!!



Cirauqui



After a rest at the top, it’s on to the tiny village of Maneru, then across to Cirauqui (a Basque word meaning ‘nest of vipers’) and aptly described by Lonely Planet as ‘compact and labyrinthine.’  We climb up through the village to the top and then, not surprisingly, down the other side!  We meet ladies with shopping jeeps on their way down the hill to buy something somewhere and then presumably climb back up to their house – and not one of them was puffing!!

Out of Ciraqui, we move onto the best preserved section of Roman road and 2 medieval bridges on the Camino. We follow this road off and on until we get to Lorca.

It’s getting quite hot so the sunscreen comes out and we find a spot for elevenses under one of the few trees near a restored medieval bridge.

On another steep climb, this time up to Lorca, there is absolutely no shade but once we reach the fuente in the village there is shade aplenty.  Here we meet a man whose wife is travelling ‘with’ him but by car.  She meets him where she can and provides lunch from an esky, tends to his feet and makes everybody envious!!

From Lorca we pass by broad acre fields, ploughed and  stubble before reaching Villatuerta where we find a lovely shady, green picnic spot to have a second luch, joined by Lisa from NZ and Anna from Spain.  Thunder and rain threatening, so we hurry on towards Estella, our destination for today.  Hot, dusty, tired and emotional, we are a little miffed to find that, for the first time, our hotel is well off the Camino.  It’s not hard to find, but we definitely have tired legs by the time we arrive.  Maggie and Mary are also staying here so we enjoy dinner together.

 

The journey continues!

Day 2…Roncesvalles to Zubiri

After a more leisurely start to the day and a yummy breakfast, during which we manage to pack a contraband lunch and a few snacks, we are away by 8.30 in misty conditions and in the company of Maggie from Melbourne and Mary from Sydney, sisters whom we met yesterday.   As everyone walks at their own pace, and some like to stop to take photos (!), we change company frequently. 

The going is easy to begin with and quite pleasant along a well formed track through forest. The trail continues through farmland where we enjoy a chat (in Spanish) with a local farmer who wishes us well and offers advice about the weather which we gather is going to be either better or worse than today’s continuing drizzle which by now has us once again in blizzard jackets. At the top of the climb from Espinal we erect our flysheet to shelter under for our first cuppa of the day – which attracts quite a few comments from fellow Peregrinos…both the cuppa and the flysheet! 

The descent into Viskaretta has our leg muscles reminiscing about yesterday’s exertions and we discover a little store where we can buy bread for lunch. The locals are shopping and Senora sits at the counter, complete with a fancy flat screen computer with all the whistles and bells, happily adding up the prices on an old envelope and using an old till drawer under the counter!  She expresses concern about how wet we are and seems quite excited to find that we are from Australia.  We have quite a chat, most of which we all seem to understand. 

The climb to Paso de Roland is quite demanding so we set up the kitchen again for another cuppa.  A little further on we find a rock that legend says measures the length of Rondal’s stride..we presume this refers to the aforementioned Roland…obviously a very large man with extremely long legs!!

The descent into Zubiri seems OK at the top but the last bit is as steep as anything we had encountered and quite rough in places. Demands fairy steps and maximum concentration. By this stage – 4.45pm - we are as tired as we had been at the end of the day yesterday. After a bit of a wander around, we find the tourism office where we get our stamp, and also our accommodation so, after another long, day, we are ready for the shower and a Menu de Noches.  Not too much sitting around tonight…most people are ready for bed!

Day 3…Zubiri to Pamplona

The day from Zubiri to Pamplona is, according to the map is a relatively flat 21.5kms, so an 8.30am start seems to be the go. Unfortunately the shower is cold – maybe you are only allowed one hot shower – read on!  Breakfast provided a surprise or two being organised with military precision by, we presume, the daughter of the owner. John is moved to his ‘correct’ place, we have two slices of thin, crunchy toast with one sachet of butter and jam each, a small pre-packaged piece of plain cake, one glass of orange juice and a cup of tepid tea or coffee. Most people at the table (11 of us) wanted a second cup, but ‘No, only make 20 cups and more people to come!’

The trail out of town is a tree-lined pathway through a rural area before briefly opening out onto a large industrial quarry site then back to rural surroundings and the company of draught horses, sheep and goats. We meet a friendly Mexican gentleman who is, believe it or not, clearly a little more elderly than us and we have quite a chat in a mixture of Spanish, English and French.

Walk for some time with Marcella from Canada who shares many of her travel experiences before we find the need for a rest!

About the only wildlife we encounter is one startled deer which risks life and limb by bounding across the busy motorway, and an array of different coloured slugs. A bit of a trudge along the N135 brings us to a roadside stop with picnic tables and a TOILET!  From here the trail climbs steeply for some distance, a real problem for the cycling peregrinos who have to push their pannier-laden bikes not only up the steep slope, but around and over various sizes of rocks.  The joy for them is that they get on their bikes when the trail levels off and they are away and out of sight on the steady descent into Villava, the home town of Miguel Indurain…how appropriate!!

Here we are greeted with some enthusiasm by a Spanish senor who tells us he spent 7 years herding sheep in California but has come back home to live because California is too hot…then he finds out we are Aussies…knows about us too!  We meet Maggie and Mary who, along with many other peregrinos, have found the Bar Paradiso…selling coffee and food.  We buy 2 cups of coffee and 2 large slices of local frittata (potato) with bread for €6.40…which is very cheap.  And the owner sits at a table and stamps everyone’s Credentiale with the bar stamp! 

Our first view of Pamplona is the imposing ramparts of the old city. The trail follows along between this massive wall and a network of lower outer fortifications to the drawbridge gateway and then the main gate into the town. From here the Camino route into and through town is clearly indicated by silver scallop shell disks set into the roadway, making it impossible to get lost…hmmm!  We overshoot the street we are looking for, so back up and ask a member of Pamplona’s finest – a charming young policeman who said, “Only one minute!”  Thanks once again to Callum, our itinerary organiser, our hotel, the Maisonnave, is located less than 100 metres from the route.

After a shower, we wander about the old quarter and find it as fascinating as any…narrow streets and laneways opening out into plazas of various sizes – maybe a children’s playground, a statue of St Francis of Assisi, cafes, and the huge central Plaza de Castilla with a rotunda/bandstand in the centre!  It’s Saturday so families are out and about.  Too early to eat – locals still into beer and coffee, so book into the hotel restaurant for dinner – opens at 8.30pm, by which time we are not only hungry but ready for bed.  Upside is that the meal was quite nice, not too expensive and the waitress takes us into a convention room so John can photograph the nearby Church…a very nice thing to do!

Looking forward to a sleep in tomorrow – our first day of rest!

Welcome to the Camino de Santiago de Compostela!

Words mainly by Elaine, photos mainly by John, but not necessarily, so right from the start we have you wondering!!

Long haul flights don’t get any easier or more enjoyable. It seems to be impossible to get comfortable in the cramped seating and, no matter how hard you try to sleep, you always seem to arrive feeling quite drained. And not quite ready for the hassle of catching shuttle buses to hotels and stuff.  We only had an overnight stay in Paris with an early morning train to Bayonne.
One false alarm just after midnight when someone looked at their watch upside down and declared the time to be seven o’clock and that we had missed our train!  Normality was soon restored, however, and back to a rather fitful sleep. Made it to the train only to find it was running a VLine timetable and was one hour late, Fortunately we had booked 1st class and so did the slow trip (on a Very Fast Train!) in some degree of comfort.  BUT...of course missed our connection at Bordeaux and so joined the plebs for the hour or so journey to Bayonne. 



Bayonne & Cathedral

Lovely old hotel nestled in the old quarter of the city - and about 3 minutes walk from the station - which allowed us heaps of time to explore during the two days we were there.  Walks along the river which is tidal even though Bayonne is 10 kms from the coast, exploration of the many nooks and crannies of village life in rural France, and a visit to the Cathedral, which of course, is undergoing severe restoration!  However, the delicious meal of fresh fish eaten in a quaint little restaurant along the riverbank more than made up for any short fall in sightseeing. 
Next day and we were off to St Jean Pied de Port in a little rail motor with most of our fellow passengers also fellow pilgrims... some with bicycles but mostly planning to walk.


St Jean Pied de Port


We collected our "Credentiale de Peregrinos" from the Officino de Camino and had to fill in a form about our intentions and reasons for undertaking the pilgrimage...whatever we ticked was obviously acceptable!Some confusion with directions to our homestay - our French, their English??? - led us a merry dance until finally we were welcomed by our host, Jean Francois – a genial Frenchman with a wicked smile, twinkling eyes and, believe it or not, a great sense of humour. The meson is a tastefully renovated building providing very comfortable accommodation. When we explained our desire to depart at around first light – about seven am – he explained that most of his guests were "tourists who didn’t want breakfast until nine o’clock" so we were treated to a guided tour of the kitchen - including the ‘fridge – and the light switches and invited to help ourselves to the goodies he would leave on the kitchen table. We took his advice to eat at a restaurant which catered largely for locals, specialised in specialites locale, and was reasonably priced. We ordered the 'menu pelegrino' (pilgrm's menu) which turned out to be a huge pot of vegetable soup, chicken or lamb (gigot) with either frites or pasta and for dessert basque cake – and only12 euros!  A bonus find for the restaurant owner when cleaning up for the night - a pre-owned Aussie-style hat to wear!!!

Morning dawned overcast but not cold, so we set out, uphill, of course, and only one wearing a hat, to tackle the Napoleon Route, to Roncesvalles in Spain, over the Pyrenees. The first 20kms or so is pretty much all up hill as we climb a total of 1200 metres then lose 500 metres on the descent into Roncesvalles – the toughest day for the entire journey. The plan is to take it nice and slowly all the way with regular rest stops for water and food.  We have our wee stove, the mighty MSR 'Pocket Rocket' to boil the billy, so our 'elevenses' are very civilised with ham and cheese baguette and a dried apricot!  What we hadn’t planned on was the drizzle that began shortly after we began and continued throughout the day eventually forcing us into our blizzard jackets. Although we were probably as wet from condensation the jackets provided protection from the cool breeze.

Most of the route is on a minor paved road through relatively protected farmland and light forest to exposed high moors which could be very ugly in bad weather.  There is only one refreshment stop on the route - at a lonely little restaurant/auberge at Orisson about a third of the way across. However an enterprising Frenchman had taken his campervan, put up the annexe, and was offering refreshments to weary walkers just short of the Spanish border - not that we actually know where that was...no signs to announce the fact and certainly no border security!!We walked variously with Koreans, Italians, Poles, Swedes, French, Spanish, Swiss, Japanese, English, Americans and Canadians today. Some we met in a little refuge hut at about 1200m where we were having our second cuppa for the day. The hut has a communication radio to alert rescue crews if required.  Locked cupboards contain equipment that might be needed.  Most people are finding the going tough, some due to lack of preparation (not enough food and drink), others haven't done much walking at all, others carrying too much and others just not understanding that 27kms in the hills is a bl---dy long way!!  



Approaching Orisson



At 1402m a choice has to be made - take the road or take the short cut.  We had planned to take the road because the information given to us at St Jean Pied de Port was that the short cut was a bit dangerous after rain - very steep and slippery.  Unfortunately we broke our own rule of listening to other people...in this case a young Spaniard who allegedly knew the route...and ended up on the downward short cut.  Fortunately it was not that steep and hardly slippery at all - although one of us did trip over a tree root!! (She now has a healthy bruise...not telling where!)



Good news is that we made it to Roncesvalles in good spirit, quite wet, ready for a hot shower, a good meal and a comfortable bed....all of which were forthcoming in the fullness of time.

Welcome to Travel in Prime Time!

Over the past few years, we have been most fortunate to have had many adventures - from the relative comfort of a leased Renault across Europe, the excitement of a safari truck on the African savannah, the insecurity of a rickshaw which was our only transport option to Kathmandu airport, the serenity of a  waterway in Russia, the indestructible 4WD under the eternal sky of Mongolia, and the most satisfying of all... on our own two feet, across England, along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and to the 'top of the walking world' - Kilimanjaro!!

This year, the plan is to make our way on foot across Spain,  almost 800 kms from St Jean Pied de Port in France to Santiago de Compostela along the Camino de Santiago (The Pilgrim's Trail or The Way of St James.)  We then fly out of Madrid into Casablanca to join a Peregrine adventure across Morrocco, ending in Marrakech...back to Casablanca to wing our way to Cairo, rejoin Peregrine to explore the wonders of Egypt and Jordan, completing our odyssey in Amman, Jordan.   

Blogging seems to be the best way to share not only the words but also the pictures of our travels...and we all know a picture is worth a thousand words!  So come along and share the journey...destinations are important, but the real joy is in "just being!"