Day 3 Roncesvalles to Viskarret

We were all up to an early start as some crazy people in the hostel felt the need to leave at 6am. The last time I checked this was not a race but I guess some people wanted to get to Zubiri early enough to have an afternoon free to do things. It's an industrial town, so who knows what.

As I was up early it was shower time for me, nobody else does as they all believe it softens the feet and causes blisters. Utter bliss, all the showers available and as much time as I need.

Got back to my bunk bed, checked in on Linda and we decided we were not rushing at all. Yet again I am one of the last pilgrims to leave the Albergue.
I looked out the window and all I saw was fog, fog and more fog. I just thought hell no, not another day of crap weather, I need some sun and quick. People, this is not England, it's Spain for goodness sake. I could see my friend Fahiema Enous hosing herself right now as she knows just cold I got training in Cape Town at about 10 degrees higher.

We set out from Roncesvalles at about 8am, after munching two little muesli bars, meaning I would last about 2km's and starve to death....
Linda checked our guide book and the town of Burguete was only 3km's away. The minute I saw the first supermarket I flew in and bought ham and cheese. After a good munchie, I felt I could continue for a few more km's.
We wondered through the town of Burguete, see pics, they run in order as write this from town to town. On the mobile blog app it is difficult to load captions if you load a lot of pictures.
Burguete is a traditional Navarese village where Ernest Hemingway used to stay.
The Camino then takes you down wide farm tracks and all you smell is dung and wade through mud, well a combo of mud and dung. The sun came out ...... Woohoo!!!!!
After that we headed down a beautiful woodland path until we landed up on the small tar road.

We then came across the beautiful town of Espinal Aurizberri another traditional village. I really loved this town, we decided to stop for coffee as I was feeling very tired, the last two days were taking there toll.

At this point Linda and I decided that we were not going to push onto Zubiri. It was time to find a little traditional village to spend the night.

We took a left turn in the middle of Espinal and hit farm tracks going up yet again, my body was no longer keen on that at all.
I cannot describe the beautiful countryside, the pics show it all.
We were then at a high point of 955m.
Then came the trek down more woodlands and then up to Gerendiain Viskarret/Biskarreta.
This is where we decided to call it a day after 12km's.
Viskarret is a small ancient hamlet with the 13th century Church of St. Peter.
We checked into Pensión Corazón Puro meaning "Pure Heart" run by an awesome Hungarian couple. Turns out they owned a restaurant in mossel bay (South Africa) for a year.

We really enjoyed our evening meal with a few other pilgrims at the Pensiòn.

That's my little story for today.

Day 2 Orisson to Roncesvalles

Today I start with this post in my sleeping bag on the top bunk in Albergue de Roncesvalles. It's now 21:42 and lights out are at 22:00.
Thought I would sneak in a couple of sentences prior to silence and darkness. Well, silence is not really a word you can use as snoring is the order of the day.

What a day this has been........
I left Orisson at 8:00, one of the last to leave as usual. I hate the process of packing my backpack and it usually requires three repacks as I cannot seem to get it right. Missing my Rob in a big way as only he really knows how to pack properly.
As we left the glorious Pyrennes well not so glorious as the weather turned sour, so much so that I heard this evening that the pilgrim office in SJPDP warned people not to do the Napolean route today.
The problem is we were 8km's up and the time we left it was still fine. So we pushed on and up from 600 metres to 1400 metres. The weather moved in, a lot of mist, we even missed the the Virgin Mary statue.
Rather mystical in this weather, well so I thought. I was fortunate to meet two retired British ladies (sisters), Charlotte and Jane, walking at my speed. I was bit nervous to do this on my own, people die up there in bad weather.
Note my backpack weighs 15kg's with water. 5 kg's above what I should be carrying, oh well I need my stuff no matter where I go.
We stopped for a snack and then I just froze, note to self do not stop walking when it's near freezing point without the correct gear. My hands went red and I could not feel them. So boer maak a plan, pulled out my seal skinz socks and used them as gloves, worked like a dream. From there we just kept going up and it got colder and colder, by this time the British ladies were also feeling the pinch. The only way to solve this, pick up the pace from 3km's per hr to 4.
Finally we reached the highest point and then it was a long road down to Roncesvalles with a lot of snow on the road and some rain. I must say I smiled when I saw the monastery in the distance. I would not recommend walking downhill without the walking poles, took a lot of pressure off my knee.

The first person I thought of when I walked into Rouncesvalles, was my dear friend Lynette Rouncivell, her surname says at all, was nearly moved to tears in that moment.

I checked in at Albergue de Roncesvalles at about 13:30 with my two british friends. My bed number was 162, a floor with about 200 beds, 3 showers and 3 toilets for the men. The Albergue has been renovated, only open for 1 month, rather comfortable for a hostel.
After my shower I was sitting on my top bunk chatting to the American guy next me when I heard my name being called. It was Linda Tyas from South Africa, she found me. We were both so excited that I nearly fell off the bunk bed. I met Linda at the Camino workshop on the 5th of March and then visited her in Veldrif two weeks before I left. I think the other crowd around us knew the South African's had shipped in, we were having a very loud moment.
The two of us set off into Roncesvalles, one of the smallest towns I have ever seen in my life. There are no shops. We found a pub that sold goodies, that helped a bit as I need a little brekkie of some sort before I leave in the mornings.
We booked in at the hotel for dinner, we were served veggie soup to start, trout (with head), no I did not eat the eyes and a tiny yoghurt for pudding. I must say the red wine was good. On my way out of the hotel I bumped into the couple (76 & 78 yrs. of age), met them in SJPDP, they walked 27.5km's in one day, huge respect from my part.
Then Linda went to mass and I went to fetch washing followed by a visit to the wifi section.

Today was really awesome, I met lovely caring people, especially the volunteers running the Albergue.
I have found the Camino family is forming and it's really special.
Lets see what the next chapter holds.

Day 1 SJPDP to Orisson

Lets just say, not the easiest of days but that's not surprising being my first day and climbing to an altitude about 650 metres above sea level. The views of the mountains were absolutely stunning. The rain eased a bit as I left however it's damn cold, typical SA winter temperatures, not my idea of fun at all.
I somehow managed the climb of 8km's to Orisson. It's just uphill all the way with very few level paths.
It felt to me like I did no training at all, only the legs felt good. The lower back has taken major strain, would have been worse without a backpack. I ate two apples on my way up, the best Granny Smiths ever.

I met Currie along the road out of SJPDP, a delightful lady from USA. Turned out we staying in the same room in Refuge Orisson, we have really enjoyed some good chats today.
At dinner time I met people from all over the globe. We had veggie soup to start, lamb with beans for main course and a very yummy cake for pudding.
The Refuge gives you a coin and that's your one shower you get for a total of 5mins, so tomorrow is what I call a dirty walk....
Thrown out of my comfort zone in a big way but hey I am big boy and so I will suck it up.

Tomorrow I have an entire day to do 17.5 km's, lets see how it goes. Plenty of rest stops will be required, fortunately the Refuge is making a picnic lunch for tomorrow. No shops around here at all.

In and around SJPDP

I arrived in this beautiful town late yesterday afternoon the 30th of April, totally exhausted and need of a bed.

Typical me, I dumped the bag at my hotel and headed into town for a couple of hours. I managed to find my hostel for this evening, first bit of shared accommodation starts tonight.

This town totally takes your breath away, it has so much history and simply beautiful. I could not think of a better place to start my pilgrimage.

The population of St. Jean Pied de Port is only 1600, if you include pilgrims it will probably triple for any given day.
The town is the ancient Capital of the Basque region of Basse-Navarre. I love this medieval atmosphere with cobble stone narrow streets. I am very pleased that I have one full day here.