Day 1
We finally getting to the interesting part of the trip: The walk to Santiago ...
On the 1st day I woke up at 6AM (not being a morning person, god knows how). Ate some bread jam and had a cup of hot chocolate. At 7 I was ready to start walking with 2 other English guys, but they didn´t wait for me (D: Are these the people you so admire ???). So I got the direction from the owner of the inn and started walking. As it turned out I mis understood his directions and took a wrong turn and walked on the main highway back to Rocensvialles. At 1 point I asked an old lady what is the direction and she told me that the main road goes forward. So I walked forward. A couple of kilometers later a farmer told me I was in the wrong direction :( So I went back and turned where he told me. At the certain point I started seeing other pilgrims, so I knew that I was on the right path. In the 2 hours untill I started seeing the 1st pligrims on the way I felt like giving up and going back to SJPP.
The climb was a killer. SJPP is at around 100 metters. The top pass is +1400 meters and the road to the pass is about 20 kilometers. Do the math yourself. Keeping up with the other pilgrims turned out to be an impossible task so I walked slowly and surely while stopping once in a while to rest and do the tourist thing (taking photos). At 750 meters (I have with me my super watch that has a altimeter, compass, thermometer and barometer) I stopped because there was a fork in the road and not knowing where to go I waited for the next pilgrim. Met an Irish dude and we stopped to eat a sandwich at a refugio a couple minutes later. Why is this little detail important: Because it the only thing I ate all day! And walk on and again I couldn't keep pace with him. At a certain point I met a 65 year old candian retiree and we walked the rest of the way to roncesvialles together. Pulling, waiting and encoureging each other. The scenery was unbelievable. The only drawback was that around 1PM it started to rain. Because the way was hard (almost too hard) I was sweating like crazy. So it turned out that my plastic covers were getting wet from both sides (G: Is this suffering enough for you ?) for the next 3 hours (until the refugio) it was a nightmare. When I got to the Rocensvialles I was soaked to the bone from any possible direction. Not having a shampoo and a towel only made the feeling worse. Luckly the refugio had some free towels and I borowed some shampoo to make myself feel good again. Tried to sleep but since the refugio is 1 big hall with 100 beds (bunks) it was impossible not to hear the snoring ones (for some reason I was not one of them). Basically I tossed and turned most of the night.
END of day 1
On the 1st day I woke up at 6AM (not being a morning person, god knows how). Ate some bread jam and had a cup of hot chocolate. At 7 I was ready to start walking with 2 other English guys, but they didn´t wait for me (D: Are these the people you so admire ???). So I got the direction from the owner of the inn and started walking. As it turned out I mis understood his directions and took a wrong turn and walked on the main highway back to Rocensvialles. At 1 point I asked an old lady what is the direction and she told me that the main road goes forward. So I walked forward. A couple of kilometers later a farmer told me I was in the wrong direction :( So I went back and turned where he told me. At the certain point I started seeing other pilgrims, so I knew that I was on the right path. In the 2 hours untill I started seeing the 1st pligrims on the way I felt like giving up and going back to SJPP.
The climb was a killer. SJPP is at around 100 metters. The top pass is +1400 meters and the road to the pass is about 20 kilometers. Do the math yourself. Keeping up with the other pilgrims turned out to be an impossible task so I walked slowly and surely while stopping once in a while to rest and do the tourist thing (taking photos). At 750 meters (I have with me my super watch that has a altimeter, compass, thermometer and barometer) I stopped because there was a fork in the road and not knowing where to go I waited for the next pilgrim. Met an Irish dude and we stopped to eat a sandwich at a refugio a couple minutes later. Why is this little detail important: Because it the only thing I ate all day! And walk on and again I couldn't keep pace with him. At a certain point I met a 65 year old candian retiree and we walked the rest of the way to roncesvialles together. Pulling, waiting and encoureging each other. The scenery was unbelievable. The only drawback was that around 1PM it started to rain. Because the way was hard (almost too hard) I was sweating like crazy. So it turned out that my plastic covers were getting wet from both sides (G: Is this suffering enough for you ?) for the next 3 hours (until the refugio) it was a nightmare. When I got to the Rocensvialles I was soaked to the bone from any possible direction. Not having a shampoo and a towel only made the feeling worse. Luckly the refugio had some free towels and I borowed some shampoo to make myself feel good again. Tried to sleep but since the refugio is 1 big hall with 100 beds (bunks) it was impossible not to hear the snoring ones (for some reason I was not one of them). Basically I tossed and turned most of the night.
END of day 1
1 Comments:
Correction: I do not admire the English people in general, I just like my friends. Besides, I am not an Anglofile, maybe just a Scotafile (if there is such a thing and if my spelling is correct).
I hope you'll get used to sleeping in dorms soon enough (at least you have a bed, that must must count for something). Stop worrying about everything, and start having a good time!
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