David's Camino

Well, 28km turns out to be quite manageable. To be honest it's been a good day in terms of physical achievement - the longest daily distance yet. And when Navarette, after 12km, came in sight I actually thought 'what, already' rather than 'at last'! The walk as far as Navarette was mainly solo, after that in a couple of groups, ending up walking with George again. Nàjera turns out to have no water in the taps today - it's being fixed, apparently. The management of the room I'd booked provided a number of bottles of water to help.   Ever tried a shower with bottled water? It does have plenty of water arriving from the sky, starting about half an hour after I got here, and accompanied by thunder.  And there was a cycle race going through at 4pm - which I just missed, but got a picture of the excitement... Then I met up again with George and Denise, and we had a sort of late lunch / early dinner.   An interesting addition t...

Logroño - city of weddings, or so it appears.   Arriving at the hostel, a burst of applause and shouting from the end of the street welcomes a couple out of the church; after the usual end-of-walk shower and change I stroll up to the main square and the same happens again, but this time it's the cathedral and they're off in a horse drawn carriage. Logroño - also 163km in.  So that's just over 100 miles, and a tad more than a fifth of the way to Santiago. That has a good feel to it - and I'm hoping the feeling will persist after what will be a long day tomorrow due to the distances between towns... But back to today;  well, back to yesterday evening, really.  Come and join us, said Tal, who was sitting with a group who had wine - and I did: turned out she'd confused me with someone else...   But good conversations, and then a communal dinner, so much to be thankful for.  And perhaps especially Heather, from Australia, who has lost her h...

After the best night's sleep so far - possibly influenced by yesterday's Patxeran, and certainly by much conversation and a good meal - I was on the road again by 8, leaving Florian behind as he wanted to walk more slowly. There was nowhere in the village to provide coffee at that time (the Albergue did something instant but I didn't want instant), and a 12km walk before Los Arcos... but Google Maps showed a food truck half way. ...which turned out not to be there.  Ah well, on to Los Arcos for breakfast at about 10:30.   Coffee, orange juice and a tortilla de patatas, just what was needed by this point.   And here Jan from the Netherlands, and George from California, separately caught me up, and we went on together the next 10km to Torres del Rio, arriving just before the Albergue opened at 1. On the way we talked about religion, politics, health issues, geography, and many other things.  After checking in we continued discussion over a drink, ...

A rest day today, and rather than resting in one place I decided to do a shorter day's walk.  So I'm just 10km further on, at Villamayor de Monjardin.  The route brought me past the wine fountain at Irache, where a kindly winery provides 100l of wine daily to pilgrims (the tap on the right is water, the left wine - not, as my sister suggested, red and white!). Then it was upward through some lovely scenery.  Villamayor lies on the side of a hill topped by a castle, and there's also a restored Moorish cistern on the way.   And so to Villamayor - far too early for the Albergue to be open, which I guess is a predictable risk of a half days walk!   So I sat in the strangely quiet square for a while, watching the local bar come to life, and just taking some time - then wandered over to said bar for a beer and a sandwich, both of which were great.  And there I met Florian, from Düsseldorf, who is on his fifth Camino, ...

I've made it to Estrella - which my list of distances says is 114km into the walk.   I'm staying at what was once a Cappuccino monastery.   But before you go any further, there's an extra blog post today, from Sally .   Please don't miss it! Today was another day of keeping going!  Some lovely views, a lot of ups and downs, geographically and emotionally.  Sitting in the square at Lorca with a freshly squeezed orange juice.   Sitting by the bridge at Villatuerte with my feet in the cold water of the river.  Meeting more people, and chatting to those I'd already met.  And what is becoming a familiar 'are we nearly there yet' element to the last 5km! Those in my immediate family who have my spreadsheet with likely stages will see that I have tomorrow as a rest day.  In fact I'm going to take a short day - only about 10km, but pretty well all up hill - which leaves me well placed for the day after....

Our great friend Sally sent me some thoughts on the journey - mine and Louise's - and I asked her if she could turn them into a 'guest blog'. Here they are.   Health warning: reading this may involve tears, but they will be worth it. ---- Dear David, I hadn't thought of Louise's last journey as a pilgrimage until I read your blog.  Then I started to see a pattern – her journey like a reflection in the lake, of yours. Or perhaps your journey is a reflection of hers? Writing this has felt like processing Louise’s pilgrimage a little. Reading about your route, I have been able to think about hers (which I didn't really want to do). It has helped me to reflect on how she navigated the toughest of terrains, and now I can write about it, say it. But my musings may not be helpful to you, If they are not, do delete them. We walk at different paces, and are helped by different views. David : There was something significant about starting out on foot, carrying...

Yesterday evening's post was heavily influenced by fatigue! But I was wondering how far I'd be able to make today, especially since today's route included the 350 m climb to the Alto del Perdon, and the subsequent descent, which the guides and apps described as difficult.  Despite that I booked a room in Puenta de la Reina, with the possibility in mind of finding a bus or taxi if the day proved too long. In the end, it all worked out. My booking in Pamplona didn't include breakfast and rather than find somewhere before leaving, I walked about 5 km and then found a cafe for a quick breakfast. Then it was the start of the climb, with a break about halfway up for a soft drink, and then on to the top, where there's a famous sculpture of pilgrims on the Way. And in fact, the descent wasn't too bad, certainly not as bad as the descent into Zubiri a couple of days ago.  A beer at Uterga, and onward! I left a few Camino friends behind in Pamplona...

So I've reached Pamplona. I'm quite exhausted by today, and still strongly suspect that Spanish kilometres are bigger than everyone else's!  On the list of stages Pamplona is 69km from the start, which feels a reasonable distance to have done so far. Again, good to be talking to people and finding connections as I walk some of the way, with other sections alone. It does seem particularly important to have someone to talk to towards the end of the walk when fatigue is setting in.  Tomorrow I think I'll still head on towards Puenta de la Reina, but I am a bit concerned over tiredness and may decide at some point tomorrow to shorten the day and take a rest.

But first, a couple of things from yesterday evening, after I'd done the blog post. I'm generally writing them in the afternoon, after arriving at my overnight stop. I'd met Irvin at Orisson - he is walking remembering his wife and his son who succumbed to mental illness. Yesterday I passed him, and we talked briefly - and as I moved on I said 'see you on the other side' meaning the other side of the mountain. He asked whether he looked that ill, and we both laughed about it. Met him again at Roncesvalles, where we laughed about it again, over glasses of beer and wine - and shared much more of our stories... Then there was the Pilgrim Mass at Roncesvalles - was it just coincidence that the end of the second reading for this Sunday was: " Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed." ... and the Gospel Acclamatio...

I've arrived at Roncesvalles, for the first night in Spain.   Breakfast at last night's Auberge was strictly 7 to 7-30, and since I had everything ready I started just after 7-30, with the sun just properly up.  From there it's around 10 km and once again 700m of climb to the top. Although there were plenty of people walking up, and I had some conversations, from the time I turned off the road at the Thibaut Cross I was walking alone, and stayed that way for a couple of miles.  A good time to think as I walked  Then, round a corner, was the top - the Col de Lepoeder, and one pilgrim sitting at it - she'd started at 4am!  Within ten minutes several others turned up. From there it's a fairly steep drop down into Roncesvalles.   I arrived at a little after noon, to find that the Auberge doesn't open for registration until 1pm.   So I sat and had a sandwich and drank my water until then.  Check in was...

I'd originally planned to spend some time in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port this morning, and start later, but it seemed right just to get on with it! So after breakfast and a simple ceremony at the hostel for those setting off, I walked down through the town, pausing at the Church for a few minutes and leaving a candle burning, then headed off along the Way.  It was cloudy but not raining, not too hot, more or less ideal!  Not far along the way I met Toby, who's planning to reach Santiago well before I do, and we walked together as we seem to have a similar natural pace.  On the way up there were ever changing views, and some apparently wild ponies.  It's a stretching walk, steep almost all the way, but satisfying. We reached Orisson in a bit under 3 hours - 9km and 700m of ascent, and sat down with a couple of beers. We'd passed Robert, whom I'd met yesterday and who'd started before me this morning, and he arrived shortly before Toby went on tow...

Up betimes, to quote Pepys, and an early breakfast before a flight at 7:45.   Landed in Biarritz where there was  heavy rain but it stopped while I was waiting for the bus to the station.  Here I met t wo Canadian ladies, both heading for the Camino, though they had started in different parts of Canada and only met in the airport in Paris.   We got the train together, and  I arrrived at St-Jean-Pied-de-Port 24 hours after leaving home, more or less to the minute. Which was too early to book in to my accommodation, so I went to the Pilgrim Park office and am now equipped with my Pilgrim Passport and a shell.    Lunch at one of the many small eating places - where a German pilgrim joined me for a chat and a beer - then booked in.  There's dinner for those staying here later.    Now I'll go and get some Euros, and explore the village a little.

So, I'm on my way - even if not all that excitingly yet!   The first overnight stop is in the delights of a Stansted Airport hotel, since my flight is rather early tomorrow morning.  I'd add a picture, but there's not much to see; I'm on the wrong side of the hotel for aircraft! But I have walked today, albeit only from home to the station.  There was something significant about starting out on foot, carrying the pack, even when it was in the familiar streets around where I live; past the Church where I attended Mass earlier this morning; past the tram stop and the pub... And the pack was heavier than it will be - I'm wearing conventional clothing rather than walking gear for travelling to France, and a change of clothing for when I reach Santiago and want to feel more civilised again.  I'm going to entrust all that lot to the 'Donkey Express' which will take stuff from one end of the Camino to the other.  Perhaps there's something significant in tha...

 Starting in late August 2025, I'm going to be walking the  Camino Francés from St-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France to Santiago de Compostella in Spain - a total of around about 480 miles.  This is a simple blog really just to let people know that I'm still here and where I'm up to, but I may add some thoughts and reactions as I go along.   I'll aim to update at last the location daily, but of course it depends on having a connection!