Day 6: feet go mental.

put in about 28km today, having started at six. Will post a few details later. Took my shoes and socks off at the end of the day and was greeted by this:

On day 7 I got up after an anxiety racked night and took the decision to abandon my Camino and come home. I wouldn't be able to walk for at least 3 days which meant I would have ended up bussing too much of the route. And more importantly to me, it would have meant walking without my Camino family Suzy, Sam Sami, Lee and Angelo, who have been so good to travel with and helped me so much.

Ciraquai to Villamayor

Not a very good night's sleep as the village bells rang the quarters all night.
So tired when we started at 7am, having had some breakfast.
Passed through Lorca and Estella, making good time before the heat hit.
After Estella is the wine fountain at Irache. Had a quick slurp and then carried on towards Villamayor. Suzie want to take an alternative route, but it didn't actually end up in Villamayor, and there were no facilities, so she walked with us.
A tough ascent to Villamayor. Got there for about 3 o'clock, just as the heat really started to hit.
Stayed at an aubergue run by a Dutch religious group.
Distance: 24km
Expenditure: €29

Day 4 Cizar Menor to Ciraqui

Up at 6 this morning and away by 7. First job of the day getting to the ascent of Alto de Perdin. Took about two and a half hours to het to the top . Had some breakfast while I waited for my friends who had stopped to have breakfast. The ascent was quite long with some steep bits towards the end.
Once we had taken the obligatory pictures with the statues at the summit, we started making the descent toward Puente La Reina. At first it was very steep and made up of loose rocks, which I find challenging, but after a while the gradient decreased and the surface improved.
Although we have left the Pyrenees, there is still quite a lot of climbing hills and going down them again. So it was yesterday, and on the final descent into Puente la Reina, I managed to do something to one of me leg muscles just above the knee which had made descending hills quite painful.
We had lunch in Puente la Reina, and then carried on, planning to do about 5km and then stopping. Alot of the towns in this region are built on hills, so we had a steep climb into where we wanted to stay only to find that there was not enough room at the albergue.
We therefore had to carry on another 3km to Ciraquai, where we found space.
Paid a visit to the farmacia to pick up pain killers blister stuff and volterin for my pulled muscle...€26! Then to the shop to pick up some food, which we had at the albergue.
Rubbish night's sleep as the village church. bells rang the quarters...all night!

27km travelled
expenditure: €50

Day 3 Larrasoana to Cizar Maior

They say there is nothing like a good night's sleep, and last night was nothing like one. Got back from the pub just before the hostel was locked up for the night, and then waited for a couple of girls to also come back.
By 11 they hadn't arrived so I assumed they had made othr plans, and went to bed.
The room I was stayin in was unbearably hot, with no open window, so I only managed to get about an hour's sleep, at which time I went outside to get some air, and there they were. Let them in and then went back to my room to sleep. Slept a little while bu then woke up and had to get up due to the heat. Ended up outside for about 2 hours pacing up and down. Come 6am I started to get ready and went into town to meet some people and start walking.
Was feeling anxious but it was bubbling under and I managed to survive until we reached Pamplona and I had a bit of a melt down. Fortunately I had my Camino family to help me, and I managed to start walking again.
Finished in Cizar Minor and stated at the Albergue run by the Order of Malta, just €5.
Got a good night's sleep.
KM today: 20
Expenditure: €20

Day 2 Roncesvalles to Larrasoana

Having conquered the Pyrenees today was going to be simple...or so I thought. Buy instead of 20km uphill then 5km downhill like yesterday, today was characterized by a series of ascents and descents. Some of the ascents were quite tough, if relatively short, while some of the descents were quite treacherous, being over loose stones and rocks.
Today I made it to Lorrasoana, where I hooked up with some fellow pilgrims and enjoyed the offerings of a local bar.

Day 1 St Jean PdP to Roncesvalles

Woke up about 0545 and got ready before breakfast. Filled up with water and started to walk about 0715. It was very hard work. The temperature was only about 20 degrees, but it was very close, and almost immediately I start to sweat profusely! Over the first 8km up to Orrison I drank about 2 litres of water.
Had a coffee and tortilla at Orisson and filled with water again, and then started back on the uphill slog
Remained very hard for the next 2 or 3 hours
..again drinking lots of water I was perspiring. As I climbed higher, a pleasant breeze developed which made things more comfortable.
Eventually made it to the highest part of the climb. Checked my feet...had a small blister on the side of my big toe. Taped it up and then started the descent into Roncesvalles via the longer road route ad I didn't want to risk turning am ankle on the forest route.
Checked in ay the albergue, showered and washed my clothes. Then the pilgrims' menu at a local restaurant.
km walked today: 30
Money spent today: €28

Day zero London - St Jean PdP

so this morning I got up at early o'clock to get the 0701 Eurostar to Paris. About 12 hours later I arrived in St Jean. Not what you would call an exciting trip. Lots of sitting down on trains and a bus puncuated by waiting for trains and a bus. Result: Backache!
Found my lodgings easy enough, got my Credencial stamped at the pilgrims' office and got something to eat. Bedtime now. Tomorrow the adventure really starts.

 London

 Paris

 Leaving Paris

Why the train was a bus...repairing the branch line to SJPDP