First of all my apologies for the delay in getting this blog started. First of all I am new to this so I guess I will learn as I go along. Also, internet connection is not that easy to get on the Camino. But I will do my best as I am very sure that our families, relatives, friends and colleagues would be very interested to know our progress.
Saturday 10th April 2010 (flight from Singapore to Barcelona):
Can you imagine, three of us leaving for the same adventure on the Camino Frances, leaves Singapore on three different flights to Barcelona in Spain. It was not meant to be that way. It was to be me on Singapore Airlines and Genevieve and Joy on British Airways. But, when Gen and Joy checked in, they discovered that they were on different BA flights, departing 20 minutes apart! Anyway we all did leave on time. I was very touched by the wonderful send off we had - thank you Pink Spartans team mates (too many to list); Jason and Winsor; Li Leng, Steven, Teddy and Teddy’s daughters and friends; Gen’s family (husband Leroy and sons Ayrton and Kyle); Joy’s family (her mum, dad, sisters Samantha and Billy and Samantha’s husband and children Felix and Nico; and last but not least my brother Anthony and his family (Liz, Sue-Ann, Adrian and Ashley). If I have left anyone out, please accept my apologies and rest assure that your presence was just as much appreciated.
Sunday 11th April 2010 (arrival in Barcelona enroute to Pamplona):
I arrived in Barcelona at 9.30am. Re-packed my backpack at the airport while waiting for Gen and Joy to arrive and discovered to my great disappointment that it was really too heavy – 14kg!! The thought of having this weight on my back for the next 30 days was rather disturbing and played on my mind all day. Lesson to learn – one must pack and re-pack and re-pack till the weight is ideal (recommended at 15% of one’s body weight). Unfortunately I did not have the luxury of time to do that and thought that I had already packed really lean. Anyway, it was great to see Gen and Joy walking out of the arrival gate. But our journey to our final destination for the day was far from over. We had to take the train to Pamplona. A four-hour train ride and we had almost six hours to spare. So we went sightseeing and were very glad that we did. First stop – the Barcelona Gaudi. Although undergoing refurbishing, it still stood magnificently amidst the scaffoldings and cranes. A sight to behold! As we did not have much time on our hands, we decided that it was not feasible to pay the admission fee so we just admired it from the outside. An added bonus was a street parade of giant mannequins in folk costumes – rather nice to watch. Then we were off to our first real meal since leaving home – a finger-licking scrumptious meal of Kentucky Fried Chicken. KFC in Spain you must be thinking, but believe me, It was so good – moist and tender on the inside, so crispy on the outside (and not oily at all). I am sure this will not be our last KFC meal in Spain. With great restrain we just window shopped (remember, we have to backpack everything so that is a great deterrent to shopping). The train to Pamplona left promptly at 1635Hrs and we got in at 2030Hrs. We were last in a very long taxi queue – it was freezingly cold! Hotel Yoldi was our “home” for the night. Rather nice hotel, very clean and we were very fortunate to have a two-bedroom. Gen took us to a nice restaurant nearby – lots of cured legs of ham hanging (Joy was rather amused at the sight) – it was a nice dinner. Back at the hotel after dinner, our heads to the pillows and we were dead to the world.
Monday 12th April 2010 (Pamplona to Cizur Menor - total 5.32km):
Joy and I both decided to lighten our backpacks. We took out stuff that we can do without and sent it off to our hotel in Burgos. That was the only destination that we were sure of our accommodation as it will be in Burgos that Gen will leave us to return home *sob sob*. So the post office was our first place of visit. Then we trotted off to get our “Credencial del Peregrino”. This is the Pilgrim’s Passport, a very important document, as we need to get it stamped every day along the way as proof of passage so that when we arrive at Santiago de Compostela, we will receive our blessings and a Certificate. Also, we will be recognised as Pilgrims and can stay at refugios and albergues (pilgrims’ accommodation). Some food establishments also offer Pilgrims’ menu at very special prices. Anyway back to this day. When we arrived at the Credencial’s office, we discovered that they will only open at 1.00pm. That really thwarted our plans to start our walk early. So we went for breakfast. No “chee cheong fun” that Joy was already missing terribly. But it was a very nice meal of tortillas, spanish sausages on baguettes, fresh orange juice and tea. Today was the start of Joy’s food craze with bread, she absolutely loves the bread here. At 1.00pm we were promptly getting our Credecials and that marked the official start of our walk on the Camino Frances to Santiago de Compostela. As it was already afternoon, and we are setting off two days ahead of our original date of 14th April 2010, we decided to take it easy and do a 5.32km walk to Cizur Menor. It took us 1hr 43mins. Moderate pace. This is my first visit to Spain and I am in awe of the country. It is clean, the Spanish are very friendly and helpful (and I hope it is not because we are pilgrims) and I love the architecture. Naturally churches and cathedrals are never far away. The route from Pamplona to Cizur Menor was easy and pleasant enough. One does not need a map on the Camino. The way is marked distinctly with yellow arrows or the golden/yellow shell on blue background. Just follow the direction of the arrow. We arrived at Cizur Menor is just over an hour and made our way to Maribel’s Albergue. My first experience in a dormitory. The room we were assigned had 10 double-decker beds and two folding beds. It was fully occupied. We hit the showers, did our laundry and Gen and Joy went to the supermarket. We cooked our first meal in Spain – fried rice, leek, sausage and potato soup and fresh salad. We invited Joseph and Mary to join us for dinner. Joseph and Mary are Canadian Koreans. Lovely couple and they donated €20 to our fundraiser. Gen’s a super cook and Joy was her wonderful assistant. And me? I was glued to my netbook trying to get this blog started. After dinner we went straight to bed. And what was it like sleeping in a dormitory? Well, it really was not bad at all given that my sleeping bag was a tad too small so if I zipped myself in, I could not turn. Solution – zipped up to my knees (still felt like a Mummy) but fell asleep out of exhaustion. Then it got so cold in the night I had no choice but to zip right up. What an experience!!
Tuesday 13th April 2010 (Cizur Menor to Puente la Reina - total walked todate 24.12km):
We had a 19km route ahead of us. I had absolutely no idea what to expect except that it was going to be a lot of walking. The route from Cizur Menor to Puente la Reina crosses a mountain ridge (Alto de Perdon) where a line of 40 wind turbines and silhouettes of pilgrims greet you once to get to the top. We had to scale 255m – doesn’t sound like much does it? But it was tough, very tough, especially when it was so early in our walk. Gen was an angel – she was always encouraging us. Anyway, I sought strength from all my cancer survivor team mates and friends – I thought of what they all went through in their battle against cancer and concluded that what I was going through was pale in comparison. So I just had to find the strength and determination to make it. And I did, or we did!! Up on the top of Alto de Perdon was a sight to behold (more so because we had scaled the height to get to it). Hot coffee and a slice of cold tortilla never tasted better. So, after a little rest, I was quite relieved that we had no more ascents but a 240m descent to Urtega. The shocker was that it was a sharp descend (by the way the paths that we were on were mainly paved with rocks and stones). Whoever said going downhill was easier. Frankly if I had a choice I would pick uphills anytime. At least with ascents one can stop for a breather. There is no stopping going downhill!! We had lunch at Urtega and then carried on to Puenta la Reina. We walked the 18.8km over 6hrs 41.54mins. We stayed at Jakue Albergue. The first Albergue that greeted us as we entered Puente la Reina. By that time, I was in sheer agony. Blisters and aching legs. I was wondering where my legs were!! On the upside, we had a room for eight people but we were the only ones in it – so that was wonderful. Could not walk anymore, so dinner was at the restaurant next door. By this time I decided that if I wanted to finish the Camino walk, something had to give. So I arranged for my backpack to be portered. With no weight on my back, there is less pressure on my legs then perhaps I can walk a little better.
Wednesday 14th April 2010 (Puente la Reina to Irache - total walked to date 49.12km)
Puente la Reina is an attractive town that takes its name from the medieval pilgrim bridge over the River Arga. Today's walk took us through Maneru, Cirauqui, Lorca, Villatuerta, Estella and finally arriving at Irache. The terrain is still hilly though pale in comparison to yesterday's. I guess this is what we will have to face for the first two weeks. We will have to get used to it. I will not say too much here because I am trying to put up this blog that I have been working on since we arrived. Once I catch up, it will be a lot easier and I can be pretty up-to-date unless I cannot find internet connection.
Thursday 15th April 2010 (Irache to Los Arcos - total walked to date 67.12km):
We had a serious look at our schedule and mastermind Gen reworked it so that we have a lighter day today (giving chance for my legs to rest). By now we have tried everything to try and solve the blister problem – believe it or not the latest recommendation was to apply super glue to them. I will try anything and so we got super glue. Will let you know if this works. But today my little left toe has started to inflame – the cause is probably due to the wonderful gel pads that Gen bought to help ease the pressure on the blisters. One thing works but another problem surfaces!! Anyway not to bore you with my aches and pains which I think will be a persistent feature in my adventure. I only pray that they do not worsen. With our new schedule, today was like a walk in the park. We did 18.8km in 6 hours (always including coffee breaks, pit stops or just simply water stops). The toughest part of today’s journey was the last 2km before Villamayor de Monjardin – uphill!! But what awaited us at the top was worth it. A very simple cafe run by volunteers but one can feel so much warmth and care from the two German volunteers. They make coffee and tea and offer biscuits to all who call there. And there is no charge but donations are welcome. What is nice about the Camino is that you meet a lot of people from all over the World, and because they are all there for one common goal, people are generally very nice. Thus friendships are cultivated. Tonight we are at a little hotel called Hotel Monaco. Small little room for 3 but very clean – functional. Dinner was very nice in the hotel’s restaurant. Off to bed now. Up early to tackle the 28.8km stretch tomorrow to Logrono.
Note: I am putting a few photos here. Sorry no time to put more because I really want to put this blog up. Will do better later!
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