Beyond 2000

In the last three days we did 42km to León, 57km to Astorga and 53km to Ponferrada. This took us beyond 2000km of cycling; thus far we have cycled 2098km on our holiday :) I am glad to say that we have just over 200km to go!

We camped in León and realised how much we had been missing camping. We caused a "Grande Catastrophe" for the lady that had to check us in. She can't speak a word of English and to her amusement South Africa was not on her drop-down list of countries to choose from. She did not know how to handle this and had to wait for her boss to come and give her permission to select Great Britain instead :) The campsite was really nice and did not have lots of guests - so we were able to get a good rest. The next night we stayed in a really nice auberge in Astorga, a beautifull town. The auberge had a backpacker feel to it, and we really enjoyed the stay. Tonight we are staying in a free auberge, where you just donate some money. Its really good and even plays english music :)

Today we had a nice big climb to La Cruz de Ferro and tomorrow we have an even bigger one waiting to O'Cebreiro... we can't wait to get the scary bits over! Every km is a km closer to Santiago!

The easier way

In the last 3 days we did 66km to Rabe de las Calzados, 53km to Fromista and today 75km to Calzadilla de los Hermanillos.

If you have not heard of these places, we now understand why... It mostly reminds me of Mariental in Namibia... and if you don't know Mariental: ag sies man!

The cycling has been easier the last couple of days as we have entered the flatter parts of Northern Spain. Even on sunny days we actually find it chilly, but I think we are unique in that way.

Along the way we have met so many people, a couple of days ago we met a Flemish lady... blush... we were chatting away when she told us: "Ek verstaan alles" fortunately we were only talking about arbitrary logistics :) She is doing the camino for the 10th year now! She started when she was still working as a social worker. They used to give troublesome youths the option: go to jail or do the camino! Very cool, nê! We also met one of the Spanish people that walk The Way with a can of yellow spray paint to mark the way with(See foto of Colette with him) We also met Stevie the most relaxed American and a surfing couple from Brazilia, and loads more. Walking or cycling The Way of "Saint" James is a very good experience... but it ain't easy and its not always very beautifull... but it is always rewarding!

It's also really great to see the economic injection the camino is providing to places that really is "put sonder water" it really is blessing the Spanish and they are returning the blessing with hospitality and good prices - they are not exploiting it, and that is good to see.

To "Team Willemse" I am sorry that there are so many fotos of me, but Colette is really good with the camera. To compensate I have to write the blog... so now you also get my opinion.. I am so sorry... also only my family ever comments... common you guys..!

Culture Shock

In the last 3 days we did 50km to Logroño, 51km to Santo Domingo de Calzada and 22km to Belorado.

The cycling has been significantly easier over the last 3 days, road surfaces are a bit better. However the compound effect is coming into play - this week we did +-11000 calories and cycled about 33 hours. All this not on rested legs :) Our bike cables are also in need of some TLC so we can't always find the gears we need. But the hardest part has been a lack of sleep. The noisy auberges really got to us, so last night and tonight we found some accomodation where we can be in a double room. Some sleep should help with recovery.

When we entered Logroño we first tried the local church's Auberge. After we entered we got a hug and we got the feeling that the doors locked behind us, if you know what I mean... There was no cost involved and supper with the 'father' would be at 8:30 after which he would stamp our passports. The showers were cold - but we tried to appreciate their hospitality. I started doing some cloth washing and Colette wanted to work on the bikes but we were told that the father doesn't approve of people being in the courtyard. We are not catholics, and after this the 'cloisturefobia' really got to us... halfway through washing the clothes I went to thank them for their hospitality but explained we really need to work on the bikes. We quickly escaped and got the last two beds in the municipal auberge... lucky? That night we went out for some pizas and had some local La Rioja red wine. 

Having told this story I must just add that we really appreciate the local community for their hospitality, many people volunteer to make doing the Camino really affordable - this experience was just a bit of a culture shock.

Rock on

In the last 3 days we did 36km to Arre, 5km to Pamplona and 46km to Estella.

We have managed much shorter distances because we have been doing some serious mountain biking in some serious heat. Incredibly rocky, lots of loose boulders and incredible inclines both up and down. Obviously the concept of switchbacks was not invented by the pilgrims of yester year. On many up hills we have to push-carry the bikes and some downhills simply have too many loose rocks to bike, you just sink into the rocks like you would in deep sand. But we believe the hardest is over..

We popped into a Camino shop in Pamplona and the owner advised us to skip parts of the route as its too hard for cycling. After some deliberation we decided to ignore his advice and now we can proudly say we have been sticking to the original route :)

In Pamplona we did some touristy things like walking the path of the bull run and having some Pinxtos, which is the Basque version of Tapas. And we rested :)

It has been quite an adjustment to join the camino, with camping we always had our own space and now we are always staying in packed dorm rooms. The facilities in the Auberges is really good so far. The hardest part is all the snorring - pilgrims snore soooo much - perhaps because they are all so very tired :)

On the other side

Sjoe, today we crossed the Pyrenees! Only 26km took us 5 hours 18min.

The Prev day we did 22km to get to Bayonne with bikes and then we took the train to St Jean Pied de Port. It was a small train full of pilgrims - it felt a bit like first day of high school - everyone checking each other out: thinking if they can do it surely I can too! There was also the experienced who warned us because they saw our bikes - apparently its harder if you have the (loaded) bike and yourself to get over the Pyrenees :) We just kept calm, but I must admit I was scared!

Our first Pilgrims hostel felt like a 5 star hotel compared to camping, and the Pilgrims office was so good, and very impressed by the SA pilgrims credentials. We were so lucky that there was a big Basque festival on when we arrived in St Jean, everyone wearing white and red and having a big party with cheap food and drink :) Basque men were spontaneously breaking out in song in the pubs: very cool!

We were quite overwhelmed with finally arriving in a place with such history and significance, joining so many on another "Groot Trek"

We set off early this morning, and from the start the inclines were incredible and once again we were warned by the walkers. At one stage it became so tough we had to leave one bike behind to push the bikes one at a time up the rocky track. It became very misty and rainy on the mountain and quite cold. We befriended some Israeli's who told us they prayed for rain because the heat will be very bad! Their prayers were answered.

Well we crossed the mountain safely and it waz Epic: exactly what we like - a nice hard challenge...

Buen Camino!

(PS: Special thanks to Sanet for all the 'raad')