Day 2 - Wednesday 23nd April, 2014 - 17.1 km
Eila and I had been allocated a six room of three bunk beds. Eila, who was used to hotel life on the Camino found sharing a bunk room with four men, who do what men do in these cramped circumstances, snoring perhaps being one of the the main sins, taking off their smelly socks, prior to showering, being a lesser sin, but none the less irksome from her point of view. We were eventually joined by a rather hapless German girl in her twenties who had unfortunately walked North East out on St.Jean the previous day, 180 degrees off her intended direction of travel. Two hours out of St.Jean and with a total absence of other pilgrims, she began to question her navigational skills and returned to start her journey again. She joined us to make up a dormitory of six, totally knackered and hastled for her experiences which had added 4 hours to her journey.
Eila and I had been allocated a six room of three bunk beds. Eila, who was used to hotel life on the Camino found sharing a bunk room with four men, who do what men do in these cramped circumstances, snoring perhaps being one of the the main sins, taking off their smelly socks, prior to showering, being a lesser sin, but none the less irksome from her point of view. We were eventually joined by a rather hapless German girl in her twenties who had unfortunately walked North East out on St.Jean the previous day, 180 degrees off her intended direction of travel. Two hours out of St.Jean and with a total absence of other pilgrims, she began to question her navigational skills and returned to start her journey again. She joined us to make up a dormitory of six, totally knackered and hastled for her experiences which had added 4 hours to her journey.
[Paul, a Canadian from Ottawa on his second Camino]
[Eila at the Navarra marker stone on the Pyrenees]
[Eila now in Spain by the mountain refuge]
[Dropping down to Roncesvalles through birch woods]
So we have finally crossed the Pyrenees today in beautiful sunny weather, albeit a very windy day at times. We started off at Orisson this morning having completed the steep work yesterday. We steadily climbed for two hours and then followed an undulating trail through beech woods briefly stopping to pass the stone making the boundary with Navarra and the boarder with Spain. During the day we kept on passing and being passed by other pilgrims with whom we had shared supper the previous evening, namely Paul a very tall Canadian man in his seventies and two retired ladies, Beverley and Jo (a nurse and teacher) from Melbourne Australia. Those who had not wimped out and stayed the night in Orisson as we had, would have pushed on yesterday in low cloud and rain. We felt we had chosen wisely and had beautiful weather, such is the fickle nature of the Pyrenees. We ended the day by dropping down through the very steep track through Beech woods into Roncessvalles.
We are now in the modern hostel in a partitioned bunk bedded dormitory of about 64 beds. We are showered and ready for some food followed by the welcoming Pilgrim Mass.
Buen Camino.
