Starting to walk

On Friday I walked to the bus station to catch the  early bus to Estella.  But there was no early bus due to the holiday. I met an Aussi going to the same town.  We waited for the ticket office to open, and got on the 10 am bus.  

I was really dragging when I started walking in Estella. When I sat down, someone stopped and asked if I was OK, so I must have looked bad. I ended up calling and getting a reservation at a nice private refugio in Azqueta, La Perla Negra. I slept until dinner. Dinner at the refugio was the United Nations, Croatia, Brazil, Ireland, Argentina, and more. The crowd was mostly young people, although the nice Irish  lady was 71.  The conversations tended to be in English; the guy from Argentina felt excluded until I asked him in Spanish where he was from. 

Sandi was worried about me, since I was having a hard time. My concern was that there was a bar and refugio at 2 km, in Villamayor de Monjardin, and then nothing for the next 12 km. I resolved to walk the 2 km and decide then. There was a solid climb to the town, and I was dragging. I laid down at the top of the hill. It was obvious that I should stop. I waited for Oasis Trails, the Christian refugio, to open; I was the first pilgrim, and was greeted warmly.  I chatted with other pilgrims while waiting, especially the Irish pilgrim from Derry.   I slept in the afternoon; someone woke me up for dinner.  The dinner was another United Nations.   One of the pilgrims was a 91 year old Frenchman!  His advice was to profit from everything, but not too much of anything.

This refugio is run by a Christian  nondenominational community. I went to their Christian meditation;  I told a couple of the hosts that I was struggling, and they suggested that I stay another night, which is not normally allowed. They also prayed for me. 

I decided that I would stay another night; this will also let me go to the afternoon Easter mass in the village. I hope to be well enough to resume walking on Monday. 

After a day of rest, I felt much better. I also appreciated the emotional and spiritual support of the group.

 I got on the trail Monday morning at dawn. It was a quiet morning with light fog and overcast, but cleared out with the sun. I arrived in Los Arcos after three hours of walking; It felt good to be walking without struggling. I walked 12 km today;  I will walk no further today, since I am recovering. 

The church in Los Arcos is pretty amazing inside, over the top, in a mix of styles. 

I am staying in the Casa de Abuela private refugio, sharing a room with folks from Holland and Toronto. 

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