Finding treasure on the Camino de Santiago

Wednesday 1st June – Burguete to Zubiri – Km’s walked – 23.15; steps – 34126; Floors – 74

I woke up really early and lay reading as Jacqi slept She seemed so tired I et her be.  Eventually at 7h45 I opened the shutters and she woke up. We lay chatting for a few minutes and she suddenly said, “Our bags have to be in reception by 8am for the bag man!” A mad scramble ensued as we tried to get ready and pack bags att he same time.  Babar groaned under the weight of more stuff, and TInkerbell knew she was in for trouble today as everything that could not go into Babar in time was going into her.  My shoulders groaned at the thought.  Anyway we sorted it out and got there with five minutes to spare. The bag man arrived and I hid from him in case he decided not to take my precious Babar. I watched from my bedroom window as he marked Babar for Zubiri and that moving advert, “there go my only possessions…..!”, came to mind.

We set out after bread and water for breakfast. NO coffee in site. Fortunately we both like a cup of hot water to start the day. We walked blissfully onto the path and after about 1.5kms, Jacqui mentions that she thinks we are on the wrong road, we take out the book and so we were. We walked back about 1.5kms and found the beautiful yellow arrows screaming at us where we were meant to turn. Lesson:  Watch for the signs in the most obvious places!!!!  That applies to life too I guess.

Anyway the walk began, and oh my word, how can it just get more and more beautiful everyday.

A few minutes on the road and we were into another forest, shaded and beautiful.  The weather was slightly cool, but pleasant. Jackets on, jackets off for four kilometers or so. We walked in silence for a while contemplating the day and then chatted and chatted and back to silence. The beauty of the forest, the singing birds, the fresh green of spring and the flowers. Jacqui has a degree in anything about horticulture and garden design and she knew so many of the wild flowers we encountered. Such beauty in the strangest places. I flirted briefly with the thought of starting a photoblog on “The Flowers of the Camino”, but then I can barely keep up with this one.

On Monday evening we met many people, but particularly we spoke to and engaged a lot with Kimberly and Christie from Kentucky.  They are friends walking the Camino. They had stayed in Roncesvalles, we had stayed 3kms further so I thought we would not see them again. We walked into a little hamlet looking for a coffee and there was the tiniest cafe and seated outside were Kimberley and Christie.  WE hugged them like old friends and chatted for awhile. They both seemed to be taking a bit of strain on the body.  We left them and walked the next few kilometers before We stopped for our picnic lunch of sheep’s cheese bought from the HOT Chocolate angel, bread, and an apple. An apple never tasted that good before. While we having our picnic, Kimberley and Christie appeared on the path.  They joined us for a while then took off. We met them again later in Zubiri (small town – two restaurants). Lovely people, funny, interesting and walking until 18th July on no set program.

The walk to Zubiri was longer than John Brierley (the Camino guru) said in his book, but it was altogether pleasant.  I think I’ve realized that we have to add on three to four Km’s to Brierley’s Km’s else it messes with your head. He hasn’t been spot on once. I guess he measures differently to us.The sun kept visiting and the woods we walked through we just magical.  Bird song everywhere.  We saw a Stott (rodent thing, I think), a chameleon, lizards, slugs (gazillions), sheep and of course eagles soaring high above us. We arrived at our Hostal, and the people were charming, they loved the fact that I was South African, they got very few they said. The village was charming too.  We had a delicious meal of salad and paella (hake for Jacqui) with wine (good wine) for 12 Euro. Went to bed thinking about the simple joy of walking ……..

Gifts today; Seeing Kimberley and Christie twice; sunshine, the beautiful woods; Joy of walking and talking with Jacqui for hours, the absolute luxury of just being and just walking