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| Leaving Cizur Menor before sunrise |
Tough going today. It was one of those days were I had trouble getting moving in the morning. Of course it wasn't any help that it was raining pretty steadily when we left the hostel, oh yes, before sunrise, in the dark. The day's hike was mainly made up of a long steady climb up a high ridge and then a slippery descent down the other side. We might have been rewarded with a stunning view from the summit - had it not been so foggy…
So, it's not all wine and roses when you're hiking the Camino. Some days the weather can be rough, or your gear breaks down at an inopportune moment, or you realize you've left some important part of your kit behind at the last hostel (incidentally, all 3 of these things happened to us on this very day). When we reached the hostel in Puenta La Reina the misfortune continued. More of our hiking companions were succumbing to the types of critical injuries that can be expected when hiking 20-30km day after day. A few were contemplating going home (we learned that 20% of hikers who begin the Camino drop out within the first week).
Things were looking pretty dim…
…but then the sun suddenly appeared, and we took a stroll around Puenta la Reina, which I believe is one of the most beautiful towns we've stopped in so far along the way. At dinner, Baasje taught the Korean and Japanese travelers how to flip their vegetable pancakes without the aid of a pancake flipper and became a hero. We sat in the main room sharing food we had cooked with the other 'peregrinos'. We smiled and laughed together and eventually forgot about (or at least were able to overlook) our sore feet and tired muscles. We taught each other languages (Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Japanese, to name a few), passed on tips about traveling in our respective countries and had such a good time that before we knew it it was well past the hour many of us normally turn in. Oh yes, it was one of those nights. The kind of night you wish didn't have to end.
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| The streets of Puenta la Reina |
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| Homes in Puenta la Reina |
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| Roman bridge |
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| The dinner Baasje helped cook |
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| Friends we've made along the way... |
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