Day Six - Holiday Hotel and Techno Showers - 11k

Woke up and headed painfully, through Almond orchards and more new housing estates to the next village Muruzabal. Waited around on a park bench for nine o’clock and bar to open, amazed at the view of mountains seemingly ignored by a female dog walker, she obviously lives here and it’s not a big deal anymore. The standard crane was operational already, I was slowly realising that Spain is unfinished. There’s so many wonderful old places and all around them something new is being built. Grabbed my standard Hot Chocolate (Cola Cao with Steamed milk, described by someone as Hot Nesquik) and cake, which traditionally would be the home-made variety but is often pre-packaged and then use of the servicios (a much nicer word than toilets I think). Asked for directions to the Chemist and found that it was a room in a normal house but with a doorbell and big glass window with curtains. As usual the service in their Farmacias is exceptional, my trouser leg having been lifted at the behest of my personal care giver in the form of another slightly grumpy looking woman, who I am sure is thinking “Here we go again, the first Pilgrims of the year!”. After measuring my knee to ensure a good fit, I’m on my way in moments with an elasticated strapping and 40 strong anti inflammatories for six Euros something after I manage to convey to her that I want tablets not a topical cream. Try getting that sort of value and service in a small village doctors surgery or Chemist in Britain…

The next two hours are spent painfully and rhythmically hobbling in the growing heat of the day in the wrong direction. Common sense does not work here, don’t go on hunches unless they’re backed up by a map or Yellow arrow somewhere. I find instead of an exquisite Templar church, a fountain and an old man who insists on speaking too quickly but I get the gist that I’m in the wrong place so back track, even more painfully in thirty minutes to my starting place. Yellow arrows only for me from now on! Probably…

Finally seeing pilgrims up ahead and keeping pace to ensure I don’t get lost again I reach the church of Santa Maria de Eunate. It’s nice but not THAT nice, ok it’s beautiful and alone unlike the rest that are surrounded by villages and very peaceful but I’d eaten all my food and so I didn’t hang around too long, just put a coin in the machine to light an electric prayer candle, the wonders of modern technology. The more coins, the more candles you light. Saw a shambling, sandal wearing, long haired Pilgrim?

Carried on walking and dipping boots in water whenever found, made it to Puente la Reina and stopped at the first available place which was a Hotel. My main reason for stopping here was that I was knackered, the clincher was the sign saying Massage Here. Like everything else seemed to be, this too was not available anymore or at this time of year I suppose. They must rake in the Euros in the Summer, oh well let’s make the best of it and see what the Towns like after a shower.

Daily routine, get up with everything aching. Get dressed, walk for at least eight hours eating and drinking on the way. Everything starts hurting towards the end of the day so there’s a period in the middle of approximately five minutes when all joints and muscles are warmed up, that’s partly why I don’t stop for long because getting going again hurts too much.

The Hotel is quite classy, nice looking Dining Room but not busy and then I go down to the basement where the Pilgrim accommodation is tucked away. It’s quite packed in but really clean and I walk into the shower block to find! Techno showers with massaging jets and radios built into them. For some reason the ones with radios are in the Ladies section but I’ve got such an early start in the mornings on everyone, wherever I go, I get there hours before and get to choose the best of everything.

I have to walk into town because I’ve chosen the Refugio furthest away from the centre, another thing I should have learn’t earlier, take your pick unless you can’t walk any further or are just lazy like me and just glad of the chance to finish for the day. I see the shambling glasses wearing long haired sandal wearer again, mooching round the town but it’s siesta time and we’re never gonna find anything open till later, I think I pass that information on. I explore for a while and then have to concede defeat and return to the Hotel.

Where I am greeted by two wonderful sights for sore eyes and feet. Charlotte and K (had it but I lost it again, terrible with names you see, which is ok because pilgrims referred to one another as English speaking American guy or snoring fat Spanish man and Funky Chick or just hey you.) the two Dutch girls were here! We began trying not to talk about what they’d gone through whilst sipping Peach Schnapps and details slowly became apparent. Charlotte had poor eyesight in low light conditions, and I’m guessing that their gung ho attitude and cigarette habit contributed to them taking so much longer to walk the same path as I had, even though they’d started at the same time. The ironic thing was that they had heard that a lone man had died on the Mountain, and had checked when finally reaching Roncesvalles after their trip to Hospital, that it wasn’t me, that I was on the Pilgrim Log sheet and that I had reached the Refugio.