We got woken at 6am by one of the Dutch
women who came and opened our door and they had some beautiful classical music playing. It was
a really nice way to wake up.
I got dressed and packed and was at
breakfast at 6.30am. I wondered where
they were going to have it but they’d transformed the office into a breakfast
room.
This albergue was lovely with really clean rooms, gorgeous views and a little area in the garden to sit.
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| So Young and June in our dorm room |
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| One of the hosteleros making breakfast |
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| The washing area |
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| Table outside where we could chat and have a cig |
I then headed off to see the running of the
bulls again but this time thought I’d watch it from the arena. The Dutch women recommended that it was
better to watch it in the area as they had big screens up so you could see the running
of the bulls on the screens from when it started - and then you’d see the
runners and bulls at the end as they finished in the arena.
I was at the arena by 7am and already it
was packed - but as I was on my own some people moved over for me so I had a
good seat.
It was different watching the bulls run on this
morning – as they day before I hadn’t realised that they were the same bulls
that would be killed in the evening.
Actually the day before I hadn’t realised any bulls would be
killed.
It as not the same to watch it on the big
screen but was good to see the people’s faces as they came racing into the
arena with the bulls close behind or beside them. The bulls ran through the arena to the other
side, out a gate and must have gone into a holding pen under the seating of the
stadium.
The arena was filled with all the runners
and then they let in a young bull that had corks on his horns and he’d race
around and try to butt people. Some
people got thrown into the air. It was
quite funny but also quite sad that they people got such a buzz out of teasing
the young bull. When it was time for the
bull to leave the arena, people would lead in an older bull, and the young one
would stop butting people instantly and then follow the older bull out under
the stadium. Then they’d let another
young bull in.
Here are some photos of the crowds in the arena before the bulls and runners came in:
Videos of the bulls running into the arena:
Photos of the young bulls running with the crowds:
This photo shows the bigger bull leading the young bull out of the area:
I left Pamplona by about 10.30am and got
lost. One minute I had the yellow arrows
and the next minute I didn’t. I found
another guy who was also lost and when we’d figured out where we were, we’d
found we’d gone a bit in a circle round a big park. Any, we finally found our way out of the
city.
I’d been told that the camino route from
Pamplona was steep and rocky so it would be better to take the roads. I decided
to do this – but then got lost again a few kilometres out of Pamplona. I asked a few people directions - but seemed to
get long complicated replies. So, I
decided to regroup myselves and sat on a pavement café and had a café con
baileys and a couple of cigarettes. There
I picked a man who looked like he might be able to give good directions and he
kindly gave me a long explanation but also drew me a map on a serviette.
So I was on my way again – only to end up
on a motorway that bicycles aren’t allowed on.
A nice man in a campervan helped me by ‘escorting’ me (by driving on the
motorway really slowly, while I cycled on the inside of him) until we got to
the off-ramp and onto another road.
Then on the start of a hill climb I got a
puncture so had to walk my bike to the top of the hill. It was so hot and there
was not one tiny bit of shade – and the flat bit of ground I found at the top
had hundreds of little white snails. I only discovered this when I picked up
the tyre I’d removed and there were about 20 snails in it. I then realised that I had both panniers lying
open on the ground - so the tube changing job took a second seat to the snail-removing-from-panniers
one.
A very kind man came to help me with my
puncture. He seemed a bit heavy handed
with my brand new pump as he was rocking the pump back and forth and wobbling
the little silver-jutting-out-bit from the tube (and Jeff had taught me not to
do this). But luckily he decided that I
only needed a little bit of air and stopped pumping – so then I took over so I
could put in my 40 bars/PSI or whatever the measurement unit is. He seemed sure that 20 was enough so we
compromised and I put in 30. Jeff had
told me 40. I wasn’t going to argue with
him though as his intentions were so good.
He tried having a long conversation with me but I didn’t understand very
much. I just hoped I nodded in the right places and laughed at the right
things. It was lunchtime and he was
inviting me to his house for lunch but I declined and then I thought he was
saying that he wanted to do the camino – but we settled on him giving me his
email address so I could email the photo of him fixing my puncture.
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| I didn't need his help but it was nice of him to do this |
I checked out a few hotel rooms in the next
couple of villages as I only had two days left to finish my report. It was now the afternoon so there was no way
I’d be doing any work on my report that day. The hotel rooms were about 50 euros. One
offered to give me a pilgrim discount of 36 euros but the room was dark and
there was no table to work at.
I kept cycling to the next village and there
wasn’t a hotel so looked at the albergue for 4 euros. It had the typical bunk beds and a really
lovely big garden and I umm-ed and argh-ed for a while trying to figure out if
I could work in the garden. The
hospitalero was really helpful as he recommended another albergue 14km away in Lorca
that might let me have a single room and where I could stay for 3 nights. He used my phone to call and it was all set –
I would have to be in the dorm this night but for the next two nights I could
have my own room. That was perfect as I had no intention of doing work that
night as I was sunburned and knackered.
Here are some scenery photos on the way - I love all the sunflower fields:
That 14km seemed to take forever as it was
really hilly, a bit windy and soo hot.
It must have been well over 40 degrees.
I was dehydrated and exhausted when I got to the lovely village of
Lorca. Jose Ramon (the owner) gave me
three glasses of water and showed me my bed (a top bunk) and told me to have a
shower before I did the checking in stuff.
I had no idea how I was going to climb up to the top bunk but the lovely
young Korean guy who was comfortably lying on his bed offered to let me have
his bottom bunk. I was very thankful. I
could just imagine falling down and breaking my neck in the night or rolling
off the side onto the floor.
I don’t know if it was the guys being nice,
or just lucky timing, but by the time I got out of the shower the Korean guy
and older Austrian man had left the dorm room so I could get dressed for dinner
in private.
Dinner was a lof of fun. There were six of
us (a 50 something year old very rich Korean man, a youngish Danish guy who
liked to drink, a French couple and a very strange blonde woman who was about
60 who kept talking in what seemed like it might be English – but as I never
understood anything she said, was not quite sure. I don’t think any of us could understand her
so we’d listen to her stories, all laugh or nod our heads and then someone else
would start a new story – normally the Korean guy (named Song).
He would not tell me his what his company
did or made – and although this was the fourth time he’d stayed in this
albergue (as it was his fourth time he had done the camino) Jose, the owner,
also had no idea what his business was.
He had told him the same thing he told me: ‘it’s a secret’.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist long to
figure out he was really rich when he showed us some photos of his house, his
cars, his wife and we learned that his wife was in Paris this week as she’d
been personally invited to an all expenses paid Dior show or party. I asked if she was a good customer and he
said ‘Yes, very good – but I think my daughter is a better one’. His daughter is 20. His wife looked about 20 but she was the same
age as me. He said she spent a lot of time having massages and facials every
day – and also did yoga.
Song told me that I was not going to lose
weight unless I cycled 60km every day.
You didn’t argue with Song.
I slept like a log that night and did not
wake up till 7.30am, even though apparently, according to a German woman in our
dorm, the men were very inconsiderate and had the lights on since 6am and were
making a lot of noise. I didn’t hear a thing.
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| Song and friends |
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| Song again |
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| Jose Ramon and the woman in my dorm the first night |
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| Our dorm |
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