Logbook of our trip

These pages are a report of our camino adventures, written and uploaded while we were actually "on trail". The pictures and links were added upon our return home.

Almost all of the pictures in our stories will expand by clicking (once) on them.

First Instalment (of 5)

We started our camino on Monday, 20 May 2002 (Pentecoast Monday, 2e Pinksterdag).
In two days we had driven from Holland, (via Antwerp, Lille, Paris, Orleans, Bordeaux) to our starting point of St Jean Pied-de-Port, in the French Pyrenees.

We had intended to start our camino the next day (Tuesday morning), but since we arrived already at noon, we decided to do a few hours of hiking to get the flavor of it.

We parked the car at a camping site in St Jean Pied-de-Port (France) and started our hike to Hunto, a small village 5 km (3+ miles) away, but 400 meters up (1300 ft). The weather was beautiful, sunny and a bit windy.

However, the climb proved to be very difficult. The hills were so steep that we had to rest every 10 minutes. Our backpacks (approx. 9 kilos, or 20 lbs) seemed filled with lead.

St Jean Pied-du-Port	Ready for the trip	Me and my shadow taking the first step of 800 km

On Tuesday, May 21 our trip was to Roncevalles, accross the French and Spanish border. We started early. Fog covered the valleys, but the sun was out and the views were beautiful. The tracks lead through woods and green hills. It was very steep again. Over 4 hours we ascended 1000 meters (3,300 ft). The weather stayed nice and sunny, but the winds became very strong, almost worse than we had when we lived in the "Windy City" (Chicago).

Almost 4 hours later Andrea & Tina arrived, totally exhausted. Tina had to push her heavy bike uphill for the last 2 miles.

We slept in an abbey, originally built in a Gothic style in 1132. Before dinner we went to mass in the old Gothic church of St. Mary, where all the pilgrims were blessed. All the different nationalities of the pilgrims (who arrived that day) were announced. I counted 20. The stained glass windows and the altar were just beautiful. For dinner we went to the only restaurant there and had the set pilgrims menu. It was a 4 course meal, with a bottle of red wine for the grand sum of €6 ($5.40) per person.

On Wednesday, May 22 the camino took us to Larrasoana. Some 26 km of rain and muddy tracks through the woods. The first part of the hike was very steep uphill and also slippery. It was a tough climb. I had assumed that the second part of going downhill to the town of Zubiri, for 10 km, would be easy going. However, it was as difficult as climbing uphill. The tracks were still slippery and muddy and very steep. Most were covered with pieces of slate and rocks, which made it even more unstable and dangerous to go downhill.

Almost 7 hours later we arrived at the refugio in Larrasoana, ran by the mayor of the town. Our trousers and boots were covered in mud. Tina and Andrea were already there and helped us wash and scrub our clothes and boots. The sun had come out again and the micro fiber material dried in no time.

The girls also had a tough day with some steep hills. Especially Tina, with a heavier bike and not used to cycling in any hills, had to walk beside her bike and push it (with all the luggage) uphill for at least half of the trip. I think that she has had it.

On Thursday, May 23 we went to Pamplona. It was only 15 km. It rained a bit, but the hike was not too bad. Jan and I checked into the refugio at 1 pm. It had only 20 beds and was in the old San Saturin church.

We will visit more of the town's historical and interesting places this afternoon, but first I had to go to the internet cafe to type and upload this first part of our logbook.

Go here to the second instalment.