...than to try to load pictures on a hostel computer. I´ll use a commercial internet cafe next time and show you what's going on. In the mean time, I´ll tell you.
There are aparently tons of pilgrims who started at the same time we did; the hostels have been overloaded. It also means we are hardly ever out of sight of other pilgrims along the way. And that we see lots of the same people over and over again, when we pass people resting on the road, when we stop for water or some food, and when we pull over for the night. Some lovely Germans, a nice Danish couple, a handsome French boy and his Australian and Irish and Dutch travelling companions, three friendly old Spanish men, a boy from Chicago who is writing a Master´s dissertation on occult books of the middle ages and his mom, and more. There is a really nice atmosphere on the trail. People seem to look out for each other.
Liiiiiike today, when Sofia's knee started hurting so badly she couldn't walk any further. One Australian girl who also has bad knees taped it for her and one of the old Spanish men gave her some antiinflammatory gel to help it. Nice people.
Why is Sofia's knee in pain? Probably a combination of heavy pack, all the downhill work, and pushing it too hard the first two days. She won't admit that the last one has anything to do with it, but she takes off like a rocket and gets the thrill of the chase in her when she sees another pilgrim on the horizon. All well and good, but add the other two factors to it, and taking it easy is better on your body in the long run, even if you feel like you can take it at the moment. Did she listen to me that first day? Nope. I´ve been keeping up, and I even pull ahead when we are chugging uphill (one foot in front of the other), but I usually end up trailing behind when going downhill. This morning she was like: if I go faster, we get there sooner and the pain won't last as long. Bull. My knee has been twinging a bit, too, and I have an almost-blister on my left big toe, so I was like: this is my pace; match me or leave me behind. She slowed down.
We walked for a kilometer or two before we stopped at a bar for breakfast, and Sofia swore she couldn't go any more. That's when someone taped it for her, and we were told that the closest bus was 4 km away. We decided that she would take the bus to Pamplona while I walked the trail. That plan fell through becasue 4 km started to look reeeeally long at the pace we were keeping. Sofia suggested we hitchhike. A nice lady picked us up and brought us to a bus stop a town away from Pamplona, and from there we took the bus. It ended up being another 1.5 km to the hostel, but we made it. She got some tape and cold patches for it, and that man gave her the cream. So she's feeling a lot better. In fact, we just got back from a leisurely stroll around Pamplona center, which is so cute. It's small and compact like any medieval city, but the buildings are painted lovely mediteranean colors. We are thinking to walk a bit tomorrow, maybe 5 km or so, see how things go.
Pray for her knee!
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