31km (157.4km)
Thursday 31st March

Breakfast at 7 – lemon drizzle cake and coffee, plus a huge ham,cheese and egg sandwich. Just after leaving Estella there is apparently a sign saying ‘Santiago 666′; I missed it and I didn’t actually realise quite how long this route was, it would appear… as I’ve already done well in excess of 100km and was rather surprised to learn that I have 666 to go, but it’s done when it’s done so it doesn’t really matter how far it is exactly… About a half an hour out of the town I came across the Fountain of Irache, which has a water tap and a red wine tap. I passed here at 07:45 and, even for me, this was a little too early to be tempted – although one gentleman filled his water bottle, quaffed the lot and refilled it; there are some hardy pilgrims around. The skies were ominous and I had a ”Will I? Won’t I?’ scenario with my waterproofs, ultimately leading to my being soaked  whilst trying to don waterproofs and cover pack  as the skies opened into an impressive hail/thunder and lighting storm. It continued to rain for most of the day  but the storm, at least, subsided (looking on the bright side :)). By normal standards this would have been described as a long, flat trudge of a day (in tha rain) and yet it didn’t feel like that, it felt like part of an overall journey, with good and bad parts. A couple of coffee stops with likewise soaked and cold pilgrims somehow lifted one’s spirits.

Most people stopped at Los Arcos today but I’d booked a Hostal Rural at a village some 8km further down the road. It turned out to be a good choice; new, spotless ( well it was until we arrived covered in mud 😊) with a great bar and the only place to eat in the vicinity so it was full of only the most hardy of pilgrims, plus Inga and me 🙂 and some pilgrims who had taken a taxi from the last village (they were young so I think they were injured)… There is quite a lot of taxi and bus taking apparently, I think down to the fact that people come here not realising how challenging it is to walk every day come rain, hail or shine. Oddly, for a few, it’s about obtaining their certificate  in Santiago – even if they’ve been hopping on and off public transport to have their passport stamped! What’s great though is that no one cares and everyone is open about getting taxis or taking public transport, it’s everyone’s personal pilgrimage (even if it’s on a bus) …and if you’re feeling under the weather then why not continue with some help 🙂

I learnt today that the Camino is historically a sinners pilgrimage, where the sinner can atone by walking the Way. All good so far…until I was also told that the rich sinners could PAY for poorer, presumably good people, to do their pilgrimage for them – quite shocking! I’ve also seen along the way that many pilgrims (not just the old or unfit) get fed up walking and get taxis to the next point…  Looking forward to a shorter, hopefully drier, day tomorrow.

Lots of hail Along the Way, when it had stopped raining for a while
Los Arcos