Travel Day #3

 Well I have finally reach St Jean Pied de Port, Wooohooo. I checked out of my Hostel in Pamplona around 8:30am. Walked around the city a little until I had to head to the bus station to take the ALSA bus to SJPdP. 

The main reason I picked the Aloha Hostel, in Pamplona, was due to the close proximityto the bus depot. I also thought maybe since this hostel had the word Aloha, maybe it had a Hawaiian theme. Yeah, boy was I wrong, not one reference to anything Hawaiian. I still gave everyone the 🤙🏻 sign. I have to say the bathroom was an interesting situation. The bathroom consisted of one urinal, one toilet, two showers and two very small sinks. The funny part of the story is that if you had to go to the bathroom, you just went in and went to the bathroom even though people may have been showering, It just didn’t matter if you were a man or a woman🤣🤣. Oh yeah, there were no hand towels so people were turning on the hairdryer to dry there hands!!!!! Okay enough bathroom chatter.

I recognized a few people on the bus that I had seen either on the airplane or on the train. Seems everyone has different agendas. Some were starting their Camino as soon as they got to St Jean, others,  like me we’re waiting a day and starting tomorrow and a couple others were gonna stay here for a couple of days before they started their Camino. Different strokes for different folks.

The bus ride took just under two hrs, and it was a twisting turning up and down road. I heard some people were starting to not feel so good😢. We made to St Jean w/out anybody loosing their breakfast on the trip. 

We got off the bus, gathered our packs and most of us headed straight to the pilgrim office to get our first official Camino stamp and have questions answered that we might have had. Of course as soon as we got there they closed for two hrs🤣. So everyone scattered trying to find something to do for those two hrs. I myself went and found a nice little eatery. Sat out side, enjoyed my Egg/Ham/Cheese Crepe. Sounds weird right, but to my delight it was very tasty, and of course I had my traditional Coke Zero. I did a little sight seeing, and headed up the the pilgrims office, waited about 15 min. They opened, I was like 10th person in line. Went in, did what I had to do, weighed my pack, 22.8 lbs, a little heavier than I wanted. Walked outside the pilgrim office and the line was 50 + pilgrims long. FYI, from this point on I am a pilgrim, not just Randy anymore, until I finish, then I revert back to my good ole Randy self. 

Checked into my Hostel, which is right down from the pilgrim office. Got to my room, once again quick shower, washed a couple of clothing item, then hung them in the window seal to dry in the sun. How many of you have washed your under garments and socks, in the shower, then just let them dry on a window seal, raise your hands now if you have🤣

I did a repack of my backpack, moving items around. You pack your backpack according to the weather forecast. If it’s going to rain, you want your rain gear easy to get to. If it’s cold, jackets on too etc… Plus you want to try and not make your pack unbalanced, IE, all the heavy stuff on just the bottom, it’s a balancing act for sure.  

After that task was done, I treated my self to a nice cold beverage, and of course sat outside to do one of mankind’s favorite things to do, People Watch!!!! 

After that I ran, okay walked, to the market, got me a banana and a nice crisp apple for my journey tomorrow.  Speaking of tomorrow I plan on starting my Camino walk nice and early, maybe even before the sunrise. It’s going to be a long and hard walk tomorrow. Most of it’s non stop going up and up. Then you reach the top and then the down hill section starts, the knees and toes just love this part. 

So I think I’ll end it here. After 3 days of plains, trains & a bus ride, I have finally reach the start of my Camino Frances Walk. Now the real fun and work starts. It won’t be easy for sure, but let the journey begin, and I’ll take you along for the ride. Buen Camino!!!, oh yeah that’s what we say to other pilgrims as we pass each other, means good walk. You could also say Buen Uber or Buen Taxi, for those who get tired🤣🤣. Peace out, talk to you after Day 1🤙🏻