18 different nationalities at dinner

So after all the planning, the reading, the anticipation, the worrying away about what to take and so on, we are finally under way.  Today is day 3 of the walk, though the first was a short, if strenuous, day, about 8km up the hilll out of our starting point of St Jean Pied de Port.  Here are my first impressions.

First, the Camino is busy.  It’s hard to find accommodation in a lot of places so we have just booked ahead for 3 nights, which we weren’t planning to do.  The enormous hostel facilities at the monastery of Roncesvalles, linked to the Chanson de Roland, have about 200 beds: they were full last night.  We don’t know why it’s this busy now, or whether it will stay that way.

It’s international.  The picture above comes from the entrance to one of the villages on the route, Burguete. At our first hostel, they asked us to stand up after dinner and introduce ourselves.  With about 50 people, there were 18 different nationalities, from Australia to Korea to Canada to Scandinavia, as well as Western Europe.  We were the only English pilgrims.

We’d heard about the community spirit, and it seemed real even on that first night.  People do greet each other with “Buen Camino”, chat to strangers, and muck in together in the hostels.  Hopefully that will last as we get further in to the walk.

The walking has already been varied.  We have crossed the Pyrenees, at a height of about 1400m, and crossed from France into Spain at much the same time.  The path has involved some road walking, some mountain paths with steep descents, some beautiful forest paths offering much needed shade, and also a route round the Magna industrial estate in Zubiri, where they produce Magnesium Oxide for a range of customers in 60 countries.  So the Camino doesn’t just head through the pretty areas.

On a personal note, we are doing fine so far.  My shoulders hurt because my rucksack is very heavy, but otherwise we are OK.  But this is just the start: we clocked up 50km on the way down to tonight’s stop.  So lots to come, and chance to reflect on the phenomenon that we are part of, that was exemplified by the spirit in the introductions on the first night.  Why should people from so many countries travel long distances, to walk uphill and down dale in all weathers for several weeks, with shell emblems on their rucksacks, in honour – in some sense – of a saint whose miraculous powers might have attracted medieval pilgrims but don’t resonate today?  But something clearly does: that’s what we will explore and hopefully experience.