At last - an Internet!

A welcome glass of wine at Durban Airport

We can't post too much here - the computer is too slow (and has a French keyboard) but just to let you know that we arrived in Lourdes after three planes - Durban to Johannesburg, Jo'burg to Madrid and Madrid to Toulopuse: one bus and a two hour train ride to Lourdes.

We have been writing blog posts on scraps of paper and will post as soon as we get to a place with a faster machine. This is coming to you from Eysus which isn't even on the map we've got - came across it by chance when we saw a sign for a Bar and decided to stop for coffee.

On our way to Sarrance (day 4 of walking) and will sleep in a converted monastery tonight.
Over and out for now!

"Our bags are packed, and we're ready to go...."

The emails are flying between us!

Marion:

"Yesterday I packed my back pack and just now I weighed it Bugger, Bugger, Bugger it weighs toooooooooooooooooooooo damm much!!!!!!! 6kg and I have not got any winter woollies in!!!!! So now back to the drawing board, unpacking to see if I can take out anything!!!!!"

Val:

"I kid you not that it took me 8 hours to pack my back pack on Sunday, I actually burst into tears and Martin gave me a glass of wine and a cuddle!!!!
I have not weighed it because there is not one thing that is not on Syl’s list and I even took out most of my toiletries, should be fun trying to get a comb through my hair without conditioner…it is like straw!"

Syl:

Your pack will be fine! Weigh it - just in case it is over the limit allowed in the cabin. The dimensions are actually more important. It must be about 56cm X 45cm X 25cm. If it is a bulging ball it won't fit in the overhead locker. Squash it to fit those dimensions and tie the cords very tight.

Val:

You might have to sit on mine on the way to the airport!

Photo: This is my pack duly squashed, corsetted and manipulated to measure the correct dimensions. It weighs 5.15kg.

Two days and counting!!!

Sacred Journeys to Longed for Places

http://amawalker.blogspot.com/2009/05/journey-can-become-sacred-thing.html

St. Gildas 5thC

Pilgrims’ Prayer

In health may I and all of my companions
Safely arrive with no harm or injury –
May my boat be safe in the waves of the ocean,
My horses safe on the highways of the earth,
Our money safe as we carry it with us
To pay due heed to our poor necessities.
May our enemies fail to do harm to us,
However evil the counsels which inspire them,
In the eternal name of Christ our Master,
May my roads all lie plain before me,
Whether I climb the rugged heights of mountains,
Or descend the hollow depths of valleys,
Or trudge the lengthy roads on open country,
Or struggle through the thickets of dense forest:
May I walk always in straight ways and shining
To longed-for places . . .”

Accident and Angels on the way to the Dragon Mountains

Last weekend we went to do some hiking in the foothills of the southern Drakensberg Mountains that stretch for over a thousand kilometers along the interior of South Africa from the Cape in the south, along the entire length of Kwa-Zulu Natal, forming a natural border between Lesotho and South Africa.

Wikipedia: The highest peak is Thabana Ntlenyana, at 3,482 metres (11,420 ft). Other notable peaks include Mafadi at 3,450 m, Makoaneng at 3,416 m, Njesuthi at 3,408 m, Champagne Castle at 3,377 m, Giant's Castle at 3,315 m, and Ben Macdhui at 3,001 m. All of these are in the area bordering on Lesotho; north of Lesotho the range becomes lower and less rugged until entering Mpumalanga where the quartzite mountains of the Transvaal Drakensberg are more broken. The Blyde River Canyon in Mpumalanga is within the Northern reaches of the Drakensberg, though its geology appears different due to the lack of a Basalt cap. South Africa's Drakensberg mountains are home to the world's second-highest waterfall, the Tugela Falls (Thukela Falls), with a total drop of 947 metres.

Camino pilgrim, Tricia from Empangeni, invited a group of us to spend the weekend at her timeshare in the Bushman's Nek Resort. Tricia drove to Durban to collect Lorraine (also a camino pilgrim) and on Friday morning Marion picked me up, then Glynis and Linda and drove us to Val's place in Kloof. We loaded Val's trailer with food, wine and hiking gear and settled into her Pajero with Amy Winehouse crooning on the radio.

When she tried to start the car it made a strange 'trrrrrrrr.... trrrrrrrrr..." sound. After a few phone calls and reading the onscreen message we realised that the battery was flat. Glynis, our girl-guide supreme, helped Val find jumper cables in the garage, Marion brought her car close to the Pajero and after a while the Pajero roared to life! We were off!

Bushman's Nek is about 250k from Durban. I phoned Tricia on her cell phone to tell her that we would be running about an hour later than expected and she told me that they were almost at Underberg - just 35km from Bushman's Nek.

Accident:

We had an easy drive to Underbeg but as we reached the small town I got a call from Tricia - they had skidded off the gravel road on a bend, literally flew over a gulley, crashed into the brush and ploughed through brambles and thorn trees, hitting a log jutting out of a deep donga. When the shocked women came to a halt, Lorraine (a physiotherapist) asked Tricia if she was alright.

"My back..."said Tricia.

"Don't move," said Lorraine, "I'm going to see if I can flag down a car for help."

Lorraine got out of the car and fought her way through the sharp brambles to the road ripping her exposed arms and legs.

We came upon them an hour later - Tricia still shocked, sitting in the passenger seat, Lorraine with blood splashed on her clothes, her legs and arms a mess. The badly damaged car had been pulled out of the donga by a tractor, using a chain belonging to another good Samaritan.

Another motorist who'd stopped was on his way to Bushman's Nek and when he arrived there he told them what had happened and they had sent a vehicle to collect all Lorraine & Tricia's luggage. A paramedic and an ambulance soon arrived.

They strapped Tricia to a spinal stretcher and put her in the ambulance. I went with her and Lorraine back to Underbeg to be checked by the only doctor in town while the other girls continued to Bushman's Nek.

The doctor thoroughly checked both women and found that, besides bruises, whip-lash, lacerations and shock, neither had any serious injuries. (Unlike the little car which appears to be a write-off.) The lodge at Bushman's Nek sent a driver to collect us and we arrived at the lodge just before 7pm.

Angels:
The universe works in mysterious ways. The first car to pass Lorraine was a couple on their way to Bushman's Nek. They offered to drive on, let the lodge know about the accident so that they could contact the paramedics.

The car that stopped next had a chain just the right length to attach to the car and a tractor that was called in to help. The woman in the car said that they had missed their turn and should not have been on that section of the road. "You see, we were meant to be on this road at this time,"
said her husband.

A woman in the second car to arrive said that her mother, who lives 300km away in Port Edward on the South Coast, knew the farmer whose land bordered onto the road where the car had crashed. She called her mother, who phoned the farmer, who was able to radio for help.
Lorraine also contacted her son-in-law who told her that he knew the only paramedic in Underberg, and that he would contact him. The paramedic had not received the message left by the lodge so it was thank's to Lorraine's son-in-law knowing how to reach him that the ambulance and paramedic arrived when they did.
When the ambulance delivered us to the doctor's rooms in Underberg, he told us that for many months there had been no doctor in Underberg. He had only opened his practice a few weeks earlier. So many co-incidences - or, so many Angels sent to help?

Hiking:

Back at the lodge Lorraine had a warm bath to clean the wounds on her legs and arms. She had pretty 'bling' sandals on and we teased her about putting a post on the blog called "Blood and Bling". We shared a veg lasagne that I had made for Friday night and had an early night.

After breakfast in the morning Val, Marion, Linda, Glynis and I set off to hike on the Lesotho side of the border. It was a beautiful morning and after paying R20 each for a permit to cross the

border bewteen South Africa and Lesotho, we followed a path that crossed the river in about 5 places before swinging left up a rocky ridge, high above the riverine valley below. We had missed the path to the Twin Pools and could see people far below us sitting on a rock at the base of the mountain on the other side of the valley. We met up with that group, being led by a guide, when we crossed the river later on.

By the time we got back to the lodge, a nasty wind had sprung up. I stayed with Tricia and

Lorraine - giving them both a neck and shoulders and feet massage - while the others went on a horse-ride - a first for Marion.

By the evening it was a howling gale that grew stronger and stronger during the night, shaking the windows and doors and rocking the lodge on its stilts. Nobody got much sleep and with the wind still howling in the morning we decided not to go hiking but to get an early start home after breakfast.

One of Lorraine's family had friends looking at property in Underberg and they offered to drive her and Tricia back home. We took a lot of their stuff in the trailer. On the way home we stopped at "Puckety Place" - a delightful old house with a farm stall, bottled preserves, cheese, fleece ponchos, hats and scarves, an animal farm and an honest tea garden where you make your own tea, coffee, hot chocolate etc and choose from scones, cakes, or pickles, cheese & bread.

We got back to Val's place and Marion drove us all home.

This was our last country training before we leave in less than 3 weeks time. I had a full dress rehearsal, only taking my camino backpack. Everything worked well but with the 'Berg weather being almost the same as the south of France and the Pyrenees, I decided that we might need a second lightweight fleece and perhaps a scarf and gloves. I also decided to swap one of the shirts I made for an old tried and tested t-shirt.

On Monday, all the clothing I'd used on the weekend was washed and I have now re-packed my backpack - for the 10000th time - and am ready to fly!!

Meetings, training, paperwork etc

Preparations: There is a lot to do in preparing for a long trek (or a series of short ones!) When you live on the other side of the globe you have to make meticulous plans in order for everything to go smoothly. Only then can you walk with peace of mind knowing that the groundwork has been done, that you will make that connection between airport and train and there are no uncertainties about planes, trains or sutomobolies! Once you have decided on an itinerary of sorts - start and end dates agreed upon - all the travel plans have to be made.

Meetings:
We've now had two meetings - the first at Val's place and the second a lunch meeting here last week. I did a vegetable stack for lunch with scallop shell polenta and served it with assorted pestos.
We started off deciding on which airline to fly, where to fly to, how to get to the start of our walk.
We have booked on Iberia from Johannesburg to Toulouse. We will get a train to Lourdes and start walking from there. We've discovered that the times of our flights from Johannesburg to Madrid have been changed from 22h30 to 20h30. Our connecting flights from Durban to Johannesburg will get us there with time to spare. We get to Madrid earlier and have a longer wait for our flights to Lourdes, which have not changed.
We get to Lourdes at 11h10 and we agreed not to rush to get the midday train from Toulouse to Lourdes but to rather have lunch somewhere and get the 14h00 train which is a faster train and gets to Lourdes only 1 hour after the midday train. Making this decision now means that we don't have to bust a gut trying to get from the airport at Toulouse to the train station in an hour.
We have booked a hotel room for the first night, only 15 euro each at Hotel San Etienne, so it won't break the bank!
We've agreed to get a bus from Puente la Reina to Pamplona rather than walk there as this gives us a few extra hours in both towns. We've booked a room at the Hotel Maisonwave in Pamplona (78 euro for the room) and will have a slap up dinner - courtesy of Val who leaves us there to return home, via Barcelona, the next day.
Marion and I leave for Lugo on the 20 June. When I first checked the train times from Pamplona to Lugo, they left at 12h36. Between now and the 13th June they leave at 13h07. We'll have to check the departure times again before we leave Pamplona on 20th June.
Because Marion and I will arrive in Lugo around 10pm, I have booked us in the hotel closest to the railway station, Hotel Muralla. There is only one bus in the afternoon to Ferrol so we'll get an early morning bus to A Coruna and from there a bus to Ferrol. We've decided to start walking to Neda in the afternoon which will leave us with a short walk to Pontedeume the next day.
I have booked us into the Hostal Paza de Agra (where I've stayed twice before) in Santiago, 40 euro for a double room. Marion leaves me the next day and I start walking to Finisterre. Because I plan on leaving after the midday mass, I decided to book into the hotel Tamara in Negreira which has a special rate of 25 euro for pilgrims. The albergue only has 20 beds and its bound to be full by 6pm.
I am planning on taking 4 days to Finisterre and back to Corcubion, arriving there on 30th June.
Training:
We have done walks that we did earlier in the year and have found that we are flying up the hills and are coping with long distances. We are still walking on the beachfront twice a week - two new wanna-be camino pilgrims, Phyllis and Eugenie have joined us - we walk with Highway AC on Saturday mornings and doing a long walk ± 20kms on a Sunday. We'll have a weekend away in the 'Berg on the 15/16th May to do some proper hiking in the mountains. Our backpacks are comfortable and mine has remained constant at just under 5kg.
Paperwork:
We checked through our e-tickets, insurance, hotel booking confirmations etc. I have sent my tickets, passport etc to the Spanish Embassy with the application for a Schengen Visa. We have all got our FOREX in cash and cards.
I have downloaded strip maps for the route from Lourdes to Somport and profile maps from Somport to Puente la Reina and will photocopy relevant pages from the CSJ & Miam Miam Dodo Arles guide. The three of us will share carrying the maps and guide pages. I've also downloaded guide books for the Ingles which Marion and I will share as well as a guide for the Fistera.
Countdown:
We have got 4 weeks, 3 days and counting!!

GANDHI SALT MARCH FOR PEACE

Yesterday we joined the 5th Annual Gandhi Salt march for Peace - a 22.5km 'march' from the Gandhi settlement in Phoenix to Battery Beach in Durban. The invitation I received for the march was from the Tibetan Society. Geshe Dhonden-la, a Tibetan Buddhist monk walked with the marchers but because of the recent news headlines, when the Dalai Lama was refused a visa to attend a Peace Conference, it was decided that marchers wear the Gandhi-ji t-shirts instead. Val was away down the coast and Marion had a cold, so it was Linda, Glynis and I who did the walk.

We arrived at the beachfront at about 5h30 and were taken to Phoenix by bus. On the bus we were issued with special t-shirts to wear on the march instead of the Peace in Tibet shirts. In the 1980's the house that Gandhi lived in was razed to the ground in political unrest. In the late 1990s, the settlement was restored and substantially reconstructed. It was opened as a heritage site in February 2000 and now forms an important local tourist attraction with a museum containing the old printeing pressed used by Gandhi.

It was a long, slow, shuffling march that took us almost 5 hours walking on the side of the busy North Coast road. The organisers did a great job of controlling the marching mass but a few people fell, tripping over the person in front, or being tripped by the person behind them.

We didn't bother to queue for our medals - or for the free vegetarian meal afterwards - and headed instead for the shady deck of the Suncoast Casino where we had something to drink before driving home.

SNOW, ICE, RAIN AND MUD ON THE ARAGONES

A fellow pilgrim sent me this update on his Aragones walk:


I had one hell of a day yesterday!!!! Arrived in Jaca by bus from Pamplona and settled in for the night in a very nice refugio. I met two Germans who grew up in Spain. They came here two weeks ago to walk, but found that Somport, the starting place higher up in the Pyrenees, was snowed in. So they started at the nearest village about 6 km below. They returned to Jaca and wanted to do that section to complete the Camino Aragon.
That night there was thunder, lightning and pouring rain. They said that probably that meant snow in the upper altitudes, but we all made it to the lower village. There we met a Spaniard and a Frenchman who also wanted to go to Somport. When the bus came to take us up, the driver said that there was much snow and the Germans dropped out. We decided to see for ourselves.
Yes, the driver was correct...in fact a blizzard was still going on. The Frenchman took a bus back, but the Spaniard, with more grey hair than I and mischievious eyes said "Let´s try". He bought me a cup of coffee, and somehow I saw some wisdom in his eyes and decided to trust his judgement.We left and started walking but there were about 6-8 inches (16cm) of new wet snow. We could not even see the path, so walked the road down. There were few cars to dodge, and it was only a bit tense when the snowplows came by. I took a couple of Photos but not more because of the wind and snow. It was really beautiful when you could raise your head to look.
It was a very steep decline so gravity helped us down. It took a bit less than 2 hours with some stops to talk about the sites and try to photograph them.The Spaniard, Jose, had left a bicycle at the hotel at the village Canfranc Estacion and would continue on by bike. Canfranc Estacion, he told me, was used in the filming of Dr Zhivago, and is a grandiose trainstation of the early 1900´s. I continued by myself. The snow had become just cold rain. The path was a still very steep downhill trek made of rocks of various sizes from pebbles to small boulders. This made it very difficult to keep your balance, especially since the rain and runoff from the tops of the mountains turned some stretches into little streams of water. My ankles would be going one way, my knees another, and my hips still a different direction to keep balance.
Along with this being my first day of walking, I was quickly becoming very tired and hurting a bit. I knew I would not be able to make it back to Jaca, and saw that there were accommodations in Villanúa. This meant only 16 km that day, but they were strenuous ones. Just as I got to the town, the temperature dropped, and a strong wind came up. Then it began to hail...pea sized hail. To my dismay, I found the first Refugio closed...and the second...and to my horror the only hostel in town was closed. I stopped in a bar and asked about a place to stay and they told me of some hotels on the main highway. By this time the hail was thickly frozen on my hat causing the brim to droop. I walked on to the highway.
Then I saw a door open and a repairman was there talking to a lady (Isabel). I went up to them and told them of my situation. The lady invited me in, perhaps the frozen look of desparation spured her compassion. She and her husband (Felix)from Logroño were there on holiday. They made me hot tea and he phoned around to find that even the hotels on the highway were closed. He explained that the last day of ski season was Easter and that was probably the reason that everything was closed. It didn´t explain the refugios being closed...but then there were obviously not many "pilgrims" around. After sitting and warming up and getting refreshed. The weather had cleared up a bit, and Felix called the next village, Castillo de Jaca, and secured a room for me. Any room would have done, but this one had a tub...a rare and welcomed feature during my time in Spain. I soaked for a half hour. What a delight!!!!
All emotions that I experience here on the Camino, are more intense than normal. This is especially true when I experience these random acts of kindness like I did from Felix and Isabel. There seem to be a lot of mysteries on the Camino, and one is tuned to interpret them mystically. I chose to think that the hardships of that day set me up to have the peak experience of the kindness shown to me by these two EX-strangers. That is what I will take back with me from this difficult day. That is what will remain in my heart forever.GlennDay 2:The water is high here on the Camino Aragon. The crossing with the stepping stones outside of Castillo de Jaca is flooded. The man at the bar, recommended that I take the road instead. He said that a few days ago a peregrina tried to cross and fell in. She survived but had to be taken to the hospital because of the freezing water.
Later in Jaca I met some people, who, instead of turning back decided to walk the train bridge crossing across the river. I would recommend having a train schedule first if you want to try that.Had to detour once between Jaca and St. Cilia because the river crossing was not possible. A lot of the path seemed like walking through a trout stream. Oh and lots of mud too.I heard rumors that the Guardia Civil had to rescue some pilgrims within the last week off of the SJPP mountain crossing. Unsubstantiated though.Glenn

FOUR CAMINOS IN ONE

I am going to be walking a shorter distance than usual this year - just over 500km - but will be doing four caminos in one.
6th - 11th June:
About 140km on the Arles route, starting at Lourdes to Somport Pass:

12th - 19th June:
Then 170km on the Aragones from Somport to Puente la Reina:

21st - 26th June:
108 Camino Ingles

27th to 30th June:
95km from Santiago to Finisterre.

30th June - 13th July:
And then - VERY EXCITING - I'll be doing a two week volunteer stint at the Albergue San Roque run by the Asociación Gallega de Amigos del Camino de Santiago in Corcubion on the Fistera route!
Corcubion is on the coast about 8.5km from Finisterre so I will spend a night there on the 29th on my way to Finisterre and walk back again on the 30th to start my duties as hospitalera with Ana, the other volunteer.
They have 20 beds and offer meals so I am busy compiling easy recipes for 20 people. I am also going through other hospitalero's notes.
One thing that comes through loud an clear is that ".... the pilgrim arrives and the hospitalero receives her and tries to meet her immediate needs. The pilgrim talks, the hsopitalero listens. Its not about you any more.."

What kind of hospitalero will I be?
I have fond memories of many kind, welcoming hospitaleros in the albergues I've stayed in. I hope to follow their example and be a considerate, helpful and patient hospitalera. Many albergues are in run down, basic, unprepossesing buildings but it is not the structure that one remembers, it is the welcome one receives, the smile and kindness of a stranger who helps you with your backpack, offers a cool glass of water, gives you time to settle in and offers to see to your blisters. That is the kind of hospitalero I want to be.
I am going to take extra Arnica oils with me so that I can offer foot massages. The distances between towns on the Finisterre route are longer than most and I know that there will be pilgrims who would appreciated a soothing foot massage.
For two weeks I'll be cleaning toilets, scrubbing floors, pulling hair out of shower drains, making beds and preparing food for 20 people. I can't wait!!

HOTELS, HOSTALS, ALBERGUES AND BEDS

I have started booking a few places for us to stay.
We have got a room for three in Lourdes for 45.99 euro (15 euro each) at the Hotel Saint Etienne, 61, Boulevard de la Grotte http://www.hotel-saintetienne-lourdes.com/
It is close to the bridge that leads to the sanctuary so we won't have far to walk to join the candelight procession.

I've also booked 3 beds at the Accueil paroissial au Presbytère in Arudy and received this charming reply from the Abbé:

Pas de problème pour vous garder 3 lits et le repas si vous voulez pour le 7 juin. C'est la fête de ma petite ville . Il y aura peut-être un peu de bruit la nuit dans la rue. Amicalement Pierre

No problem to keep you 3 beds and meals if you want for June 7. It's party time in my small town. There may be some noise at night in the street.

And, at the Monastery in Sarrance they charge a special rate of 13 euro each for pilgrims in a double room.

The Albergue Pepito GRillo at Canfrac Estacion has also confirmed three beds for three peregrina with breakfast for 51 euro (17 euro each)

I am going to book beds in Pamplona so that we don't have to trudge around the city looking for a room and I will also book ahead in Lugo because Marion and I will only get in at about 10pm - no time to start looking for beds then.

UMHLANGA RIDGE

This week it was our turn to walk on Marion's side of town. We started at 6am at her apartment in Durban North and walked up to Umhlanga Rocks Drive - then along the ridge in a large, squigily up-and-down loop back to her place.
The Province of Kwa-Zulu Natal is like a crumpled up tapestry with undulating hills and valleys and a few rivers that start in the Drakensberg Mountain range and end in the Indian Ocean. Walking along the ridge we had stunning views of the Indian Ocean on one side and inland urban sprawl on the other.
It was a hazy day and even Durban was cloaked in smog.