The french couple was already up although they were getting a ride from their friend for the section that went along the highway, since buses did not start running till 10;45 and they felt the highway walk was just too unsafe... it was Saturday and I decided to chance the highway, I was hoping that because it was the weekend and early I would face less traffic and less danger than everyone else seemed to expect... I left by 7.20 I had a bit of fear of hard walk not just because of the highway but also because I was climbing 1350 m in altitude and I was not sure how that was going to be.... The highway walk proved pretty uneventful for the first hour. Than the french pilgrim couple drove by with their friend..they gave me a ride.. but only a few kms down the road because I realized that the town we were passing was the last one with a french post office and stores to buy some food for the day...so I surprised them by asking if they could let me out again... I mailed my last postcard with french stamp got snacks from a small store where again the woman spoke impeccable english and she was able to tell me that I had a while longer still to walk on the highway before a trail would go off into the woods..it was quite a bit longer perhaps 5 or more kms.. at times the road was nice and wide but then it bottle necked again.. again I was very lucky that I picked the right day to walk..low traffic..
Because I was walking along the side of a mountain .. whole time was in the shade..the scenery too was beautiful as hills and a few snow caped mountains could be seen even from the highway .... As I got going, it felt like a strong walking day for me..Then the trail goes up into the woods...and it was a slow and steady uphill walk for several kms... the markings where not abundant but good enough.. in the woods I meet Austrian couple they had walked up from southern Spain to Santiago and now where walking back home to Austria... using the Le Puy route of France which is slightly north of where I walked..they warned me of crowds and extreme heat in Spain.. and recommended I stop walking by after noon..they seemed in good spirits and good shape so that in and of itself was encouragement...
Once I got to the top of the climb I walked through meadows... and the mountain peaks seemed to draw closer.. I ran across a pilgrim with donkey as pack animal ..he seemed a bit unsocial but I got a nice photo of his donkey..the landscape i walked through, was beautiful...wild flowers mountainous back drops...after the forest open meadows... then the path joined up with the road again.. I did not know this but I ended up going down the road the wrong way.. I should have crossed but missed the trail markings..i was a bit confused by the books talk about parking lots and since it was french i missed something... I walking along this small highway... I ended up walking at least 5kms in the wrong direction... when I realized this I booked it back up the hill as fast as I could.. being annoyed at myself and the markings I tried to walk as fast as possible..when I got to the park's parking lot I did not know what to do... so I waved down a man who was pulling out of the parking lot asking him where Col de Somport was..which was the top of the trail here... he ended up rescuing me by giving me a ride back up hill and to the pass... he was a friendly Spaniard who spoke a lot to me in spanish and I only understood part.. he tried to help me get my pack back out of his trunk..and he got that now familiar shocked look... yes yes, it's heavy... I thanked him profusely... and headed for a cafe auberge right in front of me... I needed food and coffee... there seemed to be a lot of backpackers here.. I realized that it was the weekend and spanish people actually do go hiking in the mountains..
so a lot of the people I was seeing where not pilgrims but weekend warriors.. I was not allowed to bring my pack into the restaurant so I left it on a bench in the hall and had a lame omelet sandwich and coffee... then .. I meet french couple again, they had made it here several hours before me thanks to not getting lost and getting the ride in a car for the part on the road.....they seem surprised I would want to continue on this day... but I wanted to stick to my plan of walking at least 20kms a day......by the time I finish eating it is 3.40 and I had 7kms left.. I was now tired and a bit sore...even with the ride I had turned a 27km day into a 32km day with the extra walking ..When i leave the Auberge to continue walking, i realize i am in spain now.. the trail down the hill is very well marked...and as i had been told a while back..the mountains i had gone through marked the line between greener and dryer landscapes... the spanish side was drier...the trail was almost ludicrously well marked..but i will never complain about too many signs and markers to follow.. Early eve, make it to Canfrance-Estacion , I find the Auberge listed in my book right away..but I find out it is full.. a mountaineering group had showed up and filled the place..the woman running the place spoke english and clearly tried to help me...she had said that there really was no other auberge to stay in this town...my book had old information...she did say a 'german couple' had gotten a dorm room with four beds and maybe they would share the room... so I went to their room to ask... they were actually Norwegian and where quite happy to share the room with me..which was incredibly nice...it was actually not four beds..but a bunk bed big enough to be a double...we all showered and then after chatting a bit decided to grab beers together and dinner...it turns out that the woman and I shared an india connection..she is a social anthropologist... and if I understood correctly studies hindu people and their relation to their guru..at least that was part of it...if I understand as well he also works in the university but I did not catch what he did... they both seemed to travel for work a lot and live in different places for longer stints...they had lived at a San Diego university for a while so knew American culture a bit...this town we were in had a famous old rail station the tracks were now defunct... I had wondered why the rails on the french side had not been converted to foot paths so that pilgrims did not have to walk along the highway... the man thought that perhaps they were hoping to get the French Spanish rail running again... the problem was that Spain was the only country in this part of europe that had not upgraded to the new wider rails... this apparently was part of Franco's legacy... I did not realize that he reigned in Spain till the 70's...(i dont do my home work anymore of trying to get a basic history of countries i travel to...tisk tisk) he had apparently feared a northern invasion... and therefore never changed to the new rail track system...i speculated a bit sarcastically that if I had the hassle of having to switch trains when I was about to invade a country I too might be a bit put off by the whole endeavor... apparently there are some trains that can switch the width of their wheels..but this too takes time...
The couple was just walking for a couple of days and had tried going over a pass that was not well marked .. and had gotten lost a bit... but it also sounds like they were in higher altitude and they saw some wild animals like a small mountain goat and vultures more close up than me... also marmots... I think they are called..lumbering furry things that look like otters...i talked about my trip to Lourdes the kitsch of it and the warmth of it...i showed my tiny bottle of holy water and my little change purse with the Lourdes logo on it..they laughed..but then she joked about him having his small bottle of Ganges water... he had in fact swam in the Ganges river... I was shocked since in Varanasi it is very dirty...but apparently he did it in Rishikesh where it is much safer... I vowed I too would go swim there...and get a small bottle of that water as well...after all I am the spiritual tourist.... we ended up grabbing dinner together as well.. trying to find a restaurant after a long days hike was tiring so a short fruitless walk,we settled again for the bar, only this time, inside... they spoke a wee bit more Spanish than me.. and helped me get a veggie salad and fries... then somewhat late we all went back to the room and retired... they were taking a walking day off the next day...and and I would continue on ..
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