Saint-JeanPied-de-Port to Orisson, 8.1km, 3.0 hours

“A short simple walk up a hill” would have been nice but that’s not exactly what we did. We walked halfway up the Pyrenees along the Route Napoleon as far as the Refuge Orisson where we are spending the night. It’s impossible in Singapore to prepare for this climb. It’s only about 8km with a net ascent of a bit more than 600m but the climbing part is concentrated in four of the kilometers including km5.5 to 7.5 and they are STEEP kilometers!!! With our full packs we walked the normal inclines at a rate of about 13 minutes/km. The steep sections ranged from 30 to 40 minutes/km.

On the whole, we were some of the slowest pilgrims to walk just the 8km today. We did pass some people though including one younger man that obviously needed a taxi if not an ambulance. Our friend,Theresa (Seung Hee) who is half our age, took only an hour and a half as she tried to keep up with some mountaineering friends. Eleven years ago, we walked the same route in two hours. We are older now, did less preparation and only had Singapore mountains to practice on. That includes the 80m climb up Lor Sesuai or repeated stairs up and down HDB housing blocks.

We also had a half hour downpour and several other sprinkles to deal with. My new hands-free hiking umbrella worked pretty well during the heaviest rain. I’ll likely make some minor adjustments to how it’s held in place though anyway just to try and get a little more central coverage. Several people asked about the umbrella as it’s not that common on the Camino yet. Many purists think hikers who use them are sissies. I just think they are dry in the rain and cool in the sun. I’m biased though. Melanie’s new poncho did its job too – it kept her warm.

While waiting for our beds in Orisson, we didn’t have the drama from our last visit there but we did have good fortune. We met Lori and Dwainya, two pilgrims from the northwest US (or southwest Canada?). They were very nice to chat with until their ride back down the mountain arrived at 2:30pm. They will be catching another taxi up here tomorrow to continue their walk. They just preferred staying in a hotel. We also chatted with Seung Hee and heard about her hour and a half race up the mountain. Finally, we “helped out” another pilgrim who had reserved one of the few coveted private room for himself and his wife. The wife backed out of the Camino and he wanted to save money and have a dorm bed. We valiantly stepped up and volunteered to take the private room as we like to be caring of others, considerate, thoughtful and, most importantly, we like a good night’s sleep!

Our room now looks like the laundry room (coal bin) where my Mom tried to dry clothes on rainy days. We didn’t wash anything but everything we were wearing was either wet from rain or sweat. Two lines crisscross the room above our bed. Despite the cold, the window is open to provide circulation and a spot to tie off the clotheslines. Only once did I run out to hang the clothes in the occasional 15 minutes of hot sun between sprinkles. It’s all about timing!

That’s all I can think of to write. In a while we will have the famous Orisson communal pilgrim meal. The food is always good but the camaraderie is outstanding. (Edited to add, the food was even better than last time and the camaraderie doubled again too. Everyone – with 23 different nationalities represented – had to stand up, introduce themselves and say why the were doing the Camino. The stories ranged from heartbreaking to comical to untranslatable. We sat with a Brazilian girl living in Miami, Seung Hee, Aki from Japan, Robin from LA but living in Italy, a Brazilian girl that I constantly exchanged Googley translated short messages with and two sisters in their 60’s or 70’s enjoying being together again. It really was a blast.)

Finally…

Peace y’all.