Day 6: PDLR to Estella

Feeling much in the rhythm now, handwashing clothes and packing the bag each morning.

Despite feeling that, my towel fellpff where I had clipped it to my bag to dry, resulting in a backtrack adding 2km to my day!

On the 2nd way out crossing the beautiful bridge, I got talking to a lovely old Spanish man, who tested my Spanish before thankfully switching to English. He told me that in the 1920s there were actually a lot of Basque people who came to Queensland and picked sugar cane! Who would have thought.

I ducked into the church where he was heading for mass, and then off I went. Today I had some nice solitude, listening to my Spanish podcasts and a little bit of music.

As the legs were getting tired I was thankfully distracted chatting to Galician Ruben and later on Romanian Mano. Such interesting stories. Mano is on his 5th Camino in a row, working seasonal jobs in French vineyards to give himself a lot of downtime. He is thinking about quitting the Camino because the physical challenge isn't as exciting anymore. I talked a bit about some of the more mental reasons to walk, but I'll have to wait and see if I come across him again.

Estella is a great little town, apparently where the Spanish lords of Navarre had a 'magna carta' moment against the King, which is interesting given it feels quite small.

Before Mass tonight we did a communal dinner in the kitchen which was very nice. New additions of Germans Maik and Benjamin, and also Tina and Gregorio from Australia (although Gregorio is Spanish, leaving home when Franco came to power). Very wholesome vibes and plenty of wine.Read more