Plan B for the day

Lots of rain, thunder, and lightning, from late afternoon yesterday in Ruesta and almost nonstop until I arrived in Javier/Xavier after 18 km (and about 400 m) of either walking in mud or in streams of water. But once you are totally wet, you don’t get any wetter.

I slept really well, and didn’t even hear the French woman who gets up to walk every morning at four. Don’t ask me why. At 6, someone’s alarm went off, and after coffee in the common area, three of us set out together at 7. It was nice having company for the first 11 km, where the Camino split off from the road to the Javier castle. My hotel is right across from the castle, and the people are so nice. Family owned and family run. Even though it was only 1130, I was up in my room in no time.

Everything was soaked, and I rejoiced in my private room with bath. Albergues on rainy days are quite the challenge. When I went to charge my phone, a notice popped up, saying that the connection was wet. And that it couldn’t be charged. That freaked me out, but within a couple of hours it was fine and has recharged.

The rain stopped while I went to visit the castle, which is the birthplace of Saint Francis Xavier, founder of the Jesuits. Supposedly born inside the castle. There is now a basilica built into the wall of the castle, and every year there is a pilgrimage (the Javierada) with 5-7,000 people arriving on foot. I didn’t know that St. Francis spent the last 11 years of his life as a missionary in Japan, China, and India. He died and is buried in Goa. While I was visiting the castle, a group of Japanese tourists came through and they explained that this was a very important visit for Japanese Catholics.

After my castle visit, I pivoted to Plan B. I had hoped to walk a 12 km loop to a spot called Peña del Adiós. But the rain started and stopped several times while I was getting my wikiloc tracks downloaded on my phone. The forecast is for rain all afternoon, though I’m sure it won’t be continuous. The woman in the hotel knows the trail and says it will be pure mud and flooded in many spots. She suggested I walk down to the pueblo, where there is a canal walk with a gravel path that extends for several kilometers out into the forest.

I had a great goat cheese salad in the hotel restaurant, took a long walk on the canal and around town, and I have just stuffed my shoes with newspaper on the hope that they will be a little drier in the morning. I’m not going to look at the weather forecast, but I will send lots of strong cyber hopes for decent weather.Weiterlesen