Last Day of Slacking

Because of, or inspite of last night, I slept really well, it must have been the jagerbombs that did the trick.

A 30 min bus trip back to Bayonne, a stroll around the streets near the station, a haircut so I can save on the amount of Head and Shoulders I use (I've only got a small bottle, travelling light) and before we knew it we were on the 12:35 train to St Jean Pied de Port, from where tomorrow we start the Camino.

The two large carriages were full on departure and about 80% of the people on there had the same idea as we did. On arrival the first task was to register at the pilgrim office and get our official pilgrim pass, the queue took an hour to get through. Many hostels on the route won't let you in without one and it has to be stamped at your stops along the way.

The village itself is in the foothills of the Pyrenees and the high street in the old town is so steep it reminded me of the old Hovis advert. The quaint little village has an abundance of accommodation, restaurants, cafes, hiking gear and souvenir shops and it seems to be here purely to service the hords of pilgrims starting their journey.

The plan for tomorrow is to get out at the crack of dawn, which is about 07:30 in these parts, so not as bad as it sounds. The forecast is for rain, the 3rd day it's rained out of the 4 days we have been here. Living in the UK has been great training!Read more