Day 24 - Saturday May 31st

Jo walked the 14 miles to Sahagun today, back wasn't too bad although she still had her pack transported onwards. She is starting to cut back on the pain killers and anti-inflammatories to see how the back holds up, also concerned about the long term effects of the anti-inflammatories.

She booked into a private B&B today and has the luxury of a room to herself where she can relax, listen to her music and stories as well as having a long soak in the bath, plus a chance to catch up on some sleep. Although she looked at the local refugio decided she didn't like the look of it and also felt she just needed some space for herself. She described the difficulty of sleeping with the 'shouting, snoring ad farting' throughout the night. She has decided that it is not how fast you do the walking but the social side of all of the different people that you meet on the way that makes it worth all the effort.

She is hoping to make it to Leon by Tuesday when she will make a decision about whether to go on or to call it a day and make her way home from there. She would like to complete the walk as she feels that she might not be able to convince herself to return to finish it in the future, now she knows what it is like!

Ann reached Malinaseca today after walking about 15.5 miles.

Jo - 257 miles covered, 229 miles to go (see yesterday's map for her location
Ann - 372 miles covered, 138 miles to go.

Day 23 - Friday May 30th

Jo walked about 12.5 miles today arriving at the Village of Calzadilla de la Cueza. She is now exactly half way through the walk. She walked without her pack today and found the walking better. Eve her Australian walking partner has now moved on further than Jo so she is walking with another group at the moment. Been walking with a Croatian woman today. It is difficult with such a wide variety of languages spoken to find people that you can actually converse with. She is hoping to make it to Sahagun tomorrow which is slightly longer, about 15 miles.

Jo described the refugios as the most difficult part of the walking. Often there is no hot water and just two showers shared between 100 people. The private ones tend to be better but she says that she often feels dirty and it is difficult getting clothes washed and dried in time for the next day, especially as she has reduced her load to the absolute minimum to lighten the pack. The David Lodge book 'Therapy' was very accurate in its description of the Camino and how people approach it. If you haven't read it it is worth getting a copy to understand what walking the camino is like.

News from Ann is that she is now at Rabanal del Camino which is about 150 miles from Santiago. She is walking with a small group consisting of Shelia, a French Canadian and a Hungarian guy. They are walking in the Picos mountains which is one of the prettier parts of the route. she is in good spirits and making good progress.

Jo - 243 miles completed, 243 miles to go See Jo's location on google maps
Ann- 333 miles completed, 153 miles to go See Ann's location on google maps

Day 22 - Thursday May 29th

Not a very good day for Jo today as she only managed 10.5 miles with recurring back problems. Determined as ever she is (although I said it yesterday) going to get her pack transported and see if walking without it is better. If things don't improve without the pack I suspect that she might have to call it a day, although she is keen to get to Leon - still another 65 miles.

Staying tonight at Carrion de Los Condes as small village with a population of 2000.

Accidentally slept on her mobile phone lat night and bent the charger wire so has had to go and get another charger.

Heard from Ann today she is now about 41 miles on from Leon. She said that the weather is very variable, quite cold and a lot of rain although most fell once they had arrived at 4pm. They are hoping to get to Rabanal del Comino tomorrow.

Jo - 233 miles covered 254 to go
Ann - 320 mile covered 167 to go

Day 21 - Wednesday 28th May

Jo and Eve walked about 12 miles today. The walking today was quite tough as it was very wet and again the path was very stoney. She is feeling very stiff, probably from doing too much the day before. Eve's tendinitis has re-appeared so they are both feeling the strain. Jo is going to get her luggage sent on tomorrow I thihnk to make the walking easier.

They arrived at the village of Polacion de Campus which Jo describes as a dump. They are staying in a refugio tonight. There was no one there when they arrived so just made a contribution, did some washing, selected a bunk and had a sleep. Jo is down to the absolute essentials now and a parcel of clothes arrived at home today as a result of another reduction in weight. When I spoke to Jo she was sitting in a bar watching some tennis and waiting for a meal to be served.

Jo 222 miles covered, 264 to go... almost halfway!

Day 20 - Tuesday 27th May

Heard from Jo today, both text and voice. She walked about 20 miles to reach the village of Itero de la Vega. The refugio is better than many she has stayed at. Probably walked slightly more than she really wanted to and with her pack, but the back is holding up well and she was in good spirits. Carried her pack as well so a really good days walking.

The weather has been good and they have seen lots of wild flowers. Once again she described the difficulty of the path as it is very rocky and puts a constant strain on the whole body. There are few walkers without some injury or aches and pains from the walk.


Jo 211 miles covered 275 miles to go

Day 19 - Monday 26th May

Really good news. Jo and Eve covered the 12.5 miles and Jo reported no problems with the back. In fact it was better than she had hoped. This has given her more confidence that she will be able to go on and complete the walk. It also means that she now has the option to send her pack on knowing that she will be able to make the day's distance. is probably means she can press on a little further without the weight of the pack. She is now talking about finishing in another three weeks, about a week later than she had originally hoped.

Think they have reached the village of Hornillos de Camino.

Ana has now reached Religios about 15 miles from Leon

Jo 190 miles covered, 295 miles to go
Ann 276 miles covered 210 miles to go

Day 18 - Sunday 25th May

Although Eve felt that she was ready to start walking again today Jo felt that she needed another day. Her back is now much easier, particularly in the morning but stiffens up towards the afternoon and evening. Eve kindly put off her start so that they could begin again together tomorrow. Jo is going to carry her pack with her tomorrow so that she has options to stop when needed. They are planing do do about 12.5 miles all being well.

Jo now sounds in much better spirits and although she was forced to rest up for these days felt that it has done her good both for her back, but in also becoming more confident to survive on her own in a country where she has very little of the language.

Ann has been forced to visit a doctor to get some antibiotics as she has picked up a water infection. Feels OK otherwise. Not planning to take any time out unless she is forced to.

Day 17 - Saturday 24th May

Not much news to report for another rest day for Jo. They actually ended up watching the Eurovision song contest in Spanish, although couldn't make it through to the end!

Jp has done another review of what she is carrying with her in order to lighten the load further and sent some items back to the UK by post. Although she wants to be able to send her pack on for a few days at least it means that she has to know exactly where she will finish up for the day, or else she is in a different place to her gear.

Ann reported a very hard day as the path was so muddy that she had to do a detour along the road adding 6 miles to an already long day.

Day 16 - Friday 23nd May

Ann set off walking again today and was planning to do over 20 miles in order to catch up with her walking group over the next few days.

Jo and Eve spent another day resting up. They are hoping to start walking again on Sunday.

Day 15 - Thursday 22nd May

Another rest day for Jo. Ann also had a day out today with Jo. They were able to explore more of Burgos and also found a bookshop with English books and some English newspapers which made life a little more bearable.

Day 14 - Wednesday 21st May

The group of walkers with Ann it it arrived in Burgos today so that gave Jo a chance to catch up with Ann and to discuss their options for the rest of the walk. They already had an agreement that if one of them was unable to complete the walk the other would go on without them. As Jo doesn't know how long it will take her back to improve to the point that she can walk again they decided that Ann should continue.

Jo spent the day resting and tentatively exploring Burgos with Eve.

Day 13 - Tuesday May 20

Jo moved onto Burgos today and in a last ditch attempt to stay on the walk visited a physiotherapist and who is also a chiropractor. he gave her a very thorough going over, gave her some painkillers and anti-inflammatories and told her that if she rested up for a while he though she ought to be able to continue after a few days. He also told her that her rucksack was too low and this was exacerbating the problem as it was pressing on the affected area.

this has cheered Jo up and she has booked herself into a small hotel for a few days. This has been made more bearable by the fact that Eve, an Australian Pilgrim, who is suffering from tendonitis in her leg has been told to rest for a few days as well. they have decided to share a room and are resigned to a few days of rest and inactivity.

Day 12 - Monday May 19th

Jo started walking again today without her pack, but by the end of it was in considerable pain. Although the walking is not difficult in itself the path is very rocky which puts continual jarring on her back. This was probably made worse by the fact that the group covered nearly 17 miles, too far for Jo's recovering injury. She sounded really down at the end of the day and is now seriously considering whether she can carry on.

Ann is fine

Explanation for gap

Just to let everyone know why there has been a gap in communication for a week. I have been away cycling in France and although had hoped to keep the Blog going using WiFi after Sunday in Paris none of the hotels had WiFi, hence the gap. Now back home after completing 450 miles from Dieppe to Dijon.

Day 10 - Saturday May 17th

Spoke with Jo this morning. She took a taxi to take her two days Head of the walkers and has booked into a guest house Gor two days. She sounded very low and obviously disappointed not to be able to walk, especially as all of the things she had been worried about before she started were fine. She thinks that the problem was caused on the second day when it was so wet and muddy.

The situation is made worse because she has little Spanish. When we spoke later in the day she was more cheerful. And had spent some time watching the storks build a nest in the church and listening to music on her phone. Her back was feeling easier and she was feeling confident about walking again on Monday. She will meet the other walkers again tomorrow afternoon. She is going to sen her pack on to the next stop and not carry it which will also be able to help out other walkers who are struggling by adding some of their luggage to hers.

Richard spoke to Ann later in the day and they had walked about 12.5 miles.

Day 9 Friday May 16th

Jo was finally forced to go to the doctors today as her back was so bad One of the Spanish speaking walkers came with her to make sure. She could communicate with the doctor. The final diagnosis was lumbago, which can cover multitude of different back pains. He told her to rest for three days and has given her pain killers and anti-inflammatories to take. Up joined up with Ann and the other walkers at the end of the day. She described their refugio as awful as there were 70 pilgrims in one large room and only two toilets.

Ann is fine, tired but going well although it was a long day today.

Up is hoping to rejoin the group on Monda, back willing, but to walk without her pack which clearly is exacerbating the probem. She is going to get her luggage transported and one of the other walkers has loaned her a small daysack for water and food.

Day 8 - Thursday May 15th

Both Jo and Ann managed the walk to Logrono today, a walk of about 18 miles. Unfortunately by the end of the walk Jo could hardly move as her back was so bad. Again she had a massage but could hardly get onto the couch.

Day 7 - Wednesday May 14th

Jo decided not to walk today as her back aches were still quite painful when she got up this morning. She decided that caution was the better part of valour and she didn't want to jeopardise her chance of completing the rest of the walk. She spent the day at Estella with another walker who was suffering from knee problems. They then caught the bus to Los Aros at the end of the afternoon and met up with Ann again. They reported that it was a much better refugio here.

This meant that Ann continued onto Los Arcos with the rest of the group: a distance of just over 13 miles for the day. Ann said that the walking was better today, more rural and less hilly with fields of corn and other crops. the path was also slightly less stoney so it was easier going all round. The weather was sunny this morning but it rained again during the afternoon.

Jo had another massage in Los Arcos from the Red Cross, both back and legs and Ann took the same opportunity. Interestingly enough the masseur told Jo that she wasn't drinking enough water and that that was a part of her problem. Jo is planing to walk tomorrow and also to carry her pack as she needs to take water, rainwear etc and once that is loaded up the rest of the equipment doesn't weigh much. She has had another sort through her gear and is leaving her pyjamas, bowl and a blouse behind.

Jo reports that they are settling into the refugio life. Lights go out early in the evening and come on again about 6.30 in the mornign when everyone gets up, climbs onto their clothes and sets off. Jo nd Ann are having a banana and drink before doing a few kilometers and then stopping for breakfast at a bar of cafe. ann says she is managing but often feels hungry. Although they are sleeping better many of the dormitories are large and this means that it is quite noise throughout the night.

They met and englishman today who has walked the camino three times and now has a caravan which he sets up along the way and serves refreshments to walkers.

Planning to walk the 17.5 miles to Logrono tomorrow.

84 miles completed - 402 miles to go

Day 6 - Tuesday 13th May

A hot day today as they covered the 13.5 miles to arrive in Estella. They are now walking with an international group of walkers covering a wide range of nationalities including Germans, Canadians, French, Austrian and others. This makes for a strong camaraderie throughout the day. The group ranges from youngsters to those even older than Jo and Ann!

Jo is still suffering from the pain in her bottom, but this has now moved aross to her left side. She reported that is was still stiff this morning but easier as she walked. she has had another massage from the Red Cross post in Estella which has eased it off. Quite an experience as the masseur even gave her a kiss at the end! A younger walker complained that she didn't get the same treatment. Maybe this was the reason that Jo sounded in better spirits today when she phoned. No problems reported from ann.

She thinks the aches are a result of carrying the pack. As there is nothing left to jettison to make it lighter she is contemplating the option of having the pack sent on at least for a few days hopefully whilst the soreness abates a bit. However she is not alone in her suffering as many of the other walkers have knee problems and a range of other aches and pains. She even had some Raike massage last night from another walker.

The walking is quite hard going as the paths are often very stoney and this is hard on the feet. There are also quite muddy patches from the recent rains. The refugios are also quite basic, and sleeping is not always easy. People begin to get up about 6am so there is no chance of a lie in!

71.25 miles covered - 415 miles to go

Day 5 - Monday May 12th

Jo and Anne reported that they completed their alloted distance for the day, about 12.5 miles to arrive at Punta La Reina. This is a large village with a population of 2000 and a wide range of facilities including two refugios and a hotel with dormitory for pilgrims. Not sure where Jo and Ann are staying but I think its a refugio.

Weather today has been good with sunshine. However Jo is having some trouble with a pulled muscle in her right buttock! (not sure she'll appreciate this level of information) - not the side where she had the hamstring problem. It seems to be OK when she is walking but when they stop it tightens up. When I spoke to her someone at the refugio had just given her a massage and she had taken some ibroprufin and rubbed in some cream as well. She sounded a bit down, but is still determined to go on. Ann is fine without any problems.

They have now bought walking poles so have a full set each and are planning to walk again tomorrow all being well. The forecast for the next few days looks like some more rain, but interspaced with sunny intervals.

57.5 miles covered - 428.75 miles to go

Day 4 : Sunday May 11th

Better weather today and a good distance of 15.6 miles. Yesterday's aches feel a bit better today for the walking. This took Jo and Ann to beyond Pamplona, maybe Cizor Menor. There is a bar,restaurant and refugio here but no other shops. They arrived about 2pm after setting out at 7am. Forecast for tomorrow is not so good though.

After much denigration of walkers' wayward use walking poles (Jo took just the one pole with her) she reported today that she had been using the one pole and was going to buy another one, and Ann was going to get two as well. Obviously a moment of revelation and conversion on the road to Santiago.

Jo describes their day as starting off about 7am in the morning, arriving at their destination for the day around 2-3pm, resting up and then eating early evening and then off to bed by 9pm.

46.25 miles completed - 440 miles to go

Day 3 - Saturday May 10th

Just a text message from Jo today - "hard day today, very wet, tired with some aches." (but not the hamstring which Jo injured in December). However they have managed to dry out all of their gear and are still sounding upbeat. Not quite sure where they ended up for the day

Seemed that it rained all day and the forecast for the next two days is for more of the same. The refugio sounded interesting with mixed dormitories and showers although the showers and toilets were in a porta-cabin away from the main building. Jo admitted to seeing several men with no clothes on during the course of their stay!

Day 2 - Friday 9th May

Another cold day with some rain, and as Jo and Ann crossed into Spain the weather closed in on them. Being the Spartan couple that they are they were walking in shorts and cagoules, whilst others were buttoned up to the neck in waterproofs and leggings. A group of Germans walkers thought that they must be super fit to be walking in their shorts!

They walked on beyond Roncesvalles, the planned stop for the night, to the village of Burgete, about 12.5 miles for the day. The refugio was full when they arrived so they settled for a B&B and a room of their own, so are hoping for a better nights sleep.

Planning to do slightly longer tomorrow and after that stepping up the distance once they get into their stride. No reports of blisters or other problems so far.

Weather forecast for tomorrow is wet but after that it looks better. Both sounded very cheerful and upbeat on the phone.

17.5 miles completed - 468.75 miles to go

Day 1 - Thursday 8th May

Walking at last! Planned route was only 7 miles to a hostel just short of half way over the Pyrennes. An early start resulted in a midday arrival, which included a picnic! Time for a relaxing afternoon.

It was quite cold on the route and they wore most of their clothes apart from waterproofs. Scenery was fantastic. The walking was uphill all the way but Jo described it as hardwork, but not the worst she has done.

They shared a small dormitory with two German Pilgrims, but got little sleep due to the strong winds that blew all night.

7 miles completed - 493 miles to go

Leaving the UK

At last after much weighing of kit, packing and repacking and lat minute additions and rethinking on essential equipment Ann and Jo finally left from Stanstead Airport courtesy of Ryan Air. They arrived in Biaritz on time and instead of taking the planned train to St Jean de Pied de Port they teamed up with an Austrian couple and shared a taxi all the way.

They stayed in a B&B which was more like a refugio as they were in a dormitory with lots of other people. Not too much sleep was had for the first night!