Up Early for Breakfast, Cornflakes and Coffee. Beautiful clear day outside. Took a few pictures of the group before we set off.
Eugene, Paul and Tommy set of at a good pace, John and Myself took it easier, admiring the views as we walked and taking lots of pictures. Its hard to describe how big these mountains are, theres nothing like them in Ireland.
For the first couple of hours we were walking a small country road, which was gently and not so gently at times ascending the mountain.
We all met up briefly at the statue of the Virgin.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Day 1 of Trip
Saturday Morning, at long last we are on our way to Santiago!
We all met up in the airport early for our flight. We all weighed our bags in Dublin airport and were surprised how heavy they had got, mine was now over 9 kilos, without water or food! Though this was fairly typical for most of us. Eugene managed to come in at about 6-7 kilos.
Flight arrived on time in Biarritz on time.
Luggage took about 30-40 min to come out and Pauls bag was open, later in Orission we would find out that his brand new sleeping bag which was still in its wrapper was no longer in his luggage.
Got a taxi to St Jean Pied De Port, people carrier, took all five of us and our bags. Very reasonable, 30 Euro each. Driver was actually waiting for us in the airport terminal with a little display card, with my name on it.
In St Jean, we had a little time to have a look around the town, get our pilgrim passports stamped, quick bite to eat, visit the church and start walking to Orisson Refuge.
The walk to Orisson took about two hours, For most of the walk, you are climbing, sometimes gently, sometimes not so gentle. Most of the route is on little country lanes, with a small bit off road. I found the last 30 minutes quite tough, and was extremely grateful to see the Refuge peaking around the corner. We were also lucky with the weather, we arrived at refuge just ahead of the rain.
Once inside the refuge, we got a really good welcome, and were told to just drop our bags and join in the dinner, so we did. Dinner was a very hearty stew, which we all had several bowls of, thinking this was it, until we we got main course of Pork and beans and a dessert. We were stuffed! There was also quite a lot of red wine flowing in Orisson.
In the hostel itself, we got to stay in a 6 bed dorm with some lucky German guy! There was quite a lot of snoring that night.
The hostel is beautifully located, the views from the breakfast veranda are breathtaking. It is very clean and the rooms are spacious. Great Value for 30 Euro, dinner, bed and breakfast. They also make up lunch rolls if you need them for 3-5 Euro.
We all met up in the airport early for our flight. We all weighed our bags in Dublin airport and were surprised how heavy they had got, mine was now over 9 kilos, without water or food! Though this was fairly typical for most of us. Eugene managed to come in at about 6-7 kilos.
Flight arrived on time in Biarritz on time.
Luggage took about 30-40 min to come out and Pauls bag was open, later in Orission we would find out that his brand new sleeping bag which was still in its wrapper was no longer in his luggage.
Got a taxi to St Jean Pied De Port, people carrier, took all five of us and our bags. Very reasonable, 30 Euro each. Driver was actually waiting for us in the airport terminal with a little display card, with my name on it.
In St Jean, we had a little time to have a look around the town, get our pilgrim passports stamped, quick bite to eat, visit the church and start walking to Orisson Refuge.
The walk to Orisson took about two hours, For most of the walk, you are climbing, sometimes gently, sometimes not so gentle. Most of the route is on little country lanes, with a small bit off road. I found the last 30 minutes quite tough, and was extremely grateful to see the Refuge peaking around the corner. We were also lucky with the weather, we arrived at refuge just ahead of the rain.
Once inside the refuge, we got a really good welcome, and were told to just drop our bags and join in the dinner, so we did. Dinner was a very hearty stew, which we all had several bowls of, thinking this was it, until we we got main course of Pork and beans and a dessert. We were stuffed! There was also quite a lot of red wine flowing in Orisson.
In the hostel itself, we got to stay in a 6 bed dorm with some lucky German guy! There was quite a lot of snoring that night.
The hostel is beautifully located, the views from the breakfast veranda are breathtaking. It is very clean and the rooms are spacious. Great Value for 30 Euro, dinner, bed and breakfast. They also make up lunch rolls if you need them for 3-5 Euro.
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