That night in Villanúa I did not sleep too well because the evening before I saw that I got a huge blister on my heel – the entire exterior side of my left heel was covered by a blister! I had a small pharmacy with me, but not enough things to deal with it the way I knew how, so I worried how I was to walk the following day. Still, I had to move on and when I started slowly I certainly felt pain, but I had no choice. First I stopped at a bar near the main road to Jaca and had breakfast there and then soon I started to walk.
Pretty cascades made for a small river in Villanúa
In fact, Villanúa is quite a nice place to break the descent from the Somport pass since it is from here that much tamer paths and landscapes start.
A path leading from Villanúa
The day was gorgeous, but when I came across a grove with picnic tables and benches made of stone, I decided to make a break. The shade was wonderful and I enjoyed it. On the other hand, had I not made the break there, I would have continued straight along the path, while the Way actually turned to the right there leading across the road. That was when I actually started to learn that I need to watch out and follow the signs showing the direction.
After I had crossed the asphalt road, I came across a group of children with their teachers and the latter told the children to move to the side and let the “pilgrim” pass. A lot of them greeted me and a kid said: “Animo!,” which means “Be brave!” I thought it was easy for him to say that since he certainly did not have the blister on his foot.
Still, regardless of the blister, I passed the children and soon came across a group that was on a riding excursion.
The riders, as well as the children and teachers coming up the path
After a while I also came across an expansion now with wooden tables and benches, as well as a drinking fountain. I sat down, took the big backpack of my back, refreshed myself a little and soon came Piedad, the first “co-pilgrim” I met along the Way. We chatted a little and then continued together. She was 69 and had been on the Way already three times, but this time around she was doing only some 150 km. Just like that. Because she felt like it.
At some point we encountered a flock of sheep that duly followed a 21st century shepherd – he was in a car!
Leading sheep in the 21st century
So we came to the village of Castiello de Jaca which seemed absolutely cute and under any other circumstances I would have taken a zillion photos, but this time around I only made a couple of them and that was it. I only felt like going down to a bar-restaurant in the centre of the place, sit down, get some refreshments and have a rest.
Castiello de Jaca
After that break, Piedad and I continued with our walk going along the path that followed the Aragon river which was wonderfully clear and fast there. I thought how much I would enjoy putting my feet into the water, but the whole idea of taking my backpack and hiking boots off and then putting them back on later was absolutely unattractive. In addition, at some point I was fully aware that my blister had just burst open, so I wanted to get to Jaca and a pharmacy as soon as possible.
In the meantime it became very hot, so I was trying to make breaks whenever I would come across some shade. As I was getting closer to Jaca there were more houses and some of them were very picturesque.
A house on the way to Jaca
Although I enjoyed chatting with Piedad, I could not help being aware that I constantly had not only the pain in my heel, but also a very strong feeling of heaviness which only kept exacerbating as the time passed since I had drunk up all of my water and the dehydration started to kick in. After a slope we had to go up, I almost felt sick and I only dropped down to the ground in order to catch my breath and settle. Luckily, there was very nice shade there and that was the last concentrated effort, so I recuperated enough to be able to drag myself into Jaca. I also made a decision that in Jaca I would not join Piedad and go to the pilgrims’ albergue, but rather I would make a decent break and spend two nights at a hotel where I would have a room of my own.
After getting to a hotel and taking a shower, I went to a pharmacy where I bought everything I needed, which I hadn’t already had, in order to be able to deal with the blister and prevent further complications. In the meantime, Piedad had also given me some good advice, so I knew what to look for in the pharmacy and how to say it in Spanish.
In the evening I posted a new text on my travelling adventure, so that my friends and acquaintances could follow what was going on.
Day 2: “Blister. No, a HUGE blister!”
Contrary to my expectations that my knees would be wobbly or that my back would be breaking, something completely unexpected has happened. I got a blister. No, a HUGE blister! I already saw it last night, but in my writing I did not want to spoil the impressions of the first day. So, it positioned itself in all of its glory and huge size on my left heel and that was something I had not hoped for. I spent so many years hiking, regularly wearing two pairs of socks, including thick ones even in the middle of summer and, as the common wisdom tells it, I had never had a blister. Until now, although I stuck to the “tested recipe.” This morning in Villanúa I had no choice but to improvise. I spirally twisted a length of toilet paper and wrapped it around the blister to serve as a buffer. Then I put a cotton pad over it and then a whole bunch of medical plaster, for I did bring a roll with me. Although I met my first co-pilgrim on the Way today and spent a good part of the day chatting with her, I could not stop thinking of my feet problems (one problem creates another, because one tends to walk off regular balance). At one point I felt my central problem burst. While dragging towards Jaca I made a decision – I would make a break here and spend two nights in the town since it had all the advantages I needed (pharmacies). It would be pointless to force myself and anyway I have given myself ample me. I think it would be better to give myself an opportunity to recuperate before continuing. I also have some other ideas, but more about it tomorrow…
In front of me: 837 km
Behind me: 30 km
I knew Piedad would continue to walk the following day, but in line with my decision of the previous day I just rested in Jaca. Not all the time, since I had an idea which turned out to be implementable and which significantly facilitated my further advancement along the Way. Since I already described the only important events of the day in my Facebook post, there is nothing for me to add here. So, this is what was happening that day in Jaca...
Day 3: “Long live the Post Office!”
I don’t want to sound too pathetic, but… If I hadn’t got the blister when I did, I wouldn’t have made a break in Jaca. And if the great difficulty hadn’t forced me, I wouldn’t have started to think creatively… The thing is that my baggage is just too heavy. I have originally planned to have 11 kg at the most. At the airport in Belgrade I realised I had a total (the big and the small backpacks) of 20 kg! Well, there was nothing for me to do then. Courageously, with my teeth clenched, I carried that heavy burden of mine for two days, completely perplexed by the situation since I was certain I had taken with me only the “most necessary” items. This morning, as a woman with a mission I first went to the Post Office in Jaca in order to get information and then I returned to the hotel where I put a bunch of the “most necessary” stuff into bags and soon I sent them by post to wait for me at the Post Office in Santiago de Compostela where I was to arrive in 5 weeks! Long live the Post Office! So, what did I pack? For instance – I brought from home “only” 6 pairs of knickers and of course a whole bunch of panty liners. In the previous two days of carrying those 20 kilos I realised I could travel with only 2 pairs of underwear and 5-6 daily panty liners (I could have cut down on that, too), since I had to wash my things along the way anyway, plus there are shops in Spain. Sounds petty? Perhaps, but now, with all these different things I have taken out I have 4.5 kg less to carry! Plus those pills that I take every evening, the sport drink powder, not to mention the used medical plaster. All in all, soon I will be carrying only some measly 14-15 kg.
I spent the rest of the day lying down in my hotel room with minimal moving around in order to give my blister the chance to dry out as much as possible. But… my creative thinking has also led me to some other great results. Still, more about it … tomorrow.
In front of me: 837 km
Behind me: 30 km
After one day of resting I continued walking along the Way. In the meantime I learned that there was a possibility that a company or the Post Office transfer the backpacks of pilgrims or any other baggage, including bicycles, to the next destination. While I was lying in bed the previous day, saving my legs, I managed to contact the Post Office’s special service and thus I organised the transportation of my big backpack. For this reason I left Jaca around 7:50 am, since first I had to wait until 7:30 in order for somebody of the hotel’s employees to come to work (nobody is on duty during the night) in order to make sure that I left my backpack with clear instructions related to its being taken over by the Post Office. The other reason why I left a little later than intended was that I wandered a little before getting to the Way. And then I started to walk.
Although I had to put a jacket in the small backpack in case of the forecasted rain, as well as a lot of water supply, after the two days of walking under the total weight of 20 kg, the approximate 6 kg which I carried now definitely seemed and were significantly lighter. The small backpack contained the necessary reserve pharmaceutical products, my transformer book (a small laptop), food, a hat, a scarf, as well as a couple of things I didn’t want to leave in the big backpack – hence the 6 kg.
Landscapes west of Jaca
The landscapes I was passing through were truly beautiful and I thoroughly enjoy them. From the Somport Pass to Jaca, the Way of St James leads approximately along the north-south direction. From Jaca all the way to Santiago, the general direction of moving is westbound. As the sun was slowly rising from the east, I could often see my shadow in front of me and that was the sight which I photographed from time to time.
Me on the Way
The blister on my heel hurt, of course, but I knew I had dressed it well and that the sterile gauze protected it nicely. On the other hand, I also felt pain in the left big toe which had earlier started to turn blue, in addition to which there were blisters in the making on a couple of more toes. When we have one problem of the kind, in our attempt to “spare” that place we unconsciously make unnatural movements and then problems appear in some other places, too. Still, regardless of the events, I valiantly kept going. That was the idea of this whole endeavour.
There was still snow in the higher parts of the Pyrenees
The day went on, it was becoming hotter and hotter, and I was getting more and more tired realising that I could walk 4.5 and more kilometres an hour, but with the mandatory breaks for resting I was moving at the average speed of less than 4 km an hour.
The first settlement to which this section leads is Santa Cilia and it is 15.5 km away from Jaca. When you enter the place, you get to a square with a public fountain with drinking water so I immediately topped up my water supplies there. Then I asked a man if there was some bar/restaurant nearby where I could sit and eat something. He really did his best trying to explain it to me, but I understood only the general elements of his instructions. I continued in the direction he had pointed to me and then not too far I came across a young woman so I asked her too and the only thing I understood was that I had missed it. Keeping in mind my experience from Villanúa, where with a lot of best intentions I ended up making a huge circle around the town, I was quite suspicious, so this woman kindly even took me to the place in point herself.
This was a restaurant in a park that was in the middle of some renovations, but it was also open for work. First I sat down in a shade on the terrace and took my shoes off. Only after I had come back to my senses, I entered the restaurant and waited until a man who worked there appeared, so I asked for a sandwich. To start with I also took a soda to refresh myself. It felt good. Later the man brought me the food, but I still felt quite weak and exhausted.
Having in mind a book which purports that we should walk on the ground barefoot, I lay down on the grass, while putting my bare feet directly onto the ground. I did think of ticks, since I had heard there were many, but this was the moment when I needed to have good rest and get my energy from wherever I could. Perhaps the ground would help me after all. I couldn’t tell, since the tiredness was great and yet I had to move on, so I did not have the time to weigh out the nuances of the energy that was filling me out.
The next and the final destination for the day was the village of Arrés and I still had 10 more km to go. So I continued and in that section the Way goes along a path that is parallel to an asphalt road. Soon I came across a tourist centre that had a restaurant, too. Of course I made a stop and took off my shoes at once, then ordering something that would refresh me. Half an hour that I spent at the place really did me good and I felt quite fresh when I moved on. It’s a pity there were not more places like that along the way where one could make breaks and get refreshed.
For a short while I also went close to the Aragon and through a wood where there was shade, so it was not unbearable. While approaching the small town of Puente la Reina de Jaca, I often saw cairns, stones arranged one on top of the other, but here they did not serve to show any direction, but rather I guess people have killed time playing with the stones.
Cairns and a bridge over the Aragon which leads to nearby Puente la Reina de Jaca
I did not want to go to Puente la Reina de Jaca, although it was quite close, since that would mean more kilometres and more time. I still had almost 5 km to Arrés from there and at first one needs to follow an asphalt road. Then, at some point the sign for the Way showed that I should leave the asphalt and move along a narrow path that led over a hill.
View at the surrounding area from the narrow path leading towards Arrés
It was already late in the afternoon, the day was sunny and hot, I made breaks almost every 20 minutes, and yet my destination was nowhere to be seen. At some point I started to count my steps, thinking that each one was 0.5 m long. I do not recommend this. It was really depressing how long it took me just to cover the approximate 250 m. Still, eventually I did get a glimpse of some parts of Arrés and I was really impressed by how cute the village was.
Arrés
Arrés