Well, today was interesting, to say the least. We had breakfast at Corazon Puro and then Ishtram and Barbara drove us to Saint Jean Pied de Port and entertained us with stories of Hungarian dishes and jokes about pepper spray on the Camino. We stopped by the Pilgrim's Office and got our credential stamped. And then we started to walk at about 9:30 am.
It was about 85 degrees and about 100 percent humidity. Normally I fly to Madrid stay there for a night, take the train to Pamplona and stay there the night, then take the bus to Saint Jean Pied de Port and stay there the night. Then I begin to walk. This time, we got up at 5 am left California at 7:30 am and arrived in Madrid at 7:30 am Madrid time (10:30 pm California time,) caught the train to Pamplona at 11:30 am, and Istram picked us up and took us to Corazon Puro where we showered, washed clothes, ate dinner (very yummy healthy food by the way) and went to sleep about 10 pm (1 pm California time. So we had been up and traveling for 32 hours slept 8 hours and started walking up a mountain in increasingly heat and humidity. What, me worry. No problem.
I tend to believe I am invincible and bullet proof. Whatever God is watching over me has a full-time job. I think the rest of you are on your own. lol, Anyway, about halfway through the day I squatted down to take a picture and fell over getting up. Scraped up my knee and my pride. It got hotter and hotter and big black horseflies were circling me and biting me hard enough to make me bleed. I guess they expected me to be a corpus soon and didn't want to wait until I fell over.
About two-thirds of the way up the mountain I started feeling nauseous and Leea said my face was very red. She diagnosed heat stroke. Oh well. Our pace was very slow at this time. It wasn't that I felt tired or that my muscles were sore. It was just that every time I moved or drank water I felt like I was going to throw up. Which I eventually did. I only wish I had done it sooner because after I did, we sat in the shade of a tree for a few minutes and I felt fine and was ready to walk. I walked the rest of the way at my normal pace.
I've always loved heat. I've done 15-mile walks or ridden my bike 30 miles in 114-degree heat with no problem. Heck, I did a 60-mile walk in three days in Arizona in the summer time. So I don't know if this was the result of being up for 32 hours and the sleeping 8 hours, or if it is old age. Ok friends I can see you all rolling your eyes.
Anyway, we made it to Orisson alive and in good spirits, had lunch, took a shower, did laundry and took a nap.
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