I am walking on my own today. D. is skipping ahead by train so that he can see certain highlights along the way within the time allotted. I prefer to walk along the path continuously, and hope that I can return later to walk the rest of the way.

According to Paul Theroux, ” Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going. ” Well according to that, I will not quite have traveler status today, because I do know that I will be walking the Camino Frances path. However, I don’t yet know where I will be stopping today, in which albergue or even in which town.

So onto the classic wide, dirt Camino path.
Some  cyclists pass  – this section of the Camino is a part of an “EuroVelo” (long distance cycling) route as well.

Listened to my Camino playlist 

Out by myself, with other pilgrims about 1km ahead and behind. While looking at the Euro Velo map , I hear from behind me “Take a picture!”. I turn around and see a guy  running up with a day pack and multicolored leggings, with his iPhone out. He turns to the side and says “Siri take a picture!” then turns to the other side, calls Siri take a picture!”, then runs off ahead into the distance.

I decide to stop in Nájera, because I am arriving there at an early enough time such that I could get a bed in the municipal albergue. Just before I get to the albergue hot, tired and thirsty, I see F. from Ireland and some of his friends such as A. and J. from England, at a bar. F. is between jobs and tells me “no one has figured it out”. I meet up with them later (at the same bar) and we have dinner outside at a pizza restaurant. F. is vegan and is looking for someone to eat a vegan pizza with him, I make the sacrifice … It seems that all other restaurants in  the town are closed, it turns out that there is some kind of local festival happening. We, being rather uninformed, don’t find out for sure what it is, but we definitely hear loud techno music booming out from somewhere in the town, until at least 4 AM, as measured by my watch, when woken up at that time.

A. and C. appear in same albergue as me. One pilgrim from dinner has decided to do a “double” stage (40km) the next day, and leaves quite early , still in full darkness .