Author: manwalksintoanairport

Camino 6: Unnecessary Weather and the Headmistress of Mansilla.

by manwalksintoanairport, posted in Camino De Santiago, Travel

 

It was raining when I set off this morning. Unnecessary I thought. John the Dublin lawyer from last night caught up with me. He was really moving which spurred me on in the rain. We went quickly through the next 3 villages and soon arrived in Sagahun over 19 klicks from Ledigos. John was on a mission and we covered it in a little over 3 hours. Had it been a race we would have come a close second and third to olympian Haile Gebrselassie, had he been on the Camino instead of winning the Berlin Marathon. Continue reading “Camino 6: Unnecessary Weather and the Headmistress of Mansilla.” →

Camino 5: The Long and Boring Road.

by manwalksintoanairport, posted in Camino De Santiago, Travel

The next day I walked to Ledigos. This is a notoriously long straight flat and boring stretch. There is 17km before the first village, Calzadilla. Just outside of Carrion there was a guy with a horse and cart. The cart had seats and the guy was touting for pilgrims to ride. I declined, not wanting my Camino de Santiago to become a Paseo de Santiago, That’s not the same thing at all. Oh no, not for me it isn’t.Blog camino Horse Cart Later the cart passed me with more than a dozen passengers. At 15 Euros a pop. That’s €180 a trip. Two trips a day nets €2520 a week. Just a little bit more than a High Court Judge. So, law school students, have a little think about that. Continue reading “Camino 5: The Long and Boring Road.” →

Camino 4: The Kid Reed and the Walking Competition

by manwalksintoanairport, posted in Camino De Santiago, Travel

After the previous nights’ shenanigans I was pleased no one was around when I woke up. After a quick shower I snuck out, stealthily, like a ninja, and got back on the road. More walking. I always thought that the thing I would hate most, if I ever turned into a Zombie, would be all the walking. But it’s not too bad.
To be honest this is not the best I’ve ever felt. I couldn’t find coffee and the next village was 8km away. It took me two hours to get there, Boadilla del Camino. The coffee hit the spot. I filled up my water bottles and marched on. Continue reading “Camino 4: The Kid Reed and the Walking Competition” →

Camino 3: Party Town

by manwalksintoanairport, posted in Camino De Santiago, Travel, Uncategorized

The original plan called for Castrojeriz as my next overnight destination. Yesterdays destination had been changed to Hotanas from Hornillos so I was out of sync already. No bad thing on the Camino. Looking back, no plan is the best plan. I stopped for breakfast at San Anton and was joined by a fellow peregrino, Nathan. He was a young guy and widely travelled and, although a scientist by profession, he told me that when he ran out of money Continue reading “Camino 3: Party Town” →

Camino 2: Burgos, The Start

by manwalksintoanairport, posted in Camino De Santiago, Travel, Uncategorized

The Camino de Santiago has a few different routes. El Camino Frances (the French Way) is considered the classic route. It starts in St Jean Pied De Port on the French side of the Pyrenees. It takes 30 to 32 walking days and covers 780km to Santiago de Compostella. I had decided, due to time constraints to start at Burgos, a few days in, leaving me with 500km to cover over about 22 days.4799954401_6cf50e7e3c_b
I had obtained a Credencial on an earlier trip to Santiago. Continue reading “Camino 2: Burgos, The Start” →

Down In The Treme

by manwalksintoanairport, posted in Travel, Uncategorized

‘Down in the treme’ is a line from the opening music from a TV show about New Orleans, Specifically about the Treme district. It is set in that district just after hurricane Katrina and follows the struggle of the people who live there. Amongst the cast, and playing himself, is Kermit Ruffins a local virtuoso trumpeter often referred to as the new Louis Armstrong. Although very successful and made more famous by the show Kermit is very much a local and has never lost touch with his roots. He still plays gigs and Bullets Bar is one of his regulars.
So we had planned to go. Continue reading “Down In The Treme” →

Vietnam: Mr Thang

by manwalksintoanairport, posted in Uncategorized

 

My pre-booked motorcycle and rider arrived 30 minutes early. Ok, let’s go. I had a last fun fight with Saz, the bellboy. It’s how we do, y’know. I can see he’s impressed with my moves.
“Ah you have kung fu in UK”
“We do!” I replied “but in my part of the world we tend to favour the baseball bat.”
Sadly this is true. I asked the shop assistant in Sports Direct one time, if they sold many bats.
“A fair few” he said, ” It’s steady business”
“How about baseballs,” I asked
“No, none of those”.
So there you have it. Continue reading “Vietnam: Mr Thang” →

The Road to Hue

by manwalksintoanairport, posted in Uncategorized

Once again no transport problems. I had booked a taxi the day before and now turned up at the agency yards from the hotel. They shoved me in with another guy who had also booked the day before. So we had both paid for the same taxi. Hey ho. Sometimes you’re the dog, sometimes you’re the lamppost. Continue reading “The Road to Hue” →

Hanoi 3: Last day in Hanoi

by manwalksintoanairport, posted in Uncategorized

After my usual breakfast. Two eggs scrambled, and two mojitos, – don’t judge me, I’m on a low carb diet, so no beer, and the hotel coffee is only average – I sat in the hotel lobby going through the photos I had taken. Some good, some bad, some terrible, and none of them straight. I’ve just got a new camera and its very, very, light. The weight of the camera, plus my general tremor, brought on by my advancing years, and possibly by my choice of breakfast beverage, has resulted in a certain amount of camera shake. I’ll fix the pictures on photoshop. Continue reading “Hanoi 3: Last day in Hanoi” →

Hanoi 2: Mai and the Blue Dress

by manwalksintoanairport, posted in Travel, Uncategorized

Raining again. The locals tell me that it’s usually sunny this time of year. Oh well. At least it’s warm. The hotel gave me a umbrella I told the receptionist I would try not to lose it. But you know how it is with brollys.

I have sent all my tee shirts to the laundry. I had one clean one left last night, but chopsticks … Well… y’know. At least the laundry here uses machines. Unlike India where they knock hell out of your stuff on a rock. Continue reading “Hanoi 2: Mai and the Blue Dress” →