Is This The Way?

It’s 6.30am in St Jean Pied de Port near the Pilgrim’s Office, the sun is up and we are ready to kick off our 900+ km journey. We follow the road through the village to find the path which leads up the Napoleon Way and across the Pyrenees.

The first day of this route was clearly meant to be a test, it's a relentless up hill climb for the first half of the day, the Refuge de Orisson appearing like a beautiful mirage at around the 8km mark with the promise of coffee and breakfast with an astounding view out over the mountains.

After climbing for most of the day, the path drops steeply for the last few kilometers into Roncesvalles. We had some good advice from the Pilgrims Office on which rich route to take for this last section...and we completely failed to follow it!

Join us to hear how it went.

Buen Camino!

Useful Links from this episode are below, if your podcast app does not let you access them directly head on over to https://isthistheway.net .

• Village to Village Camino de Santiago Guidebook (amazon.com)
  This is the guidebook that we used, it's small and easy to carry and has great information for every stage of the Camino Frances and for the Finisterre option at the end. Includes good pointers on diversions and alternative routes that can be taken in places.
• Hotel Itzalpea (booking.com)
  Where we stayed in St Jean Pied de Port. Nice room with private bathroom and airconditioning, was clean and comfortable, staff were super friendly. This is just outside the wall of the old town and a brief stroll to the Pilgrims Office.
• Hotel Roncesvalles (booking.com)
  This is where we stayed in Roncesvalles, they have an excellent restaurant in the building, we had a great meal and tried some local wine. Highly recommend it as a way to reward yourself for finishing day 1. Our room was a small 1 bedroom apartment with kitchen and bathroom, very comfortable. Unfortunately there is no store in town so we couldn't pick up food to cook for ourselves.
• The Way (2010)
  We mention this movie a few times in this episode and during the walk, if you want to get a (slightly dramatised) idea of Camino it's a good watch. We watched it the night before we set off for our first day to get into the spirit of things.

We think the Camino de Santiago is one of the world's best travel experiences, you may not of heard of it, it's only been popular for a thousand years or so.

In this first episode of Is This The Way we talk a little about the history of the Camino, the present day Camino, who we are and why we quit our jobs, left our home and walked 933km across Spain and why you should do it too!

This is our first podcast and the daily entries were recorded wherever we stopped as we walked the Camino so the audio may be a little variable at times as may the quality of our presentation but stick with us as we do get better as we get into the swing of it! If you're up for the ride, come along and enjoy the walk with us

Buen Camino!

Useful Links from this episode are below, if your podcast app does not let you access them directly head on over to https://isthistheway.net .

• Order Your Pilgrim Passport / Credential
  You can pick up a passport at the pilgrim office at St Jean Pied de Port, if you'd like to be prepared in advance you can also order one online here like we did.

We're sitting in this really quaint courtyard in Roncesvalles opposite the church, enjoying a quieter morning. It's 7:30am already before we start our walk today. It's a little bit of a slower start after the aches and pains of yesterday and it's about 22 kilometers to Zubiri today for our next stop. Supposed to be a little bit flatter, which is nice.

Today we're slightly more prepared and actually have coffee and breakfast before we set out. There are several small towns that we pass through today with plenty of opportunities for rest stops and snacks, it feels completely different to the first day, almost like we passed the test so now we get to enjoy it!

In this episode we will reveal the ultimate solution to chafing underwear and solve the mystery of the missing glasses as well as discovering the marvel that is the Tinto de Verano, so don't miss out!

Buen Camino!

Useful Links from this episode are below, if your podcast app does not let you access them directly head on over to https://isthistheway.net .

• Hotel Txantxorena (booking.com)
  Where we stayed in Zubiri, amazing old house with massive thick stone walls, hardwood floors. We had a room with private bathroom and a small balcony. No airconditioning or fan but if you keep the window shutters closed it stayed cool inside. Has a shared kitchen and lounge area with drinks available for guests in the fridge. We made sandwiches and sat out in the garden in the afternoon.
• Tinto de Verano (thespruceeats.com)
  Possibly the most important link for any episode, how to make a Tinto de Verano! We first saw some people drinking these in Zubiri on Day 2 of our walk and had them at the end of almost every day after that! To get in the mood we also have one each time we edit our recordings for the podcast, so why not get in the spirit and have one while you listen?

Pamplona is the first larger city that you will hit on the Camino and many guides that we read said that this is a good place to take a first rest day, but we said NO, NO rest days! We're hardcore and don't need a rest after only 3 days.

This actually worked out pretty well as we arrived right on the last day of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, the last bull run had finished that morning and the town was absolutely manic with people celebrating, parades and discount booze throughout the streets.

Unfortunately everything other than those festivities was basically closed, all the albergues were shut, the cathedral and any where you would get a stamp for your passport. It also meant that accommodation was limited and prices were through the roof.

In this episode we find the only quiet(ish) place in Pamplona to record a podcast outside during the San Fermin festival and give you a hint about where you might find a better deal on accommodation should you happen to arrive in Pamplona at the same time.

Buen Camino!

Useful Links from this episode are below, if your podcast app does not let you access them directly head on over to https://isthistheway.net .

• Antique Pamplona Tres Reyes Apartments (booking.com)
  Where we stayed in Pamplona, the apartments were nice and modern and had airconditioning. This was a serviced apartment and had a small kitchen where we could make our own food as well as a small balcony onto an internal courtyard which doesn't give much of a view but is great for drying clothes! This was one of the more expensive places we stayed for the entire Camino due to the timing when we arrived in Pamplona.

Leaving Pamplona in the morning there were still groups of revelers in the streets who had been out all night and we had to maneuver around large water trucks with high pressure hoses that were starting to clean down the streets.

We had our first emergency blister stop in the morning (which was gross) but we also got coffee which made it better. We met the Korean group of Pilgrim's who we had seen the first few days and continued to see most days until the end of our walk.

This was a long walking day with the extra detour that we took but it had a lot of variety as we moved out of the Pamplona basin.

Tune in to find out the mysterious secret of Obanos, whether templars really liked eight sided churches and the joy of dry socks.

Useful Links from this episode are below, if your podcast app does not let you access them directly head on over to https://isthistheway.net .

• Hotel Jakue (booking.com)
  Where we stayed in Puente la Reina. When you go to book you want "double room in tree". It isn't a strange translation error, it is actually a room in a tree. The room is super comfortable and has airconditioning. It has a little balcony outside the bedroom which is nice and quiet to sit and great for drying your clothes. This place also has dorms and regular rooms and has a nice bar in the courtyard under the trees.
• Village to Village Camino de Santiago Guidebook (amazon.com)
  This is the guidebook that we used, it's small and easy to carry and has great information for every stage of the Camino Frances and for the Finisterre option at the end. Includes good pointers on diversions and alternative routes that can be taken in places. Linking it again as it really is THAT GOOD!