Saturday 14 February 2009

Pamplona and a Boar.

So with the gbp going over and over I fell asleep that night. What was I to do I really wanted to go home and sort things. In the night an idea came to me. Dig your heals in and walk longer and faster faster. Try and look at the maps and guide and cut of some of the corners. Take the direct route and do 1.5 sections from the guide. That will mean 30k per day. That will be tough. I may not be able to do it and the sections may not allow it. The next morning the American students were not so keen to get up or make noise as they had the night before. I got up quickly and rather early. It was still dark. Breakfast was non-existent. And because of the darkness and the thoughts of the previous night, I set off along the road away from Larrasoana. There were no cars or lorries at that time. It was very quite. I think in the next hour or two I only saw 3 or 4 vehicles. The Sun began to rise. As yet it was still below the level of the hills that run parallel to the road.So the right hand side was gaining in light and the left side was in a deep shadow of night. I kept walking. As I walked I looked to my left,up on the hill, I saw movement. What was that? Could it be? The moving, whatever it was came closer. It was now still some 500 yards away and indistinct. It was a wild boar. He was very still now. He had caught my smell. Pilgrims are very good at smelling. So it is no surprise that I had come to his attention so far away. With that he was off. Keeping his distance he came up the field to the road, over it,into the field on the right and up the hill into the sunshine. Running all the way as fast he could go. Red in the morning sun he came to a small copse of trees. He ran along the fence until he found a hole and went in. That was the last I saw of him.I have never seen a wild boar before and it was riveting. I had heard that they were dangerous if you got too close. Had I walked the main route I would have missed him. He would have gone before I was close enough to see him. So even on the road there are wonders to be experienced. You may wonder what had happened to Hans. He was tall with long legs. For him walking was done quickly. So he liked to get up later and shower. At Larrasona he was still asleep. he had told me to head for Cizur Minor on the other side of Pamplona and that was were I was going, but not until I had been through the great city.

No comments:

Post a Comment