My stupid day (Day 6)

This morning I left my hostel at 7am and outside the door Zoltan was waiting for me. I was happy to see him but equally concerned due to the pace difference from yesterday. He has some achillies issues so was really hobbling today. So I walked with him for the first 4 hrs until we separated. We reconnected in the Alberge I am staying tonight.

Had the opportunity to see an amazing sunrise this morning leaving Estella.

In the morning we passed through beautiful towns and came across this fountain that was built for pilgrims. Later in the day we also saw an ancient bathhouse as well.

Just around lunch time we came across a food truck between two towns that were 12kms apart. Right at mid point, two Americans from Philadelphia have started their food truck business 5 years ago after they hiked the Camino with their wives. They were, as expected in the Camino, super friendly and cooked me an awesome omelette.

Today I experienced my second Camino Miracle

So here it goes:

My original plan today was to walk 23km but that meant that tomorrow's section would have been 32km. Tomorrow is considered one of the harder sections due to consistent up's and downs and has a nick name of "knee wrecker". To make it easier for tomorrow I pushed forward for the next town and ended up doing 32km today. The last 2 hrs I felt my blister on my left foot was getting bad as I could see blood through the socks. But being me I pushed through. Well it turned out that I was plain stupid and got the below outcome. Yes; my toe nail bed is also gone!!!

Not sure what to do I hiked the last section in pain. Arrived to the alberge in complete defeat thinking my Camino is over. This is where the miracle happened. I saw Jeff, Pamela and Reeve there which I met yesterday briefly. Three wonderful Americans who stopped everything and tended my wounds. Jeff helped me address my gross toe with his goodie bag while Reeve and Pamela lifted up my spirit as I was very deflated when I arrived. Below is a photo with Jeff. A wonderful human being. He also gave me his sandals. Tomorrow, I will try to walk with them and if it doesn't work will take a cab to a clinic that is about 15miles away. Somehow I have to get his sandals back to him in Logrono.