Fellow travellers

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Yesterday we arrived into Najera and found a decent, if not slight quirky, campsite where we are going to stay a couple of nights. Although a very comfortable campsite we think it's fair to say the place is a little passed its best. We're now deep into La Rioja and have been wandering past many acres of vines the last few days with little else seemlingly grown. The terrain has changed quite considerably from the start and the path is now majoritively tarmac or similarly hard based which has given the feet a little more to contend with. Our fellow Pilgrim company on the road has been an interesting blend of folk. Surprisingly many have required quite some effort to catalyse a conversation. Perhaps they've been quietened by the thoughts of their long journey or more probably simply don't like the look of us. There is a good mix of nationalities so often a common language has been the limiting factor. The Spanish pilgrims are in good numbers along with the French, German and Italian's. Our favourite fellow traveller to date has been a jolly rotund Dutch man who through his steady progress and our rest days we regularly meet. He's the most enthusiatic exponent of 'Buen Camino' (the greeting between fellow Pilgrims) and we always have a good passing word or two about how we are progressing. Formal name exchange it still yet to occur but with many walking days ahead of us we'll learn more about this character and the many others.

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