El Camino de Santiago - Day 1 - Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

Stepping off the train in SJPDP (Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France), I was a little disoriented. I had barely slept a few hours the night before. I was still jet-lagged, hung-over, culture-shocked, and sleep-deprived. Even in that state, it was one of the greatest moments of my life. I had made it. On my own. I was here.

A view from the Citadel.

There was a parade in town that day.

SJPDP is a beautiful old city on the French side of the Pyrenees Mountains. It is the most popular starting point for the “French Way” of the El Camino de Santiago(the Way of Saint James). People walking the Camino are called pilgrims, or more commonly “peregrinos” which is Spanish for pilgrim.

My first stop was the Pilgrim office, which is located in the “old town” part of the city. This is where people get their official pilgrim credentials, and for a donation, you can also pick up a scallop shell to hang from your backpack (old Camino custom), and there are knowledgeable volunteers that speak many languages to answer any questions new pilgrims may have. On my way out, I hung my backpack on a scale by the door, 12.5kg, a bit more than recommended.
There was a camping supply store down the road. I went and bought a few items I had not traveled with: a pair of beige Crocs, 2 collapsible hiking poles, and a pocket knife.

It started raining hard as I was leaving the shop. I had planned to find a hotel room that night, but it was raining hard, and there was an Albergue (pilgrims hostel) across the road, so I went over and rented a bunk. Albergues are usually large dorm-type rooms filled with bunk-beds. The bathrooms and showers are usually unisex with little privacy. But, they are cheap. Prices usually fall between 0-15 Euro for a bunk.

In the common room, I got to meet a lot of soon to be pilgrims. There were people from all over the globe. Many different languages and cultures were represented. I met a few Koreans, a German, an Italian, a few French, a few Spanish, beautiful women from Brazil, Australia, Norway, Italy, and the Czech Republic. English was used as a common ground language with everyone I met.

There was a 16th century Citadel across the road. I went up to see it with a friend I had just met. There was a coin-operated telescope you could use to look at the village and surrounding mountains.

Lights-out was at 10pm, so most went to their bunks and got ready to go to sleep around 9:30. At 10, the lights were shut off and almost immediately loud snoring began. I had brought earplugs, but the snoring was so loud them plugs were not helping. I laid there restlessly for almost 2 hours enduring the snoring, and then decided to sneak outside for a cigarette. I was on a top bunk, but was able to hop off pretty silently. I was already fully dressed, and had my hip-belt with all my valuables in my sleeping bag with me, so grabbed that, my fleece, and my shoes and tip-toed outside.
I smoked my cigarette and sat there for a little while. Finally, I decided to sneak back in since it was cold, and I was starting to get tired. When I came outside, I had not realized it was an old-style spring loaded dead-bolt on the front door. I was completely locked out. I could have pounded on the door and tried to wake someone up, but I did not. I went back to a bench and sat there, staring up at the moon. The moon was very bright that night. I decided to walk back up to the citadel, and look around. There were a couple stone benches up there, so I sat on one for a couple hours zoning out. After a while, it started sprinkling rain, not much, but it added to the cold. I got up and walked around the town a little. Most shops had awnings, and it kept my blood moving to warm me up. Eventually the rain stopped. I went back and sat on the bench out front for some time. Around 5am the first people started waking up. Someone came out to smoke, I warned them not to shut the door all the way, and went inside. Everyone had to leave by 8am, so I knew I was not going to get any sleep. I went and packed up my backpack as quietly as possible, and was out the door around 6am, it was still dark out.