Not the Blair Journey

[cooperlola]

http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Insect-Stings-and-Bites.htm

I know you've read almost all there is to know about bites already but I think this article is both comprehensive and sensible - plus it's written by proper medical professionals, not quacks.

I asked a pharmacist about this once as I react much as you seem to and they recommended steroid cream when the bites get really bad.  It does work even though it's a bit drastic.  But don't put it on your face.

I like 5-E's idea of alcoholic insects using you as the local bar though![:D]

[mint]

My biggest fear has been realised.  The bites are indeed from "chinchis" (thank you, Pacha, you always knew that word would come in useful, didn´t you?)

The bites make huge raised, red areas on the skin with a large and perfectly formed blister at the centre of each bite.  As I have at least 50 bites, at the base of my spine, front and back of my neck, on my jaws, my face, my ankles and wrists and the back of my hands, it´s difficult to feel anything but very down and and like a leper.  They also itch like you wouldn´t think possible, making sleep or indeed any sort of rest next to unachievable.

Have seen a doctor and been prescribed some cream.  Could have some prednisolone in the cream, Coops.

This is the one thing that could send me scuttling back home.  But we will wait and see.

I just hope to goodness the bugs or eggs are not in any of my kit.  It won´t be easy to get rid of all my kit and replace with new as it´s hard enough spotting a shop and how am I going to go off the route and go looking for stuff!  Tears of self-pity are even now threatening to overwhelm me but (only slight exaggeration) we will see what tomorrow brings.

Anyway, in the meantime, I have thought of a few things that one must never underestimate:

• the blessing of being able to walk on both your own feet without pain
• the kindness of strangers, like the person who broke off chunks of her new loaf of bread to give me, the person who carried my eye mask, that I´d carelessly left behind, for many kilometres to catch me up and hand it over, the person who´d walked on, remembered that he had antihistamines in his pack and came back along the route to offer them to me
• the restorative effects of a very large brandy
• the EHIC which enables you to see a doctor without charge
• the incomparable reassurance of a wallet stuffed full of cash

If I remember, I will post a list of things that one must never overestimate but that will have to wait for the next time I´m near access to the internet. 

[5-element]

Are chinches bedbugs, Sweet???? Yikes,  poor you, that really does suck (pun not intended, but noticed). I hope you find the best way to get rid of them, a friend's home in Montpellier was invaded by them a while ago - I think she managed to get rid of them completely.

So glad to see that you can focus on the half-full part of the glass: good feet, money, access to medical care - and above all,  the kindness of strangers.  THAT is what keeps the world truly going, and experiencing it has to be one of the greatest benefits of your journey! Within the confines of our usual comfort zone, we tend to insulate ourselves and deprive ourselves of such realisations!

[kiss]Bon courage for the punaises de lit. Hopefully there are solutions.

[cooperlola]

http://deadbedbugs.com/translate-sp/

[Chancer]

The kindness of strangers, my most lingering memories of travelling and the thing that has changed me (for the better) the most.

Its also the title of a very good book, the auto-biography of Kate Adie, one plucky lady.

[NormanH]

Something I experience on a daily basis as I hobble around France on a stick..especially for example getting on or off trains.

[Gardengirl]

You poor thing, Sweet! After your nasty experience with bites on your trial trip, now to have these ......... bed bugs? [:(]

Hope your cream helps, along with your anti-histamines and the extra-large brandy tonight which I prescribe!  [:D]

Tomorrow is another day, as they say; maybe the bites will begin to subside slowly. Your list of blessings gives us all pause for thought! Your list of things not to over-estimate should be eye-opening!  [:)]

[woolybanana]

[quote user="NormanH"]Something I experience on a daily basis as I hobble around France on a stick..especially for example getting on or off trains.
[/quote]

You only use the stick to try and pull women or worse, Normie, so don't expect sympathy!

[Kitty]

Sweets - you are inspirational.  Your posts (despite the set backs) have made me want to do the walk and I have been talking to a friend, who has agreed to do it with me.  I am following you on a map.  You are amazing.  I searched the pilgrimage on Goggle and this thread is very near the top and so all sorts of people must be reading it now...

[Gemonimo]

Sweets, I was afraid they would be bed bugs. Robin had them badly, all blistered and itchy and the only thing that did any good was an antihistamine cream and pills. They did go down but looked very painful for a while.

I think you both must have had an allergic reaction to them as I was bitten but they just sort of did nothing. Different people have different reactions. But they do pass, so don´t despair.

As for getting rid of them, either the contents of the bag have to be washed for two hours at 60 degrees or they have to be put in the freezer for a few days. But there is hope! A Dutch lady I met (who had been horrendously bitten) had been advised to wrap her pack in a huge black bin bag and leave it in the sunshine for 12 hours. The heat generated apparently kills the little bu**ars and also the eggs.

People are so good and so kind, especially when it is obvious one needs help and I guess it is all part of the pilgrim experience. I only hope you don´t have stomach problems.

I´m now in Molinaseca having made a couple of errors and have now learned my lesson. I don´t walk after 12-1.00 having started at 7.00. It´s just not worth it.

Stay well, Sweets. xxxx

[Chancer]

Using a silk or even cotton sleeping bag liner is a big help as it can be washed and dried easily, or put in the freezer, I didnt know that one but it makes sense and I will remember it.

[Théière]

Sorry to hear of the bity things, obviously you are a tasty treat!

Bicarbonate of soda works well on most insect bites, mixed with a little aloe vera to make a paste then apply, mild sting for a while but works well and often better than doctors prescibed cures.

[Patf]

I wondered when you would come across the dreaded bedbugs, SW17. Sleeping in all those strange places [blink]. I got bitten by them once in a B&B .

Chancer suggested silk or cotton sleeping bags, and that sounds the best solution.

But surely you'll be "there" soon?

Will add an extra insecticide prayer.

Bon courage - Pat.

[pachapapa]

Forget about the deep freeze, at -15°C in a domestic freezer it would take a couple of weeks to kill them.

Sounds like misinformation spread by the Dutch who have a stick your furniture in freezer warehouse for a couple of weeks.

Make sure washing machine on HOT; a 40° C wash is like going for a swim at the seaside.[:)]

[Gardengirl]

But if washing everything at 60, how can she walk - imagine trying to walk in knickers etc that have shrunk!! [:(] The bag/rucksack would also need to have similar treatment, presumably.

Gem was saying recently she thought she'd arrive at Compostella around the 8/9th October, and Sweet is behind her - so there's still a long, tiring way to go. I imagine it gets harder as you go on, as you use up many of your resources, despite having trained and put thought into it for many months.

Someone I met yesterday on a walk (very short!) brought up the subject of the Camino, saying she would love to do it, but would be on her own. I was telling her about our Intrepid Two, although I didn't know the words for bed bugs etc. She said she hadn't thought about things like that, or blisters or diarrhoea; maybe I put her off. Didn't intend to, but she made it sound like something you might do on a Sunday afternoon!

[bubbles]

GG, SW17 lost her knickers ages ago so that won't be a problem!

[Gardengirl]

True, Bubbles, so she can't get them in a twist or shrink them now! [:)]

[mint]

Hola, everybody and a special Hola to Gem and one a little less special but still special nonetheless to Norman

You´d be glad to know I am now on the mend and have overcome that little trial  with the bed bugs(someone please tell me how many plagues there were in the bible that afflicted the Israelites?)

It was the thought of whose blood they´d been sucking before settling on me and eating my flesh with their moveable mandible (or whatever) bits that really horrified me.  Then, they make you feel so dirty and so wretched with pustules and raised red blobs all over you!

I was in luck yesterday.  I met a girl from South America who had a coffee with me and calmed me down and persuaded me not to take the next train home.

I did a short walk to get to an albergue, hoping I´d get some help there.  There were these two fantastic people there (an Italian woman and a Spanish man) who took me in hand.  They took all my things and put them in a large plastic bag into which they sprayed some powerful insecticide.  They then sealed the bag and left it out in the sun (fortunately, the sun was extra hot yesterday) for several hours.  Surprisingly, when I rescued the bag afterwards, it didn´t smell of anything.  I was afraid the smell of the insecticide might set off an asthma attack or provoke some nasty rash but, in fact, all was as before.

I hadn´t slept for 2 nights, what with the itching, applying the cream and dreaming about oversized bedbugs (please bear in mind I´d not seen the real things, only blown up pictures of them on the internet) eating their way through every part of my body.  At one stage in the night, I thought I would pack my bags and walk the streets till morning as anywhere would have been preferable to a bed!  The only thing that stopped me was the firmly locked albergue door and even I baulked at arousing the poor hospitalera to open up and let me out.

Yes, yes, I know, totally OTT (talk about over reaction) but I do have my histrionic moments, I´d admit.

After I felt better, I took all my pills, etc and fell into a nice, long sleep.  This morning, I found that the bites are better insofar as they no longer itch so much but they still look pretty unsightly.

Feeling more human again, I walked 21 km today and could have done more except I want to time my entry into Leon at an early part of the day so that I am not wandering around a large city looking for accommodation when I am tired and anxious.

[pachapapa]

Glad you are perking up a bit.[:)]

Good luck in Léon and make sure you allow time to see the " vidrieras/vitraux" in the cathedral, some of the best in Europe, remind you of Chartres and Köln.

[LEO]

To "Sweet Seventeen"

señora por la mañana el nivel de azúcar, I am en el temor de su esfuerzo,

dios bendiga usted.

good morning mrs "sugar", I am in awe of your efforts,

god bless you

[Gardengirl]

Sweet, there were 10 plagues, so you must be at the end, I would think! [:)] Glad to hear things are looking up for you and hope the nasties stay away.

[woolybanana]

Have we had the plague of boils or do the bedbugs count as that?[6]

[mint]

Well, here I am, still alive and still walking!

This evening I shall be sleeping here at a private place in Arcahueja which is just short of Leon.  I decided that a short day was in order so that I could rest, drink a large brandy, wash some clothes and generally do some self-maintenance.

You´d be surprised how much time and effort it takes when you have to do everything without the aid of normal surroundings nor of machines that do things for you.

This is cheap internet access so I might wander on a bit, for which I beg your indulgence.

Today´s walk (avoided by many) was most interesting for me.  But then, I am odd like that, finding a lot of things fascinating which many would spurn.  For example, I was intrigued by the massive roadworks going on and the buzzing nature of some of the industries that I walked through to get to this place.

If I were ever to write an account of my physical journey of the Camino, I could think of lots of "angles" from which to attack the subject.  For example, I could write about the "Toilet Paper Chase".  Mon Dieu, you wouldn´t believe how everywhere is littered with loo paper from pilgrims.  If you saw a nice, shady tree by the side of the road or a nice bench, my advice to you would be to avoid them.  Someone would have used one or the other as their outside loo and you wouldn´t believe the horrors you would find.

Another idea would be to write up an account as the "Sewage Works Walk".  I have passed every existing sewage works from St Jean PP to the present place.  All types of systems known (or devised) by men.  I could have taken photos of all the different types of sewage works and, who knows, a sanitary engineer might have asked me for an autographed copy!

Still, whilst a bit disenchanted with such unspeakables, I remain involved on all sorts of level with this Journey. Blair, what´s he know about journeys?  I assure you I could explain a few of the finer points to him!

Today, I walked past a range of low hills with very rounded contours that were sufficiently picturesque to be a nice thing to look at.  Then, there was the bridge in Puente de Villarente.....  It was a concrete bridge at very high level with a very narrow footpath on a main road.  So, you have the traffic tearing past you on your right, a drop of several dozen metres on your left, a rickety handrail and not a lot between you and oblivion.  And, this note is for Pachapapa:  Pacha, I could see the reinforcement in several places where the concrete covering has blown and the damned think looked none too safe!

Tomorrow, I attack Leon.  I am hoping there will be a concert somewhere and, if there is, I shall book into a hotel and go to a concert.  No good staying at an albergue if you want to stay out later than 10 pm because you would be in danger of being locked out.

If Leon is truly interesting with lots of things to see, I will take a "rest day" from the route and stay around the city.  For me, it´s all part of the Camino experience.  If you are new to this thread, you might like to flick back to a post I made at the beginning with a reading of "Ithaka" by Sean Connery.

Indeed, the point is not so much Santiago as the Route itself. 

The poem talks about buying "sensuous perfumes":  I haven´t, so far, had much chance of buying anything so exotic.  But, for those of you who are worried about my having no knickers, I can tell you that about 3 days ago, I did manage to find a shop in Sahagun that sells all sorts of things (like an old-fashioned haberdashery shop) and am now fully equipped with thermal vests and knickers.

It was the sort of shop with a whole wall of drawers (no labels on the drawers) and the shop assistant would have to know what was in each.   You asked for what you wanted and she then climbed on a shaky old wooden ladder and get you your requirements.  I was so alarmed at the woman´s performance on the ladder that I couldn´t help saying, oh, please do be careful, senora.  She assured me that the shop had been in existence since 1900 and that the ladder was the original one!  I don´t think she could have been far behind the original assistant herself but, for once, I declined to say my thoughts out loud!

[Kitty]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Today´s walk was most interesting for me.  But then, I am odd like that, finding a lot of things fascinating which many would spurn. 

[/quote]

As the proverb says: 'To travel hopefully is better than to arrive'.

[Kitty]

I have been coming onto the Forum twice a day to see if Sweets or Gem have posted.  Where are you?  How far have you got?