Some of you have read this directly from Kay. An editted version here --
Tuesday (Sep 5) was very long, 22km, but we made it to Los Arcos. Wednesday was almost as long - 18km. We decided to head for Viana rather than Logrono. About 3km from town, my left foot began to hurt very badly. Or rather the front of left shin, what I later found out was the anteriaor tibial muscle and its associated tendon. It was painful - for once, I much preferred going uphill to get some relief, but downhill was painful. I found that if I walked faster, it was better. All sorts of visions about stress fractures, abandoning this walk etc played on my mind. The Camino blues again! We stayed in Viana as planned, and found there was no doctor there. So on Thursday I took a taxi to Logrono while KM completed the 9 kms on foot.
Then we went to the Rohoja General Hospital, just across from our (proper this time) hotel. I got blank looks - no interpreters here and no guarantee of seeing a doctor. I was told that Australians pay 128 euros. Pulled out my cardo credito, and cash, but heads were shaken. Using google translate, I was told I had to go to a bank, deposit 128 eruos and then be seen. Or I could go to a clinic in Navarette and be seen after 3pm. This was 20+ kms away! I grabbed back my passport and went to the hotel who told us about a private hospital, so we took a taxi there. After more blank looks from the receptionist, we were rescued by someone who could speak enough english to take us down to emeergency, and who looked after us. We saw a lovely doctor, who apologised for his rusty english (to us, it was perfecto!).He poked and prodded at my foot, pronounced nothing serious wrong, did not even meet spanish guidelines for an Xray, keep walking, use iboprofen and ice, and no, my pack was not too heavy so I don´t even have an excuse for using a backpack taxi. And the cost was less - 120 euros.
Tuesday (Sep 5) was very long, 22km, but we made it to Los Arcos. Wednesday was almost as long - 18km. We decided to head for Viana rather than Logrono. About 3km from town, my left foot began to hurt very badly. Or rather the front of left shin, what I later found out was the anteriaor tibial muscle and its associated tendon. It was painful - for once, I much preferred going uphill to get some relief, but downhill was painful. I found that if I walked faster, it was better. All sorts of visions about stress fractures, abandoning this walk etc played on my mind. The Camino blues again! We stayed in Viana as planned, and found there was no doctor there. So on Thursday I took a taxi to Logrono while KM completed the 9 kms on foot.
Then we went to the Rohoja General Hospital, just across from our (proper this time) hotel. I got blank looks - no interpreters here and no guarantee of seeing a doctor. I was told that Australians pay 128 euros. Pulled out my cardo credito, and cash, but heads were shaken. Using google translate, I was told I had to go to a bank, deposit 128 eruos and then be seen. Or I could go to a clinic in Navarette and be seen after 3pm. This was 20+ kms away! I grabbed back my passport and went to the hotel who told us about a private hospital, so we took a taxi there. After more blank looks from the receptionist, we were rescued by someone who could speak enough english to take us down to emeergency, and who looked after us. We saw a lovely doctor, who apologised for his rusty english (to us, it was perfecto!).He poked and prodded at my foot, pronounced nothing serious wrong, did not even meet spanish guidelines for an Xray, keep walking, use iboprofen and ice, and no, my pack was not too heavy so I don´t even have an excuse for using a backpack taxi. And the cost was less - 120 euros.
No comments:
Post a Comment