Pamplona - Week 1

Well after having a couple of hours in London it was time to make my way to sunny Spain where I've managed to pick up a job for a backpacking company setting up tents etc. ready for the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona with the main attraction being the running of the bulls.

After a short flight to Bilbo we were put on a bus for the 3 hour trip to the campsite, I really didn't want to sit on a bus again after just spending a week on one! Not too mention the 20 hour bus trip back to London to look forward too.

After arriving at the campsite there was no time to pick your arse, straight into it, pulling out tables & cleaning everything that would be transformed into the mother of all camping kitchens.

This week has being some kind of time warp. The first half went by really slow, but not in a bad way & the second half has being screaming by. I think it's down to the cruisy days we've being having.

Basically a day is like this, well at least for the first week. Up at 8am, either cook in the kitchen for everyone or put up some tents, have brekky round 10am and then work for a few more hours before lounging round the pool round midday and dinner at 8pm after that it's time to get plastered. I could definitely take this lifestyle as a permanent thing I reckon.

There's about 50 of us working as a team to put up tents and get the campsite ready for the tourists who start to arrive tomorrow. They're all a pretty cool gang, although there's a couple of people on power trips but that's too be expected and a shit load of Kiwis, more than Aussies for a change.

Pretty much the first 4 days we were putting tents up, about 500 of the little buggers!, and just getting to know each other and trying to remember some names, I have trouble remembering a couple little lone 50 of them and it ain't made much easier when the beer bong made it first appearance on Monday night, pretty much wiping my brain clean. Monday was also the day we made a trip to the supermarket where we all just basically stocked up on alcohol, pretty much leaving the place dry of any intoxicating spirit.
On Thursday I was put in charge of the Aussie BBQ which went down in smoke and glory. I've never seen a BBQ produce some much bloody smoke, it didn't help that there was a total fire ban that we forgot about which meant the snags had to be moved inside to the grill, not very Aussie now is it

As we had made light work of the tents we were rewarded with a trip up to the local bar in Mendigorria & a trip to Sans Sebastian the following day.
Sans Sebastian was on the Friday and what a wicked costal city it is. Two bays with some nice beaches adorned by beautiful Spanish girls and little side streets through out the city to get lost in. The funniest thing was that Kel and I where walking round for a far while trying to find a traditional Spanish restaurant that didn't speak English but ended up at a restaurant where once we finished our meals relised that it was actually French! I guess the "La" should have given it away.

Friday night also played host to the Ground Crew talent quest, in which we took the second place crown. Our talent being drawing with someone else’s arms while they are hidden behind your back, very hard to explain but I guess quite visually appealing.

Saturday was more tent erecting and that night where taken into Pamplona to check out the course and to plan out route plus check the city out. I don't thing I relised before, but most of the track doesn't have fences you can jump over, it's just building either side and too get out of the way you need too clamber up drain pipes or the like. But not one to be deterred easily I'm still ready to give it a go and after seeing the bulls today I'm still ready to throw myself down the gauntlet.

Well the first lot of passengers arrive tomorrow and everything is going to be different round the campsite, shit load more people and more of a party vibe so can't wait and with around 2500 people arriving in the next 3 days it's gonna get full on.

Let the madness begin!!!

Check out the pics here >>> http://redmonkey.smugmug.com/gallery/1659693