Plaza Darmstadt

It is easy to fall asleep after you have walked 20 km. In fact I have made an art form of falling asleep just about anywhere in no time at all. Although the evening meal at our hotel in Pamplona was rather disgusting, the bed was comfortable and I was soon far away from Spain in the mythical Land of Nod.

I was awakened at 5.30 am by the sound of my alarm rudely interrupting my slumber. It was time for another very long to begin. Fortunately the breakfast was much better than the previous night's evening meal, leaving us even more mystified as to why they could not even put the minimum of effort into that important meal.

When we rolled our luggage into the street we could already see that the chances of rain (or even clouds for that matter) was absolutely zero. The sky was blue from horizon to horizon, promising another hot day in the Spanish sunshine. Even at this early hour the Camino Path was already populated by a steady procession of early pilgrims making their way out of Pamplona.

We soon joined them on the steady climb up to the Siera del Perdon. We were told that the top of the climb was clearly visible because of the long row of wind turbines along the summit ridge. They didn't look that far away, but they also never seemed to get any closer. All the while the path wound ever higher, affording us amazing views down to the rolling plains below us.

After about 10 km of walking we were finally nearing the summit and we caught the first sight of the line of steel pilgrims that form one of the most famous sights on the entire Camino Path. We gathered in front for a group photo, to prove to those at home that we had actually made it this far.

There were also a couple of entrepreneurial guys seated at a small table offering the most impressive Camino stamps we had seen this far. Every pilgrim carries a Camino credential (passport) which is progressively filled with stamps at each significant location along the way. This documents provides evidence that the pilgrim has completed a certain distance.

While most stamps are a simple rubber stamp, these guys went a lot further by adding a dob of hot wax to which a small token and seal were attached. I had to admit that it really did look impressive, even if it did cost me 3 Euro.

The descent from the summit was quite treacherous as it was down a steep slope covered with loose round stones. It would have been very easy to fall, but somehow I stayed upright and managed to reach the safer sections where it levelled out somewhat. The sun was now high in the sky and the wind was almost non existent. It really felt hot. My back started to ache. The life of a pilgrim is not an easy one.

I have noticed that people approach the Camino in widely different ways. Some seem determined to just get to the next point as quickly as possible. They look straight ahead and have no time to chat, meditate or do anything. They are on a mission to pass everyone in sight.

Others prefer to take their time and enjoy the journey. They are always looking about and consciously soaking in the surroundings. These people often smile and are happy to chat with their fellow pilgrims. Stories are shared and, for a very brief time, friendships are made.

From time to time we also encountered those who were riding bikes. These were even more determined to get past as fast as possible, often offering a shout to scare the walkers off the trail in front of them. I would not be surprised if they are recording their efforts on Strava, to try to better the time of the last rider to come this way.

I have to admit that I feel the closest affinity for the slower walkers as I think that they best en capture the true meaning of what the camino should really all be about.

The end point of our day's walk was the famous bridge at Puente de la Reina, just over 20 km from our starting point at Pamplona. When we finally arrived I was very happy to stop walking and give my sore back a bit of a rest. After a late lunch in a local cafe we climbed aboard the bus for our short transfer to Logrono. A look around the bus showed that many pilgrims had fallen into a deep sleep.

We are now happily arrived at the Gran Via Hotel in the centre of the city. When I found that my room had a bath tub I promptly filled it with hot water and proceeded to soak my sore back for over 30 minutes. It certainly felt good. When I met up with the others for dinner I found that several of them had also done exactly the same thing.

Speaking of dinner, it was served in a much nicer room room than the previous night's dinner, but we were not so happy to discover that the main course was, once again, a chicken leg and some potato slices. It was almost the same as the last hotel, albeit it had been cooked better. The desert was also a very disappointing little container of icecream, obviously straight out of the freezer section of the nearest supermarket. The only thing that was supplied in abundance was copious quantities of wine - not much use for those of us who do not drink it. If you want anything other than wine, you have to pay for it. Strange but true.Okumaya devam et