Day 5: Pamplona to Puente la Reina

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac

Route:  Pamplona/Iruña to Puente la Reina/Gares
Date:  24 June 2014
Distance:  24 km (15 mi)
Accommodations: Albergue de los Padres Reparadores

0700 – I decided to eat leftover salad for breakfast.

0910 – Olalla and I took a break in a park in Cizur Menor. We saw many other pilgrims resting here.

Please click on photos to see larger view and captions.

1010 – Olalla posing for me on the beautiful route.

0950 – View from the trail

1010 I enjoyed the bucolic setting.

1030 – We crossed paths with these three friendly pilgrims from South Korea. I was very surprised by the number of South Koreans I met on the Camino.

1040 – Looking back toward Pamplona and the Pyrenees. We’ve come so far!

There is a very interesting post about the popularity of the Camino with South Koreans here.

1205 – After following the “Path of Forgiveness”, up from the valley, we came across this metal sculpture by Vicente Galbete on top of the ridge, which is best known as “Alto de Perdón”. There is an interesting Camino Forum thread about this spot on the Camino, including an alternate route.

1210 – As we began walking down the west side of the ridge, we saw this man walking up, headed eastward, an unusual sight on the Camino.

1220 – The rocky descent was at times overwhelming. I could well imagine someone twisting an ankle here.

Approaching Uterga

1240 – The view looking south from the Camino

1255 – Walk ever westward

You may already know how much I love photographing the old doors, walls, and windows…

1325 – This is my friend, Françoise, from France, leaving Uterga. This is one of my favorite photos from the Camino.

I think I will take this opportunity to tell you a little more about Françoise.

As I know only a handful of French words and the same is true of Françoise when it comes to English and Spanish, the majority of our communication was done via sign language and laughter. Although I didn’t realize it until she reminded me of it during Day 5, it turned out that Françoise and I had met on the evening of Day 1, at Auberge Orisson, in the Pyrenees.

The way Françoise reminded me of our first interaction was hilarious. She said, “Orisson” and “miroir” and then began mimicking me standing in front of the bathroom mirror pulling wisps of hair out of my ponytail band to frame my face. It was a pretty good imitation, really, and laughingly I remembered that I had been doing my hair and stepped aside so that she could wash her hands that first night. And here we were, still on the same schedule, five days later, despite being about 25 years apart in age.

Françoise and I remain in contact via Facebook. And I think I will take this opportunity to explain how wonderful I have found Facebook to be in relation to the Camino, rather ironically. Although I took pen and paper and some business cards with me last year, I found it much easier to pull up the Facebook app on my smartphone, hand it to the person I wanted to stay in touch with, and have them pull up their profile page and send a “friend” request right then and there. Since the Camino, I have used Facebook to share photos, reminisce about the journey, and provide information to other pilgrims.

Almost there!

Heading out to dinner in the rain.

Scrawny cat begging for dinner at the albergue.

Finding an outlet to recharge could be a challenge.

Poncho or rain coat and pants on the Camino de Santiago? What’s your preference?

Read my journal entry from the evening of Day 5 here.

See the post from Day 4 here.