Thursday, June 9, 2016

Camino Frances Day 1

“Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies, and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16

The Camino is well marked in Pamplona with signs on buildings depicting a yellow shell on a blue background. There are also metal discs in the ground every 10 feet to show you the path out of town.
Once we were out of Pamplona, we were on a gravel path that led through fields along the countryside. People stop in shady spots to rest, adjust their packs and poles, and reapply sunscreen, lip balm, etc. The local Spaniards use the trails also for their daily walks. We were greeted with “Hola, Buen Camino” by almost every single local we encountered. This truly takes effort as there are hundreds of pilgrims on the Camino each day and shows the incredible hospitality Spaniards extend to the pilgrims journeying through their homeland.

When we reached the first village Cizur Menor about an hour into our walk, we filled our water bottles at the town fuente (fountain) and stopped for cafe con leche and servicios (bathrooms). These are available at bars in each village. We then walked for another 2-3 hours along a mostly sunny path with a nice shady break in a forest along a river and stopped in the village of Zariquiegui for bocadillos (huge ham sandwiches that are basically a few slices of jamon on a French bread loaf).

After lunch and a rest, we started to climb and climb and climb until we reached Alto del Perdon - a metal sculpture of medieval pilgrims heads bent into the wind. This sculpture lies on a ridge among numerous wind turbines. After a good rest, we began our decent on a very rocky path. The decent was so steep and rocky that it was actually harder work than the climb. After several more hours of walking, we stopped for the day in Uterga at an albergue called Casa Bastan. We booked a private room for the three of us for 45 Euros that includes breakfast. For another 10 Euros each, we were served dinner by Christopher, the owner of the albergue. We dined with peregrinos from Costa Rica, Russia, and Hawaii. Even though 2 of the 6 of us spoke only a little English, we all managed to converse, tell stories, and enjoy each other’s company.

We covered a little over 17 kilometers today. Tomorrow we continue our journey along The Way.

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