23 Sept 2006 Pamplona to Puente la Reina

Dear Aymory

Left about 8:15 am. Beautiful day. The plan is to go to Uterga making this a shorter day of 17 km. It was a pleasant walk out of town. Stopped by an albergue run by the Order of St. John The Knights Hospitaller. No-one around but most albergues close their doors about 8:30 / 9:00 am anyways until about 3:00 pm. Tooks pics of the castle and flag.

On we went on a generally flat trail. BUT, I knew we were facing the Alto de Perdon, about a 2,500 foot climb to the top of a wind-swept ridge, lined with dozens of windmills. (You just HAVE to know that any place with the words 'height' and 'forgiveness' is NOT going to be a fun place!) It was a long, hard climb! Called Danielle from the summit and we had a nice chat :) Going down from the summit was VERY VERY hard. It was treacherously steep and rubble-strewn and my knee screamed. But, made it eventually. Limped on along laneways and footpaths lined with wild orchids, hyacinths and almond trees. Eventually we reached Uterga. Not a single bed available in the entire town! This is major! Normally, it wouldn´t be a big deal but here it is. When you are travelling on foot, everything is magnified. Options shrink, dramatically and problems intensify - weather, pain, distances to be covered, tireness, etc.

With no other options, we trudged on. hoping for the next town. In Obaños, there was an albeque - full. (The history of this village is interesting as it surrounds a silver-coated skull in the local church.) We ended up tramping another 11 km to Puente la Reina. There was a local fiesta including running bulls down the main street. We had a detour which took us off track and, with some difficulty found an albergue with 4 beds. It was 350 meters virtually straight up a ridge. I could have died!!! I struggled up, dragged myself in and, along with the others, collapsed into chairs by the bar.

After about an hour, we managed some laundry, got showered and more or less pulled ourselves back together. We were going to go back down into the town for the fiesta when the skies opened again. "Forget it! We´re staying" was the concensus.

Had dinner and enjoyed a great conversation with the other three men. While conversation along the Camino has been very good, its so much nicer to be able to finish a sentence without pausing for breath. Our conversation covered all points of the compass. Some humour has been infectious while other has simply been a way to ease a particularly difficult patch. They are easy men to be with and I will miss them when they have to leave early. I look forward to meeting with them in Toronto in November.

Walking like this also gives, as you can imagine, lots of time to reflect. Needs can become quite basic. Pilgrims are a dime a dozen along here and frequently treated as such. Slights hurt, whether here or at home. After all, you already know you look tired, sweaty and disheveled. But, simple kindnesses speak very loudly as well. - a glass of water or a friendly greeting can do wonders to lift the spirits.How many times do we ( I?? ) have the opportunity to make that simple gesture and let it slip silently by? Hopefully, I will recall my ragged image in a building window when a man gave me a glass of cold water.

Called Mom - surprised her. That was great. ;)

Found a note on my ruck when I returned from my shower - it was from Carina. Seeing my ruck in the corner, she just wanted to wish me well as she went on her way. Made some notes and went to bed.

Ultreya