20th April 2024 Pamplona to Obanos

Steve had a nervous belly this morning given his energy levels and his penchant for sweating profusely most of the time, especially with exercise.  I believe this will be a crucial thing to get right. He hydrated with Hydrolyte solution before we left drinking about 1.5L in the hour before we headed out the door at 0730H. Another 2 bottles were secure into his backpack, and I was carrying another 1.5L plus more Hydrolyte sachets so we felt quite confident that today was going to be a good one.

Through the almost deserted streets of Pamplona, we headed onwards and past quite a few cafeterias with a few pilgrims getting a good start to the day.  We bought creamed rice yesterday (arroz con leche) and ate it before heading out the door for some immediate carbs. 

Past some beautiful gardens we continued until we were past the University and moved onto the track through some bright yellow canola fields heading towards Cizur Menor; a very unassuming little town that was a base for the Knights Hospitaliers and the Order of Malta since the 12th Century and where there has been a pilgrims’ hotel since the 13th Century. 

I finally got to show Steve what I meant about the wind making patterns in the wheat fields and it was quite mesmerizing for him.  We even saw our first red poppy and they were quite regular after this.  We continued upwards and arrived in Zariquiegui – a beautiful little town with a gorgeous church, Iglesia de Sal Andres.  We spent a bit of time in this church and it was very serene with lovely music playing.  I headed to the little café and bought coffee for us both and a chocolate croissant at the recommendation of a few pilgrims who were debating going back for seconds.  The owner of the little shop bakes all her own goods including pastries and some empanadas that also looked lovely. The chocolate croissant was enough and fortified our souls for the walk up to Alto del Perdón (Hill of Forgiveness).

We wandered up with the windmills towering above us on the hill-line and we just kept getting closer and closer until we were finally there.  I love this part of the Camino where the flat cut outs of the many types of pilgrims are featured but I particularly love the inscription on one of these:

“Donde se cruza el camino del viento con el de las estrellas” – the translation is “Where the way of the wind meets the way of the stars”.  Beautiful.  It certainly was windy up there today.

Down the other side of the mountain we headed towards Uterga where we stopped for a late-ish lunch of pasta at Camino del Perdón – a private hostel with a beer garden.  A lovely man, originally from Washington State, gestured that we could sit at the table with him and his brother who are travelling together and we ended up having a lovely chat.  He had emigrated to Christchurch, NZ, just before the terrible earthquake and he and his wife went through that.  They left Christchurch and headed to Queenstown where they have lived ever since.  He would love to travel to Adelaide and Perth funnily enough as we hadn’t even said where we were from.  I told him he should just hire a car and drive between the two as it is an interesting drive.

The brother still lives in Washington State near the Cascade Mountains and runs a restaurant there and was hopeful his staff were doing a good job in keeping it going while he walked with his brother.

It wasn’t far from there to Obanos (5km) but we spent the time wandering down the path where vineyards had started appearing and there were many almond trees growing.  The difference in the plant life on this side of the mountain is significant and probably due to the rainfall in part but maybe this side is a little more protected.

There are always uphills or stairs at the end of the day and today was no different…uphill into Obanos then stairs up to our room.  After showers and washing clothes, we headed downstairs for computer time before dinner was to be made by our host.

We were seated opposite a father and son, Dave and Scott – Dave is a lawyer who has just retired from his practice.  It has been his dream to walk the Camino for many years.  His wife was initially going to walk with him but broke her ankle two years ago and they could no longer plan on doing it together but their son, Scott, an IBM manager, stepped in and so they are walking together.

Dinner was amazing and all homemade; a delicious vegetable soup followed by pasta that was incredible – full of vegetables and some small chunks of meat.  Slightly spicy and so good but we were still full from our lunch so we didn’t eat it all. 

We had decided to have breakfast here in the morning and it would not be ready until 0800H so this, combined with a really easy day tomorrow meant we didn’t have to organise our bags until the morning.  Alarm was set for 0700H to get this done so we could head off at a leisurely pace to Eunate that opens at 1000H.