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Published: September 30th 2014
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Today we start from Pamplona and walk to Puente La Reina, a total of about 24 kms. We left our accommodation at 7 am in a taxi and were dropped at the point to continue our walk. Not much point walking through an area of suburban Pamplona that we had already traipsed through numerous times, so a taxi was the order of the day.
Starting in the dark, the town lights illuminated the path enough to continue walking and we made good progress despite Sue having numerous blisters and I had a developing problem with a toe that became worse during the day. It's a family blog so no photos are shown. More pain than anything from having your feet constantly compressed into the toe of the boots on steep rocky declines. Still, there's plenty of others with worse than that.
After Cizur Menor , the path leaves the road and winds through ploughed fields towards Zariquiegui, a hillside hamlet with a small population but most importantly, a nice bar that serves breakfast. By this time we had been walking for a couple of hours so an omelet with potato, and coffee were very welcome. We rested there for
about 30 minutes before proceeding to the peak, Alto del Perdon, which has a pilgrim monument of wrought iron depicting medieval pilgrims and their donkeys bowing to the winds. The track was steep and rough at times but one foot ahead of the other always seems to get you there. Sue's feet were giving her some grief at this stage so I won't complain about mine. I admire her persistence considering I'm sure some people doubted she had what it takes to walk the Camino. Only a medical reason would stop her now and I think these problems will improve the further we go.
At the peak we took a couple of photos, had a breather and admired the many wind turbines along the ridge. In my opinion it is certainly the way to go but thats not an opinion held by all. The descent was long and rocky so we stopped at the first village we came to and inspected our feet, let them cool down and had a cup of tea. The next village was Obanos and we had bocadillos with cheese and a chorizo sort of sausage in them. Not a very healthy option but there's
not many options available.
From Obanos we had a short walk to Puente La Reina where a festival and market were in full swing. Tim just phoned me from town to say there had been a small Running of the Bulls and without warning he was caught on the wrong side of the barriers. He survived the ordeal and looking at his pictures, I think it could have been called the Running of the Calves..with big horns. The Bridge at puente La Reina is stunning and we crossed to make our way to our Alburge for the night. We will have dinner here tonight and be in bed early for a keen start in the morning.
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