Thursday, April 25, 2013

Day 4 walking. Pamplona! We made it on Anzac Day 25 April

A day full of highlights.

As we walk I think about blog topics, and I had a few today, even before we reached our destination, and that one just blew us away.... Walking into Pamplona. But first things first.

Going to bed before 9 pm, in broad daylight isn't difficult when you are totally stuffed. But the down side is, we wake up early.... When we returned from dinner before 8.30 half the people in our dormitorio were already asleep, so we decided not to pack our gear ready for the next day. Big mistake, and since there was a place to put things, we had unpacked more than usual. Early morning, around 5am, not much movement, apart from a few soles making their way outside to the toilet in the next building. Lex and I were awake, so decided to head out.... Taking all our gear outside to pack it up. Picked up my trousers, and dropped all the coins out of a pocket!!!  Leaving quietly was a dismal failure.

Today we  walked through forests, farmland, villages, alongside streams and mountain sides (up and down again, but not as much as previous days), along mostly gravel tracks, and sometimes parallel to the highway, and into the amazing old walled city of Pamplona.  Stopped for breakfast in a beautiful small village. Think it was Irotz, after which the track divided - ariba o abajo. We took the high road.... Which led up to a lovely old church. What a gem of an experience.

Talked to a lady who told us the history of the church, about the bell tower, which we climbed, and tapped on the huge bell. Such a beautiful sound. It was surrounded by a sea of flowers, tulips and small wild daisies.


The trail approaches the outskirts of Pamplona via ancient medieval bridge, then through a quiet, mainly pedestrian area.


Just like in the movie, we ran into some new friends, and stopped for a welcome drink before trekking the final 4.5km into the city centre. The path is marked the entire way. Follow the yellow arrows or pilgrim shell, painted on everything.


And in to the centre with the most impressive ancient city walls. Just jaw-dropping!



Tonight we are staying at another municipal Albergue Jesus and Maria. Beautiful old building. Part of 17 century Jesuit church, and seems to be recently done up. 114 beds. Lower bunks tonight so all good.


Such an amazing feeling walking through this city. Can't wait to go and explore, but we have washing to do. ;-(

Notes to self.
  • Walked about 22km today, Zubiri to Pamplona, through forests, farmland, villages, alongside streams and mountain sides (up and down again, but not as much as previous days), along mostly gravel tracks, and sometimes parallel to the highway, and into the amazing old walled city of Pamplona.
  • 22km Zubiri to Pamplona
  • Jesus and Maria Albergue is excellent. 7€ bed only. Free use of washing machine. Wifi available, but only in foyer and weak. Doors shut at 11pm
  • Lots of interesting bars near the Albergue. Vino and tapas for 2€. We had a couple. Small beer for 1€. And some more wine and tapas elsewhere for 10.90€. That was dinner. Enjoyed company of Dirk and Tilly and talked about Cusco and Sacred Valley.
  • Pack the night before.
  • Got a blister on my heel from sandals. #%%^#}
  • Had planned to stay another night in Pamplona. But raining, walked around city wall early (magnificent), had breakfast for 7€, and decided to walk on. Drizzling rain.


Yeah.... we are connected!

We purchased a Nano Sim from an Orange dealer in Pamplona for our ipad. Woohoo. We paid 20€ for the SIM card and an upgrade to 1gb of data on a one month prepaid plan. It was perfect and worked brilliantly. We use wifi whenever possible, but being able to use 3G service almost everywhere means we can talk to family back in Aust whilst walking- sharing our journey, and calling at a mutually convenient time.

Orange shop rep in Pamplona was very helpful, inserting the SIM card for me, checking that it was set up properly, showing me how to check my data usage, although I didn't bother doing that. Apparently you need a Spanish address to set up prepaid plan, my address was the Orange shop.
Perfect.
Love being connected!!!

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