April 18 - day 5

Day 5 Pamplona to Puente le Reine - 24 km

Things heated up today. We left Pamplona a bit after 8:00 (breakfast included). It took a little while to leave the city, then we went through Cizur Menor before getting into the countryside. Once we left the roadway we started up a hill that led to the highest point today - Alto de Perdon. Before we reached the top we stopped at Zariquiegui for “the best coffee ever”, as advertised. Also got an early lunch sandwich.

Then a steep climb to the top to see one of the most famous Camino landscapes -see attached photo. Any high ridge has a lot of windmills (not the Don Quixote style, very modern). This ridge had many.

The "pilgrims" here were sponsored by the electricity company that has windmills all over Spain

After a short break we started down. By then it was getting hot and we had a long way to go still. The first bit was very steep with loose rock, quite nasty. Then more gradual with some ups and downs as we passed through 3 villages on our way to Puente Reina. This is a lovely town, built around a beautiful bridge built by the queen in the 11th century.

This bridge is the cover photo of this website, but I took this photo myself

We had booked ahead this morning and had a room for 4 in a nice Albergue. Two of our party of six opted to stay an extra day in Pamplona to heal some aches. They call us the advance party.

Walked around a bit, then my daughter Rachel and I had a pilgrim meal at a restaurant just off the plaza.

Today’s lesson: you can book some places beforehand, by calling ahead, or some even by booking.com (and even pay by credit card).

Cafe con leche, banana, half sandwich 4 Euro

Snacks 2.50 E

Albergue 15 E

Pilgrim dinner 10 E