23.8km

We leave at 7.30am because it’s gonna be a slightly longer walk today. We follow city pavements toward the outskirts of Pamplona, some with adjacent bicycle paths, with embossed metal trail markers at regular intervals.

It’s 3°C, I’m exhaling steam and wearing my puffy, which I like because it makes me feel like an *important hiker*. The skies are clear, and as the pavement gives way to farmland the sun rises beautifully. We marvel at it and stop to take a lot of photos. The sun is on our left, so I only put sunscreen on the left side of my face.

We continue on some rocky trails (I think of the Kings of Convenience song), and get “buen camino”s from various people going past us (including some motorcross riders), more so than the last few days.

We continue straight, alongside farmland towards a hill in the distance with a row of wind turbines. Samuel, who we met at Aloha Hostel, catches up with us and joins our little group.

It’s a gentle upslope through the towns of Cizur Menor and Zariquiegui, which are quiet with nothing open. The more we walk towards the row of wind turbines, the more we ascend past rolling hills and see Pamplona laid out behind us. I shed my puffy eventually. We lose Ji Sung and Samuel, who walk faster, and towards the top I lose Areum as well, as I stop to take photos.

Closer to the top, the wind turbines cast long moving shadows over me as they spin. I look out and think of how I’ll miss such landscapes in Singapore.

I reach the top, which is near the base of one of the wind turbines, and see the three of them waiting. They’re sitting down for a snack and enjoying the amazing view on the other side of the hill. The iconic metal Camino sculpture turns out to be here too.

I take it all in. It is beautiful.

I sit down and get my food out as well. Ji Sung offers me bread, Samuel offers me delicious cheese. I have gummy bears and Takis in return.

When we are done, we take the path down the other side of the hill. It’s a lot of loose gravel, so I try to be careful not to roll my ankles. After leaving the trail to take a pee in nature’s toilet, el baño de la naturaleza, I lose the group as they walk ahead. The rhythmic crunch of my footsteps and the trekking pole on gravel is assuring. When I sit on a bench to rest, it is quiet.

The trail continues through grassland, as the sun shines bright.

I catch up with Ji Sung and Areum closer to the first town on the way down. There are a few more towns, but no restaurants are open, so we subsist on what we’ve brought. But it’s not that tiring today, so it feels sufficient.

We reach Puente la Reina and go to the Padres Reparadores Pilgrims Hostel, which is more like an albergue, especially with its price of €7. Samuel and the five Koreans from the Pamplona hostel have already arrived.

After some cleaning up and laundry, Areum and I go about the town to take it in before sun sets. We go to the bridge Puente la Reina is named after (puente is “bridge” in Spanish) and take photos.

After getting stuff at the supermarket, we regroup for dinner. Unfortunately the restaurants only open at 7.30pm (Spanish eat dinner late), so we go back to the albergue and snack on what we got at the supermarket: jamón ibérico (Iberian ham), conservas (this time, preserved cuttlefish) and torreznos (pork rinds that reminded me of chicharon in the Philippines)—and down it with Estrella beer.

We go to a restaurant when it opens and each order a menú del día, a common Spanish set menu which includes a starter (primero), a main (segundo), dessert (postre), a drink, and bread. For the first time, I eat artichoke, and pimientos (peppers) stuffed with cod. I get flan for dessert, and tinto de verano (summer soda wine) by which the bar owner passes me a soda bottle to pour myself.

We learn more about Samuel and the conversations are great. Leaving the restaurant full, we shiver back to the albergue in the cold night, but I am warm inside.