Thoughts from my Camino Frances Journey- Day 6
Date: April 15, 2025 Tuesday
Where did I begin today?
Pamplona (Casa Ibarrola) -> taxi to Alto del Perdón -> walk to Puente La Reina
Where will I stay this evening?
Puente La Reina (Jakue Hostel)
How far have I come?
13.5km (8.39miles) walking; 23.65km (14.7miles) total
Leaving Pamplona
A very wet morning
Caroline (CA) and I decided to taxi to the top of the hill today. I’m grateful because it was raining hard this morning and that doesn’t bode well for my new blister. I still wanted to walk through the walled part of the city though so we walked through Pamplona past the ciudaela, then called a taxi. The ride wasn’t too long and it was nice to split the cost of the fare too. When we arrived, it was cold and rainy at the Alto del Perdón so we quickly took photos and left. Once we started downhill, the wind and rain let up thankfully.
Alto del Perdón
monumento peregrino
The gravel path had lots of loose stones to walk over, but it was totally doable in my opinion. I just much prefer downhill and it didn’t seem to aggravate my blister much. We passed a sign that said 10.5km to Puente La Reina. Caroline is a good walking companion. We had interesting conversations (she just retired as a psychiatrist and this trip for her is a way to release all the built-up stress accumulated during her work) and also walked in comfortable silence. I also kept up at her pace fairly easily which is a good sign for my blister. Along the way we passed a bunch of fields with pretty yellow flowers. I looked it up later and think they were rapeseed flowers, used for making oil.
We started walking around 9am and arrived at Hostel Jakue around 11:30am. Check in was at noon and I was one of the first pilgrims to arrive so got my pick of the beds and showered. Jakue serves as both a pilgrim hostel and regular hotel, but I just booked the basic dorm accommodation. I took a bit of time for myself and ate tortilla de patatas at the bar before I needed to start work at 2pm.
Obanos
Follow the shell markings
Iglesia de San Juan Bautista
One of the compromises I was forced to make to do this trip involved working every Tuesday (not enough PTO otherwise) during my normal EST hours. For this reason, I had brought by work phone (normally turned off and kept in the bottom of my backpack in a waterproof pouch) and needed to walk shorter distances on Tuesday to make sure I arrived before 2pm with enough time to shower and unpack before logging in and also finding a quiet place to join the weekly marketing Teams call. This was another reason I had pre-booked my room and took a taxi this morning.
A pilgrim wheeling his pack behind him
If it wasn’t sprinkling, I would have worked in the garden
Garden entrance
I found a somewhat quiet spot on a couch in the hotel part of the lobby and got set up. Just then, Colin (the Scottish man I met on day one who is a fellow Elenor of Aquitaine enthusiast), Pam, and Annabelle arrived and we had a friendly chat before dinner. I took a break from work to eat the provided buffet with Sue, Bill, Annabelle, and Grace. Then went back to work and finished everything up by 9pm. I previewed the route tomorrow and am heading to bed now.
Buffet dinner at Jakue
Lots of dessert options
Pilgrim dorms are in the basement of the hotel
