All posts tagged: Navarra

Day 5 – Sansol to Logroño

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Today I’m heading to Logroño, which is a 21,3 km walk, on mostly natural paths and dirt tracks through farmland. Here is a view from the Alto de Nuestra Señora del Poyo, looking out over a vineyard. This is still Navarra, but just before Logroño, we’ll enter the region of La Rioja. Just outside Sansol in Torres del Río, I meet the two Swedish women from yesterday’s dinner, Malin and Maria, and we continue to walk together. It’s always fun to get to know more about the new people I meet along the way. They come from Malmö, a city in southern Sweden opposite Copenhagen, where I myself enjoyed living for over six years. We stop and rest in Viana and have a late breakfast or early lunch in my case, at the café tucked beside the church Iglesia de Santa Maria. Here in Viana we meet Elin and Rickard, Kristina and also Kristine with her children again, as they are leaving the café when we arrive. I’m glad to see that there often seems …

Day 4 – Villamayor de Monjardín to Sansol

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Today, believe it or not, I actually got lost! I didn’t think it was possible, as the trails are generally well marked. Also, I sat on the balcony yesterday and watched pilgrims walk by on the street below. So what made me go up into the village and start walking on an unmarked dirt road, at the top of the village? Happily leaving Villamayor de Monjardín behind me early in the morning. I follow my app Organic Maps which usually is reliable. I’m full of energy, and feel like I’m flying along the trail at the top of the ridge. Eventually I come to the conclusion that I must be on an unmarked cycle path. I’m not too worried, despite the lack of the yellow arrows that usually show the way. During the previous days, the paths for pilgrims on foot and pilgrims on bicycles often crossed each other. Sooner or later this road will cross the camino, I think optimistically. It doesn’t. It ends on a paved road for cars with no edge to …

Day 3 – Estella to Villamayor de Monjardín

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Last year I had to start very early every morning to beat the heat, and I enjoyed the wonderful sunrises. This year is very different. It seems like overcast days and rain will be more the norm, and I figured I might as well have a lie in, since I won’t be walking far today. Well, it doesn’t work out as I had planned, as I wake up early to the rustle of backpacks and people moving about, and then the blinds are pulled up and the windows are thrown wide open by the staff as early as seven o’clock, so I guess the day has started for me too. Amazingly my feet and legs feel fit for another day of walking, and I’m out of the door just before 9 o’clock, which is late in anyone’s book. Leaving Estella, a town I would have liked to explore more. After Estella I pass a delightful forge just outside the small village of Ayegui. It’s called La Forage de Ayegui and it’s run by the most …

Day 2 – Puente la Reina to Estella

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I leave Puente la Reina for this hike of 22 km, under lightning and thunder. The rain continues to pour down for most of the day, causing the roads and paths to quickly turn into rivers and small lakes. At first I walk on the edges as much as I can to avoid the water. I need to keep my feet as dry as possible, to avoid getting blisters. But as the day progresses and the rain continues, I give up. Nevertheless, I appreciate today’s stage. The landscape is beautiful and the forces of the weather do not make it any less so. Approaching the medieval hilltop village of Cirauqui. I didn’t run into many pilgrims today except Leonardo from Italy, who I bumped into now and then, whose cheerful yellow rucksack cover was the only reminder of the absent sun. Waterfalls in the steep alleyways of Cirauqui! Today’s outfit. The sun hat I bought also turned out to be a perfect rain hat, as it held the hood of the rain poncho in place …

Day 1 – Pamplona to Puente la Reina

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I’m exited to start my camino. This first leg is between Pamplona and Puente la Reina, a distance of 24 km, and I leave the hostel at 6:30. It turns out to be a beautiful day with sunshine, and I’m enjoying myself. Before I even leave Pamplona, ​​I meet Ricardo from Mexico. I notice him because he is walking very slowly. We team up and eventually find our way out of town. He is also starting from Pamplona and will go all the way to Santiago de Compostela. We share stories and have a good time before I tell him to feel free to move on, as I suspect he really is a fast walker, because he’s just described a religious ceremony in Mexico in honour of St. John involving two days of straight walking 90 km on asphalt, which he has done not once but twice. In the distance we spot the mountain we’ll have to cross to get to Puente la Reina. On the way at last and feeling very happy! On the …