Where in the world is David today? On the other side of the Pyrenees, in Pamplona

OK, so I have a dilemma. I feel I ought to keep this short and get to sleep, but there is a lot to say, and I keep forgetting things. So, it will have to be a bit of a catch up while I can. First thing to say: I am over the Pyrenees and in Pamplona in a huge new refuge with well over a hundred pilgrims. Most whom are still being very noisy – they seem to have caught it from the Spaniards, who are much noisier than the French. There have been two different street events going on this evening – one involving traditional Basque music and dancing, and the other connected with the Pamplona Book Fair – held in the biggest square in town in marquees. So it has been very noisy. Not to mention the fact that there has been thunder and lightning over the last hour (rain is promised for tomorrow). I have now put my earplugs in, on the advice of my German optician neighbour, Christoph, who has done the Camino before and knows the ropes. Incidentally, I have just enjoyed listening to him saying evening prayer, Deutsche Evangelische Kirche-style, complete with whistled Lutheran hymn tunes.

Yes, over the Pyrenees. I can hardly believe it. I had a real resistance to starting today, but I woke early and was ready for breakfast at 6.30am, and ready to leave by 8.30am. However, chatting with my American film-maker, friend Marc Israel, making a sound clip with him (which I might try to post in a day or two) and filming him struggling with his bad knee, all took up another half hour and I didn’t leave till 9.00am, after virtually all the others except Marc, who was going nowhere but resting his knee. Even the Korean family who arrived in the middle of the night were off before me. (Incidentally, people of 72 nations have already taken part in the Camino this year, and there have been a lot of South Koreans doing it recently – that was an interesting topic for speculation, but we should just have asked them really.

Little things I have been forgetting come to mind at this point. Here are a handful. It was wonderful yesterday to see an Eagle landing. It was really funny two days ago to see a goat waiting patiently to cross the road, watching the traffic in both directions. I was sure I heard cowbells yesterday – and the scenery and houses have been very like Switzerland up in the Pyrenees – today I actually saw one, on a horse. Last night’s socialising became far more interesting when our French ex-rugby international revealed that he had a gift of healing, and proceeded to lay hands on some of the other guests (with consent of course) with good results. That shook things up a bit. Hopefully, it might also have Marc back on his feet eventually. I didn’t have my knee prayed for because it has been behaving so well, and it even survived today without a support – though with a little sensitivity. And finally, talking to Marc about doing the Camino as a cultural Jew, through and through, has set me thinking about Jewish spirituality and pilgrimage given the ‘wandering’ story that is so central to Jewish identity. David Prais – if you’re reading this, we need a conversation on the subject, please.

Anyway, to get back to the subject, the day started out cool – as the photostream shows, it was a misty start – in fact in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port it looked positively cloudy. But 4 miles into the journey at Arneguy, where I reached the Spanish border, the sun was beating down and that’s how it stayed, though it never got above the mid 90s today, ha ha. My guide suggested that there would be nothing too daunting early on, but the hill into Valcarlos made me wonder whether it was all going to be that hard. In the event, I managed. For a long time I was riding on my own, up sustained 7-8% gradients, but then I caught up with two Belgians having a rest, and set off again with them. This was with six km to go, and it was a good move. I stuck on the tail of the slower one, and just ground along in bottom gear. He had much lower gearing to play with than me, which was interesting at times, but I managed to find a pace and rhythm that wasn’t raising my heart rate too nastily, and wasn’t straining my lungs, and I just kept going. We stopped again half way up that last 6k, and made it to the top in just under three hours from starting. I was pretty impressed. We’d been passed on the way by a local cycle race, but they weren’t leaving us behind as much as I had expected. Full marks to all of us. I cannot tell you the feeling of elation on reaching the top, and the joy of encouraging others up the last steep stretch to the Ibaneta Summit sign and the chapel.

That was time for lunch – slightly early, but the input was needed. I hung around for an hour, in fact, soaking up the views and the atmosphere, chatting with Steve, a long-distance motorcycle enthusiast (he’s done Africa from north to south), and being photographed with all the crazy Belgians up there. I peeked in the chapel, which was closed, as it often is, apparently, and climbed up to the monument to the legendary Roland, said to have perished up there, though the Chanson de Roland is probably a bit inaccurate on that score. And I enjoyed the wildflowers and the breeze. All felt good, and a descent lay ahead. Most of the people I had met on the way were only going a short distance further to Roncesvalles, where many people actually start the pilgrimage, but I was going further. However, after leaving Ibaneta, I did stop at Roncesvalles to get stamped, spend time in the church – very atmospheric – and have a good drink!

From there, I had not expected two more substantial climbs, but there were. The guide spoke of a ‘short ascent’ to Alto de Erro. The guide’s idea of short is a bit dodgy. It should have a health warning on it, though the guide does assume you will leave it till the next day. There were exhilarating descents, but there were also long downhill stretches where the katabatic wind more than compensated for the downward gradient and pedalling was surprisingly necessary. The afternoon was extremely warm, which made it every bit as demanding as the morning, but I am glad to have carried on the 47km to Pamplona. In spite of the guide’s warnings, it wasn’t too hard to find the way in – by asking! What was harder was to find the Tourist Office, where accommodation help could be found (and a stamp obtained). From there it was a short walk to the new refuge, which is magnificent. A shower was had, laundry was done, the mobile broadband dongle was coaxed into action and a friend was made, in the shape of Christoph.

I’ve already referred to Pamplona’s night scene, which was interesting. The Cathedral isn’t much to see at the moment being covered with scaffolding for major repair work, so that gets a miss. Now things shift a gear or two, and although tomorrow will have climbing again, it should be manageable, and the distances are now going to be generally shorter. I am into a different mode of pilgrimage, and will be much more often in the company of other pilgrims, sharing our stories, and, actually, discovering them. These pilgrims are people real faith.