My albergue served coffee and toast at the mutually agreed time of 7am so I was able to have a 7:30 am start. It was light out but the sun was not yet over the horizon yet and it was still cool so I hope I can get some miles in before the heat comes. I also can’t dawdle today because I’ve a bus to catch.

It was very quiet with just me on the trail for a good 30 minutes which was lovely. I started walking past farms but soon switched to walking along the river Arga which I did for most of the day.

At 6 kms a little bridge ended at an open cafe and so gathered many pilgrims. (A nice Japanese lady took the photo below but unfortunately cropped the headed of the pilgrim statue I was posing beside!). The route became very busy but I’m enjoying the company; I may very well be walking alone after today….

There’s a lot of marching pilgrims, I hope this is their normal walking speed and not a tempo they’re feeling pressured to take by the sheer volume of people on the trail. I think all my hiking friends will agree that one invariably feels “pushed” to go a little faster than normal when there’s a line of hikers behind.

At Villava, 5kms from Pamplona I took a deviation from the now urban Camino and walked through a park along the river with all the locals out for a Saturday stroll which was lovely and shaded from the increasingly warm sun.

I arrived in Pamplona a bit after noon, so plenty of time to catch my 2:30pm bus. I had a picnic lunch in the park behind the bus station and was even able to hop on the earlier 2pm bus. It was a very long 2 hours on very winding roads, I was very, very glad to arrive in San Sebastián! A quick change of buses and I was off to Bayonne, France!

Bayonne is a pleasant town. It was late on a Saturday afternoon and the old town was bustling with stalls on the streets, people in the cafes, all the shops open. I went straight to the cathedral to get my stamp for my credential to signify the start of the Baztan route, then around the corner to my albergue.

I’m staying in the apartment of a lady who has opened up her place to pilgrims. She accommodates 5 in one spare room, and offers breakfast at whatever time each of us wis. I was ushered in to a welcome cup of tea with the other 4 pilgrims. Her place is a lovely hodgepodge of art, plants, and animals. I’m not sure the price yet but whatever it is, it’ll be far cheaper than any hotel here. Cheap sleeps are thin on the ground here.

Tonight I’m showering, grabbing a quick bite, and relaxing. I’m tired – a combination of accumulating mileage, hot temperatures, and lingering jet lag. It’s a short day tomorrow so I’ll take my time….