20.9 km – 13 miles

7:30 am to 1:30pm of walking

151.5 meters/1627 feet elevation gain

I left my nice albergue (pictured above) later than I had planned on today. It felt nice just taking my time this morning, especially knowing today was about the same distance as yesterday. I also decided that I’m going to spring for hotels sprinkled throughout this walk and I got one in Pamplona for tonight. I’ll mostly stay in albergues, but every now and then it’s nice to have your own room, your own shower, and no one else snoring or turning lights on and off at random times.

Leaving early meant not getting to see much of sunrise and also meant it warmed up a bit quicker. Luckily there was a nice breeze today. Breaks came a little fewer than I anticipated, so my first break was about 9km into the walk. This is where I introduced an Australian to amazingness of Aquarius – a really good electrolyte drink that I fell in love with in Japan. It’s the perfect thirst quencher on the Camino.

Usually approaching a bigger city means you see a bit more of the industrial parts as you approach the city. There was a bit of that today, but then there were some nice sections as well. My favorite part was walking through the woods alongside a small river. Pamplona is a nice city to visit so it was also fun once I hit the edge of the city.

I’m currently waiting on some spaghetti bolognese while sitting in the main plaza of Pamplona. This plaza is just a block off from the famous running of the bulls route. I’ll do some exploring around Pamplona after eating my late lunch. I also have a plan to get a drink with Hemingway at Cafe Iruña later – a famous bar because he used to drink there.

One more cute doggie I came across today.