September 23 2021
I arrived in Pamplona yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, I arrived too late to take the bus. At this time of the year there is only one bus which leaves Pamplona at 2:30 pm and arrives in St Jean Pied du Port at 4:15 pm.
That actually gave me a good chance to walk around the city and get reacquainted. I walked over the Jesus y Maria albergue and made a reservation for my return on Monday the 27th. Interestingly, the albergue was completo so that tells me that the camino is still crowded but I have to take into account that they are only allowed 50% occupancy. I now have reservations for the first 6 days of my Camino. I will figure out as I go along if I need more.
I was able to stay awake until almost 9 pm last night which is a victory considering I only had a few hours sleep for the prior few days. I slept until 6 am and feel great today. A few café con leches does not hurt the cause.
I am still amazed at how many people smoke in Spain, and yet the life expectancy here is the second highest in the world. I guess all of the walking must help. People young and old are out walking everywhere. It is so great.
This morning I went for a walk along the Camino. I was late at around 9 am so there were few pilgrims. I will assume that they were all out on the trail since you need to be out of the albergue by 8 am.
I’m off the walk around and then catch the bus.