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| Contour Map: Copyright John Brierley click here to see notes |
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| Contour Map: Copyright John Brierley click here to see notes |
Click here for Google Map and my starting point today
I got up around 6am and went about the morning rituals again. Had a light breakfast and eventually set off at about 8am leaving Pamplona behind and setting my sights on Puente La Reina. A short distance into my walk I had my first meeting up with Michael and his wife Jane a really nice couple from the UK. He is a retired anaesthetist having worked in both in the UK and Australia. They were great company today and every time our paths crossed.
Wind Turbines:From Cizur Menor I could see the massive wind turbines stretching all across the mountains in the distance. They looked so far away and yet marked only the half way point of the walk I planned for today. I love the open countryside and have often commented to others about building or structures that ruin the landscape, yet, I love these wind turbines. I know people can be divided on the subject and there is much debate about the noise when in close proximity to them. There was hardly a day while walking the Camino that I could not catch sight of them in the distance. Last year while on a US road trip they were dotted all along the west coast. I would love to see more of them in Ireland. Anyway, I digress, back to day 4 of my Camino experience.
Just as I was leaving Cizur Menor I heard the cries of a young baby coming from a small housing estate on the outskirts of the town. (see Topic below)
I am nursing blisters on the balls of both my feet today as well as some on my toes. My thighs were very painful for the first hour today too but that eased off gradually. I met a Russian guy who said he changes his socks every two hours and never gets a blister, too late now. Upon reaching Alto del Perdon you can see the larger than life metal sculptures dedicated to the pilgrims who walk the Camino. The views from here are spectacular. You may also get up close to the 'beautiful' wind turbines : ) I met Peter here, an Irish guy from Sligo but living in Dublin, he took the photo of me in front of the metal pilgrims. I also met Aileen and a couple who are actually friends with a family living very close to where I live. It's a small world.
As each pilgrim takes breaks at different times along the way it is normal to pass them and then they pass you out. Sometimes you will meet up and chat while taking a break or walk together for a brief while and get to know each other a little better. There is a great sense of having this common objective and unfortunately the same aches, pains and blisters.
I made my way through Puente la Reina because the hostel Albergue Apostol, situated at the far end of the town, boasted a swimming pool. The trek up to hostel at the end of a long walk is steep but worth the effort. It's modern with great facilities. I never made it to the pool. I washed all my clothes, sorted out my gear, again, I may yet find the most efficient way to do this.
At dinner I sat with John from Knocklyon, Vinny from Sligo but living in Clonmel. They were travelling on their bikes. Also at the table was Christine from Toronto, a young woman with an incredible knowledge of soccer not just in Canada and the US but right across the globe. We had good craic together. Also at the table, just outside my very limited hearing when in groups, was Antoinette from Leitrim and Ellie from Victoria in Southern Australia. I met with both Ellie and Antoinette on many more occasions over the course of my journey.
Returning to my bed I turned my attention to my blistered feet. I decided I would put fresh dressing on them in the morning.
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Other Links, relating to this section of the Camino, you may wish to follow
Pamplona:
Cizur Menor:
Wikipedia on Cizur Menor - This is Spanish version, use the 'Translate' button for your language.
Alto del Perdon:
Puerte la Reina:
Wikipedia on Puerta la Reina - This is Spanish version, use the 'Translate' button for your language.
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Topic: Desensitised - ResensitisedI think , as we make our way through life, we can become desensitised to the real world, the suffering and pain, the hunger and the strife all across the globe. We may acknowledge a situation or the suffering of others, we may make offers to help or give some small financial support but then move on without really empathising with those less fortunate than ourselves. I know there are many who devote their lives to helping others so I am not talking about them. I am talking about myself and most other people I know. How have we become so numb, so blind to everything that's wrong with the world and how do we continue to let it happen. I am not going to try and answer my own question, I'm just putting it out there. We become desensitised.
What I have noticed as I start to relax, to clear out all the clutter in my head, is that I have a renewed awareness. The further I go along the Camino, walking for hours on my own, the more I start to look into those things that are really important to me in my life. I think I am being resensitised (if that's a word, or two) to my surroundings. There are some stories I will relate to you later about my brother and my mother that would not have occurred had I not set out on this journey. Memories buried deep in my past that came to me while walking but that's for a different topic.
Talking about being resensitised, let me give you a couple of examples.
I was just outside Cizur Menor, observing the wind turbines all across the mountainside up to Alto del Perdon, the halfway point of this stage, when I heard the cries of a very young child. I looked back to where I believed the cries were coming from, it was a small housing estate on the outskirts of the town, about two or three hundred meters behind me. I am a father and grandfather and like most parents we know the different cries of a child, they want food, changing, comforting etc. This cry struck me in my heart, I was stopped in my tracks unable to move and undecided what to do. I knew I could do nothing because it was really just a baby crying and sooner or later they would be comforted but I knew then that the protective layers I had built around myself, the same layers many of us build, were falling away and I was more in touch with my surrounding and my feeling than I had been for many years.One evening, towards the end of my journey I received word from my Dad that an old friend had just a few short days to live after a long and painful struggle with cancer. I have not seen her for many years but she is still best friend to one of my sisters. I knew my sister's heart would be broken. I called my sister the next day while on the road and despite the fact that I had not seen this old friend for many years, the conversation with my sister brought the full scale of this tragic episode into context and it hit me like a sledge hammer. I had to stop walking and spent some time thinking about her and memories came back to me. I thought about how she must be feeling, her pain and now confronted with the end of her life. It's at these times that I would like to believe in some deity, someone to pray to but that not who I am. She died before I got home. Being resensitised is a wonderful experience but also a painful one.
