Follow Your Arrow

My Camino buddy, Dana, sadly had to stay in Pamplona today to fight off whatever illness has grabbed her. This is so very disappointing- a trip planned for over a year has been sidelined. A reminder that fate can interfere with our intentions and test our resolve. Dana is taking this in stride and plans to rest and then carry on to Canfranc where we will serve together as volunteer hospitaleras (hosts) in an albergue there. Watch this space for stories on all the interesting Pilgrims we meet in Canfranc.

So, I walked this first leg of our mini Camino solo, starting with a bus from Pamplona to Nardués – a collection of a few house, a church and a population of 13 (not kidding, I looked at the Census data). I was the only person on the bus to get off at Nardués, where there was was not even a bus stop. I exited onto the side of a country road, and asked myself “where the hell am I and I what have o done?”

And then this angel appeared, saving me from heading in the wrong direction from the random corner where I stood. Miracles do happen on the Camino of you make space for them. Constantin, as I would later learn to be his name, was walking up the hill as I was scratching my head and wondering which way to go. “Buen Camino” I said, to which he replied in kind. Constantin was traveling east to west on the Camino Aragones (as most do, in the direction of Santiago), and I was heading east to Canfranc. We walked awhile together so that Constantin could rejoin the traditional Aragones (he had taken a detour to see a gorge). Constantin told me he was originally from Romania but living in Strasbourg France. I said, that once upon a time I taught international law in Iasi, Romania, to which he replied, “I’m from Iasi and I went to law school there.” What are the odds? Constantin was the only other person I saw the entire day of my 5 hour walk.

The Camino Aragones is a little known route that runs nearly parallel and south of the Camino Frances, the route that most people refer to as THE Camino. In fact there are many Caminos to Santiago, and to Rome and elsewhere. The Aragones begins in Somport in France and heads west to Santiago, through Canfranc and joins the Camino Frances at Puenta La Reina. It’s a 170 km trek, but I will do just a portion of it, west to east, about 120 km, as time will tell. Today’s walk was harder than I expected, in part because at times I was not sure I was on the trail, I was alone, and a wee bit nervous. A pair of nesting pheasants scared the b-Jesus out of me while in a trance like cadence. The Aragones is a notably quiet trail: few cars, very few pilgrims, few villages, and certainly no cities along the way. As I walked today, I found myself talking out loud to keep myself company. I didn’t want to spoil the quiet or miss something by tuning out with a podcast or music, and even if I did I could not risk draining my phone battery. And it was a long day. My hamstrings ache and once again, my pack is heavier that it ought to be – in spite of my best efforts at minimalism.

After settling Pickle and me into our austere lodging for the night, I ventured into the centre of Sangüesa and waited – with a glass of wine – for the restaurants to begin serving food at 8:00 pm. Eventually I had a hamburger and a plate of French fries and refuelled for another day on the Camino.