Day 6: Pamplona to Puente La Reina

"Caminante, no hay camino"
            -Antonio Machado

Dec 20, 2010:
Was very glad to get out of Pamplona this morning, despite the fact that my leg was still a little iffy, and despite the fact that I really, really like Pamplona.  Fact is, resting my tendons involved not moving around all that much, and as a result, I ended up spending most of my time in Pamplona in the hotel, on my back, with my foot elevated.  In a city like Pamplona, knowing that there´s all kinds of things to do and see just outside the door...it was torture.  My leg probably could have used another day´s rest, but I couldn´t take it anymore.  I had to get out.

It was -2c when I left Pamplona at 8:30am, but as I made my escape, and as I approached the Alto del Perdón, the morning got warmer and warmer.  I remembered this climb as being not too bad the first time around (at least I remember writing that), so I was relieved to find out that the comments in the last blog wasn´t false bravado.  Still, climbing 600m within 4k takes a bit of time, so it was noon by the time I got to the top.  By that time, the temperature was in the low teens, sun was shining, and the view for miles around was spectacular.  I took a video of it, and I´ll post it at some point once I have a better connection.

Came across some interesting camino grafitti today.  It was scrawled on a wall, and it said "Caminante, no hay camino".  This can be translated as "traveller, there is no road" or "traveller, there is no way" (although the latter seems like a bleak statement to tell tired pilgrims".  It´s all pop-culture shorthand though...one small quote to refer to a longer piece.  In this case, I´ve found (through the miracle of google) that the quote refers to a poem by Antonio Machado.  Poem follows, along with my best stab at a translation (if you have a better translation, please let me know):

Caminante, son tus huellas            Traveller, the path is your footsteps
el camino y nada más;                  And nothing more.
Caminante, no hay camino,           Traveller, there is no road,
se hace camino al andar.               The road is made through walking
Al andar se hace el camino,           By walking, you make your own road,
y al volver la vista atrás                 And as you turn to look back
se ve la senda que nunca               You will see the path
se ha de volver a pisar.                  That no-one will walk again
Caminante no hay camino              Traveller, there is no road
sino estelas en la mar.                    Only ripples on the ocean

Ah, so it´s not a bleak statement, or a critique of anyone´s abilities.  It´s about finding one´s own path, and it´s about impermanence.  I can dig it.

Now if you´ll excuse me, I seem to have a bit of dust in my eyes...