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Day 5 Camino Francés: Zubiri to Pamplona · WCBH

• 0:25
  Good morning. It's day five. We're on the road. We're on the path to Pamploma from Zubiri.
• 0:32
  Today's our longest day to date, about 20 kilometres.
• 0:37
  Some people, you know, really hit the Camino undertaking big distances right from the beginning.
• 0:43
  You know, they'll be doing 20 kilometre days from the beginning and pushing
• 0:46
  it up to 30 kilometre days, maybe even more.
• 0:48
  Not us. We've gone slow and steady and we're starting to build it up now.
• 0:53
  And we're a bit chipper this morning because it's the
• 0:57
  first day that we're able to use the porter service and
• 1:00
  so the weight on our backs is significantly less so not that we've brought a
• 1:07
  lot over here with us you know we are just here with a backpack each but the
• 1:13
  ability to to put things in the the duffel bag and send it forward that we don't
• 1:18
  need during the day just means we're walking,
• 1:21
  with the day pack, which is, I think is really going to help us with the 20 kilometres today.
• 1:27
  As I mentioned earlier that, you know, most of it's bushpath so far,
• 1:31
  a little bit of road stuff, but we have just walked past a magnesium mine.
• 1:35
  That was interesting to see that open cut mine up close.
• 1:41
  Might be after here, just in the background as we walk past a beautiful little waterfall.
• 1:47
  The amount of waterfalls that we've come past really has blown me away, actually.
• 1:52
  I wasn't expecting to see so much running water, but there really has been a lot.
• 1:58
  I suppose it's just the beginning of spring here, and we have seen snow up on
• 2:05
  the peaks of the mountains, so potentially there's a little bit of runoff,
• 2:09
  and there has been a little bit of rain around, but touch wood,
• 2:12
  we are still having this great run with no rain.
• 2:18
  Came past some more livestock.
• 2:21
  We've been seeing livestock each day, but we had a donkey out on the road today.
• 2:25
  He was very friendly, just wanted a cuddle and some pats and some scratches.
• 2:29
  So that was a lot of fun.
• 2:32
  And probably about a kilometre out from Zubiri when we left this morning,
• 2:37
  my son remembered that we forgot our pack lunch that we had made for the day.
• 2:42
  So anyway, there goes a baguette with all the trimmings on it,
• 2:47
  cheese, avocado, tomato, and a bit of, what do we have, pepperoni,
• 2:51
  chili pepperoni or something on there anyway.
• 2:52
  So we don't have our pack lunch, but that's okay. We'll come across a cafe or
• 2:57
  a bar or even like we did yesterday, a little van that had set up its own little...
• 3:03
  Set up its own little store where you could get a cold drink
• 3:05
  or a hot drink and and a snack so not too
• 3:08
  stressed about that so feeling good
• 3:11
  you know it was only back in september 2024 where
• 3:15
  my back was really in a bad way it was deteriorating across the year and then
• 3:20
  ended up in an ambulance and uh in hospital for for 10 days flat on my back
• 3:26
  with multiple bulging discs a lot of painkillers couldn't get out of bed for 10 days, had to lie flat.
• 3:32
  So lost a lot of, not that I had much muscle conditioning, but lost whatever
• 3:36
  muscle conditioning that I had.
• 3:38
  So to go from that September 2024 to be out here carrying a pack and walking
• 3:43
  these distances has been a great comeback. 2025 was really about just.
• 3:49
  Getting some strength back and just sort of seeing what I could and what I couldn't do.
• 3:54
  So I have been very careful with what I've been doing, but slowly built that up over 2025.
• 3:59
  So it's absolutely a delight to be out here and being able to undertake this journey.
• 4:06
  But let's see how we are at the end of the day, whether our feet,
• 4:11
  our back and everything else is feeling as good as it is this morning.
• 4:15
  We're about halfway to Pamploma and the kilometers are just melting away this morning which is,
• 4:21
  fantastic to our right we've got this slowing stream beautiful clear water gee
• 4:28
  I'd love a kayak right about now and just to be paddling down that it's running
• 4:34
  so fast actually probably wouldn't need to do a whole lot of paddling that sounds
• 4:37
  good although the water would be icy cold And to our right,
• 4:41
  a lot of farmland just went past the most cutest baby goats.
• 4:47
  Everyone on the Camino, we've met a lot of people actually today,
• 4:51
  everyone on the Camino has been so friendly and welcoming. I think everyone's
• 4:55
  sort of all looking for that same
• 4:58
  sort of experience where you come across people from all over the world.
• 5:02
  Everyone's happy to meet new people, say hello, et cetera, and wish each other well.
• 5:07
  So it's a really, really nice feel. best-of-humanity type of thing happening out here on the Camino.
• 5:14
  At the office in St. John, the lady in French was talking about,
• 5:22
  it's your way, it's your way.
• 5:24
  Meaning, walk the Camino your way. I know there is no one set way to walk it.
• 5:30
  Some people will want to carry their packs the whole distance.
• 5:34
  Others will use porters. Some people will only want to use the albergues and
• 5:40
  the dormitory style accommodation because they want that experience,
• 5:45
  that full experience, that traditional experience all the way along,
• 5:48
  where others want to use the private accommodation.
• 5:54
  So there's no right way or wrong way. And it's sort of coming through with people
• 6:00
  that you meet. People say, it's your way.
• 6:02
  And if you have a look at some of the films, they even pick up on that, that your way.
• 6:07
  Walk it your way as quickly, as slowly, with all the assistance or with hardly
• 6:13
  any assistance in a great degree of comfort or in minimum comfort as well.
• 6:18
  So that's nice, but there's not this expectation that you're just doing it a one set way.
• 6:24
  So we've made it we're in pamploma 20 kilometers
• 6:27
  done over 30 000 steps but with
• 6:30
  a lighter backpack we made it okay you know
• 6:33
  certainly the last couple of kilometers you start to feel your feet ache a little
• 6:37
  bit we stopped at the town outside of pamploma and had our lunch that was nice
• 6:43
  had tortilla potato and egg meal it was very nice with a side of bread pamploma is amazing little,
• 6:53
  well, amazing city, just narrow streets,
• 6:57
  high buildings, buildings beautifully decorated.
• 7:01
  Stores throughout the city that you can explore, lolly shops,
• 7:05
  clothing shops, souvenir shops around the running of the bulls.
• 7:10
  And then there's a range of things that we plan to do here during our rest day
• 7:15
  while we have a look around.
• 7:16
  But just exploring the city streets, we've just come back from exploring them
• 7:21
  and just the city's alive and it feels safe and it feels good and positive and
• 7:26
  there's a really really good feeling in Pamplona so so very very impressed.