The rain continued to pour as we began walking. The river next to the road was raging over its banks and sometimes water was ankle deep on the road itself.
At about 5K, we decided to jump back onto the trail. Big mistake. For about 3K, it was like walking through a flowing stream and in a couple of places water was rushing knee deep across the trail. It was kind of scary in some spots. So we got back on the main road into Pamplona and decided to follow it all the way into the city center.
We were with four other peregrinos, a young Polish couple and an American/Japanese couple. The main road got quite busy and several people stopped and told us we were very lost. Everyone gave us different directions (in Spanish, of course). As it turns out the Camino trail was blocked by flooding and everyone was trying to find a different way into the city. After covering the same stretch of road three times, we spotted a bus stop and ended up taking the easy way into the city.
When we arrived about 10:30 am, it was still pouring rain and it was freezing. We. were soaked through despite our rain gear. Rather than going on to the next village as planned, we found a pension were we could get dry and warm.
In the afternoon, the rain let up and we went out to explore the old city. I'm glad we decided to stay in town. Pamplona is a wonderful old city with a lot going on in the public plazas. We ran into some of the other peregrinos we have met along the way including the Irish couple, Eoin and Veronica. We had a couple of beers at Ernest Hemingway's hangout in Pamplona and checked out the narrow streets where the bulls run.
As it turns out, the heavy rains caused major flooding in the city. Fortunately, the weather forecast shows better weather this week. Let's hope so.
Today's good intentions are for our older siblings, Al and Joan. They led the way in both of our families.
Hang tough you guys
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