Day 9 - Pamplona to Uterga

We started with a walk thru the streets of Pamplona.  Leaving the city we walked thru farmer fields and the slope slowly started to increase.
Just passing the suburb of Cizus Menor, a Spanish gentleman showed us a romanic church and across the road a mediaeval castle.  He explained that the castle belonged to the knights of the order of St John.  In mediaeval times  bandits would attack the pilgrims climbing to the Alto del Perdon so the knights would escort  them to protect them.
Farther up the trail we pass by the ruins of a mediaeval pilgrims hostel,  Guendulain, at that height the views of Pamplona below and in the distance  are amazing.
We passed the village of Zariquiegui and continue going up. 
Almost at the top we find the fuente  reniega (renouncement fountain), the legend says that a mediaeval pilgrim was going up the mountain and he was very thirsty.  The devil appeared to him as a young man and said: if you renounce God, I'll give you all the water you want.  The pilgrim refused, then the devil said if you reject our Lady Mary, I will give you all the water you need. The pilgrim refused again, so the devil said, renounce St James and you will get your water. The pilgrim refused again.  Then St James appeared and revealed the fountain to the Pilgrim.
Shortly after that we arrive to the top, the Alto del Perdon.  There is a series of figures, sculptures representing pilgrims over the ages.  These sculptures are only 20 years old but have become an iconic point of the Camino.  The ridge at the top is lined with gigantic electricity generating  windmills. There is a sign  on one of the figures which reads: donde el Camino del aire she cruza con el Camino de las estrellas.  Where the way of the wind crosses with the way of the stars. The way of the wind is represented by the windmills and the way of the stars is el Camino, which goes East to West, following the Milky Way.
Here we meet two young men, Mik from Denmark and Javier from Spain.  They are going today all the way to Puente la Reina.
From there there are only 4 km down the hill to Uterga.  It is a dangerous steep trail of loose stones.  It is going to takes over one and a half hour to get there.
In the way we have crossed paths with a pair of teenage girls from Korea.  They speak very little English but they are always smiling.  They are going to stay at the same place we are.
Shortly we will have our pilgrim's dinner with the Korean girls, a man from Calgary and some other pilgrims we have not met yet.