I left Roncesvalles at 08:00 and arrived in Burguete less than a hour later. The young people of the town were walking home from a night of drinking and obviously inebriated. I think I saw one bar that was still open at 08:45!
Next, I walked through farmland to Espinal. Only a bakery was open in the town. People seem to really like to eat bread in France and Spain. A few other pilgrims stopped there to get breakfast.
I then made it to Viscarret-Guerendiain just before 11:00. I walked into the church there and saw the priest who showed us around Roncesvalles the previous night, preparing for mass. Just then, Nicholas, one of the French guys who I went to church with the previous night, showed up. The priest came down and introduced us to his congregation and asked if we would stay for mass, as it was the Feast of Three Kings. I declined as the day was short, and I needed to get to Pamplona.
The next part of the trip was a lot of ups and downs over hills. The descent into Zubiri included walking downhill on loose rocks and sharp rocks, which was very rough on my feet. I saw a trout swimming in the Arga River from the Puente de la Rabia.
I continued on past the magnesium plant outside Zubiri to Larrasoana. Just before the bridge into Larrasoana, there was a utility sign saying the road to Akerreta was cut, and you'd have to detour around by going into Larrasoana, down to the N-135 highway, and then walking until the next road that crossed the river to rejoin the Camino de Santiago. This added an extra two kilometers. Just as I was walking up the hill finishing the detour, I saw Mario, the French guitar player, and two Korean backpackers on the side of the hill. They were walking in a hurry and had obviously ignored the detour sign. There were no albergues open between Urdaniz and Trinidad de Arre in the winter, so they were in a pinch to get to the next open albergue by nightfall.
I kept walking although my pace had slowed down immensely due to my feet and knees hurting. It was dark by 18:00 and I was in Zabaldika. I used the flashlight on my phone to navigate the trail into Pamplona. Once I crossed the Ulzama River, I had arrived in the suburb of Trinidad de Arre, and there were streetlights all the way into Pamplona. From there, I got a taxi to take me to the Holiday Inn Express on the south end of the city. I needed a good night sleep on a real mattress. I was done with the snorers and middle-of-the-night bathroom users waking me up.
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| Ernest Hemingway stayed at the Hostal Burguete in the book The Sun Also Rises. |
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| Horses between Burguete and Espinal. |
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| The church in Viscarret-Guerendiain. |
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| The magnesium plant just outside Zubiri. |
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| Cattle near Udaniz. |
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| A Basque-themed barn. |
