Back in Spain and back on the Camino del Norte. The Camino del Norte runs along the northern coast of Spain, through the large towns of San Sebastian, Bilbao, Santander and Gijon, many smaller towns and villages and lots of beautiful coastline on its way from the French-Spanish border on the Atlantic coast to Santiago de Compostela. During this spring, as part of stage 4, I walked 380km from Santander to Ribadeo, from where the Camino goes inland to Santiago. This time I will be walking from Hondarribis (on the border with France), 260km to Santander.
Today I would start with 25km and an elevation of almost 1.000m, as I walk along the ridge of Mount Jiazkibel which runs parallel to the coastline.
The party was massive in Hondarribis last night. 4 live stages, at least 5 DJ stages and it seemed like everybody was out to party. The town centre was packed solid. The last live act went on stage at 23.30, I have no idea when the DJ’s stopped. When I woke up this morning people were still going home. By the time I left the hotel at 8am, the town was spotless. Not a single bottle or plastic beer “glass” could be seen. My hotel was in the middle of it all, but with earplugs firmly in place, I didn’t hear a thing and slept all night.
The day started with the easiest climb of the whole trip – three flights of outdoor escalators. But it soon got tougher. I walked up to the Guadalupe Sanctuary looking out over the town. I have no idea why I didn’t go inside and look around. A few hundred meters later, I had a choice of the easy (official route) or the more difficult, route with a number of climbs reaching 538m and with panoramic views of the coast and the towns below. I choose the latter, but wasn’t overly impressed by how picturesque it was, despite great views along the coast and the towns of Irun, Hendaye and Hondarribis. But it was a nice walk, despite the light rain.
I walked along the ridge of the mountain, climbing to the highest point. Whilst I laboured up, I met a couple of runners, one of whom had run up and down before I made it all the way up.
From the mobile antenna, I started a rocky and at times muddy descent to the small town of Pasajes de San Juan.
I took a small boat across the estuary getting off in Pasajes de San Pietro. The estuary houses a large and seemingly busy port, two large vessels sailed in whilst I was there.
After getting off the boat there was a very steep and at times zig-zag climb up more than 300 uneven steps, passing the La Plata lighthouse. It was hard. A Dutch guy passed me on the way up. He lived here and knew what to expect – he went up for his lunch.
I followed a pleasant path around Mount Ulla, with views of the sea and passing the ancient aqueduct covered in plants. There was a steep descent into San Sebastian, but with nice views over the city – it would probably have been far nicer if the sun was shining instead of the light drizzle I experienced.
I made it to San Sebastian at around 3pm, walking along the beeches and into town to see the impressive Cathedral, before making it to the hotel on the outskirts of town at around 4pm.
It was up and down all day, with steeps climbs and descents. The clouds came rolling in and made it damp and slippery, making it important to be careful, not least when you walk alone.
There were a number of walkers today, many one day walkers, some groups and four doing the Camino, including a girl from London, who I met whilst taking a break. She’d just completed the first 10km of her first Camino and was over the moon.
The hotel, in a massive villa, and whilst on the outskirts of town, I only needed to walk 5 mins and there was a pulsating activity with shops, kids playing and many (cafe) bars, where in one of the many, I had a piece of the famous Basque cheesecake which originates here in San Sebastian.
I went out later for dinner. The rain started and it poured, so I ended up in an Italian place easting pasta, as I happened to be there when the rain started. It is supposed to rain all night and much of tomorrow. I am worried about the mud potential. We’ll have to see.
I’m sure this stage is one of the most fabulous on any Camino, but mostly in sunny weather. I didn’t have the weather with me today, but that’s how it is when walking.