Dia 3 Deba-Markina 12 miles, 19.2km, 32 Vtc

We knew at the beginning of the day that the third stage of our journey was going to be a long and difficult one.  Because the day was going to be filled by a hike of 26,5km (16.5mi) with and a hill of just shy of 500m (1600ft) and only the Zenarruza Monastery with 8 beds to stay at at the end of the journey, many of us opted to stop earlier in the town of Markina-Xemein just 19,2km (12miles) instead.  We had also been told that along the way between Deba and Markina we would not find any place to stop and get food.  With this in mind, most of the pilgrims I knew opted to take the elevators down the hill to a cafe when it opened at 7am before starting our hike. 

 

While walking up the 500m hill I crossed paths with a Slovenian couple.  Even though I met them several times throughout the next few weeks, our language barriers stopped us from learning much about each other.  The wife and I were able to share that we are both teachers (she teaches something related to libraries, but I am not sure what) and that my sister and I enjoyed our trip to Slovenia back in 2010.  Around the same time I also met a few Spanish men who were walking their dog.  They were kind enough to inform me that I was near the top of the hill.  A Spanish woman who I had seen before at the hostel helped me find a walking stick that I took with me for the last couple of hours of the day.  Unfortunately, because I held the stick the same way the whole time, it left a couple of blisters on my hand to match the one on my toe from the day before. 

View of Markina from the hill

 

 When I arrived at the albergue with a few others from the group, we saw that there was only one other person there before us, and that the hostel would not be open for another three hours.  We took off our bags and started to eat whatever food had made it to the end of the journey.  After sitting on the sidewalk for a hour or two, I decided to walk around the town a bit.  I got some chocolate to share with the others as we waited some more.  Finally, the hospitalero (volunteer who runs the hostel) arrived.  He started to write down our information (name, age, profession, country of origin, passport or ID number, place and date we started the Camino, whether we were traveling by foot, bike or horse) as required by the Guardia Civil (Spanish Police).  We noticed after a few minutes that the process was talking a while because he would give each person who arrived individually a separate tour of the hostel to show them the room, the bathroom, and the other facilities.  After a couple people went though, I decided to help speed things up by suggesting we all give him our Credentials (a sort of passport for the Camino) and say that we were walking together, so that he would only have to give us one tour total.

After checking-in and starting a load of laundry (3 euro split 5 ways) I decided to walk backwards on the trail a little bit to find my friends Becky and Lourdes who I thought might use a little encouragement.  On my way I found some pilgrims who were walking without backpacks.  They told me that they had hired someone else to drive in a van with their bags.  This made me nervous, because I knew there were not many spots left in the albergue and Becky and Lourdes had not yet arrived.  When I found them, I offered to take their bag for the last couple hundred meters.  When we arrived, the group that had been walking without their bags had found their bags and made their entrance.  They tried reserving beds for their group members who were walking further behind them, however, that is not allowed on the Camino, because then you could just have someone take the bus and reserve beds for everyone.  In their confusing, Becky and Lourdes were able to get beds.  The hospitalero then informed the other group that there were only 2 beds left, and since they were a group of 10, they would have to decide what to do. Immediately, the youngest in their group said she would take one of the beds and let the retirees decide who got the second.  After this, the day was rather quiet, everyone trying to get food, wash and dry clothes and sleep as much as possible before the next day.

 

 

 

Marker saying that I am officially in Markina, a good hour before reaching the town centre.

Etapa 2 Zarautz a Deba (23km, 14,3 mi)

Today we left earlier, around 7:20 in the morning. We passed by the church of Santa Maria La Real and then we walked by the beach until we got the town Getaria which we all called Rat Island, because of its shape. Up until there is the walk was flat and easy. Then we stopped in to Getaria for tea and breakfast with a few of the other pilgrims. As we left the town we started to go up hill and we had to choose between two routes. One route one along the beach while the other one went into the hills a bit further. I chose the hillier route without knowing I had made a decision. I walked by the Ermita de Santa Barbara. From there I passed through Askizu and Zumaia with a few fellow peregrinos I had met previously. I went up and down several hills, many of which reminded me of reviews that I could see in Vermont and New York with farms, paths and the smell of cows. After a while when I had passed some time without seeing other travelers I asked for directions from a few men who offered me a ride, because the map was giving information that contradicted the signs I saw I declined the ride and two hours later I arrived on the road towards Elorriaga and Itziar. Finally, I arrived in Deba around noon.

Once in Deba, I was about to go down the elevator that they had outside to help people down the hill, when a man from Catalunya stopped me and decided to help me by talking to me for 20 to 30 minutes about his family and people and in Andalucia that I should meet and how Barcelona plays much better football than Madrid because Barcelona place with an artform where as Madrid plays by brute force. Finally he let me walk down to the tourist office where I was given a key to the hostel. I spent the rest of the afternoon washing my laundry in a mixed load with other people, trying to find Becky, eating lunch, walking down to the beach, wandering around the small town, and hanging out on the patio is Becky played music.

Etapa Uno: Donostia - Zarautz 22 km, 13.8 mi.

Today was out first day on the Camino de Santiago. We woke up after a poor nights sleep with many people making noise with their devices and the man below us snoring all night. We left the albergue (hostel) after leaving a donation of 5€. We turned down the road to find a frutería (fruit stand) where I bought a banana and an apple for 0,49€ for breakfast.

This was all I ate until I arrived in Zarautz about 4 hours and 22km (15.7 mi.) later. There were a few places along the way where I could have stopped and got some food but I preferred to keep going. Even though we were the last pair to leave the hostel I believe I was among the first to reach Zarautz. Although I walked quickly, I was able to take in the sights as I crossed over the hills, along the highway, by beaches and through the woods of the valley. A few of my favorite sights of the day include a spring in the woods where I filled my water bottle and a small stand by a wall on the side of the street that allowed us to stamp our credentials if we wanted, but we both opted not to because we might not have enough space in the booklet.

The entire way was marked by little yellow arrows and shell markers like the one above. In the woods there are a few stretches where I started to think I made a wrong turn because I hadn't seen a marker in a while, and each time I turned a corner and saw a yellow arrow showing the way.

As I passed through the town of Orio met a man named Manuel from Sevilla and we finished today's etapa (stage) together. We eventually arrived in Zarautz, found the hostel and a three course lunch of paella, chicken, wine and ice cream for 10€. After we checked into the hostel Becky and I went to the beach where I napped, we explored the town, ate some pintos and came back in time for the 10pm lights out in the albergue.