The most treacherous part of our walk to date was the downhill trek here through rolling boulders on a steep decent to Uterga. At over 25 degrees C we dragged ourselves into a brand new Alberge/Restaurant, "Camino del Perdon" in Uterga. We spent the next four kilometres looking for a bench in the shade. Finally we unpacked our "survival emergency blanket" and spread our lunch out in the shade of the Medieval church wall in Obanos. We dragged our butts another 4 kilometres in the heat, through Puente La Reina. We were shocked to see the hill straight up which led to our Alberge, Santiago Apostol. We ordered cerveza/beer before we caught our breath to register. Damn, the pool was closed! Here was a beautiful facility for pilgrims, campers and possibly RVers. The Alberge holds over 100 people but there were only about 35 people there including one camper and an RV. We were invited to church again with a family of four from Texas but couldn't face the thought of the 2 km walk back down and up that gravel hill! (And we had already passed the Hill of Forgiveness!)
Hi, Pat and Ada, I think you have done the most difficult two days already - getting to Roncesvalles and walking down that treacherous rocky hill after Alto de Perdon. Easy-peasy from now on - relatively speaking. I stayed at that albergue in Puente in 2012 - never again. We never got out of there to explore the town because it was hot and we couldn't face coming back up that hill again, and it felt like we were in a deserted summer camp with nothing to do. Luckily I have explored Puente several other times and it is one of my favourite towns on the Camino. There is a wonderful bakery on the main street--you would have to backtrack to the beginning of the street but it would be worth it!
ReplyDeleteThat is on my bucket list for next time!
DeleteThat is definitely a drawback of their location! Sounds like you were dragging a good part of the day, but Mary Lynn is right - those were two hard days. The other difficult one for me was the descent to Molinaseca - longer, but also rolling stones and boulders.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy walking through the vineyards.
We love the vineyards. The scenery is magnificent in all directions!
DeleteLoved this Alberque! The pool was closed when we were there too. I would definitely stay there again. Just being able to order a cerveza after a long hot hike does it for me. You both look fantastic in your photos. The Camino must be agreeing with you. Love reading your blog. Thanks for sharing. Julie
ReplyDeleteWe would have gone into ice water if the pool had been open.
ReplyDelete