17-05-2018
Walked 31.5 km, 8 hours 22 minutes
Ascent: 340 meters
Descend: 420 meters
Kilometers to be traveled: 786.9
Photos / Video
I can tell that I have had the best night’s sleep since the start of my walk. Yes, really, in a small room where 10 or 12 people were sleeping. There was not much space between the bunk beds, you could barely turn your ass here. Woke up around 6 am, my rhythm starts to get a standard order: toilet, washing, tidying and tidying up. After breakfast, simple but effective, it is around 8 o’clock to leave.
Yesterday I walked up to Arrà © s for the sleeping place, now I go downhill again, I finally slept in a village on a hill. The path down is no wider than the path we walked up yesterday, paying attention again where you put your feet, because it is not an even path. The rainfall earlier this month has eroded the path considerably, leaving its traces of water behind.
Once at the foot of the hill, I arrive again at a wide gravel path, mainly used by the farmers who drive this to their lands. And like the previous days, it does not remain flat, but continues on winding roads in a westerly direction. In the morning you walk after your shadow, with a bit of luck you catch up later in the day and you walk ahead of your shadow. The view is beautiful, the Pyrenees are still very visible and that view also changes every hour.
There is also thermal, because there are quite a few birds of significant size that play with it. They spin in circles and slowly rise without hitting their wings. Further on is a nice view of a hill that is crammed with houses. A mini Table Mountain with a village on it. Around noon it is time to have lunch again, in a nice mountain village, so walk up hill again: Artieda.
We find a restaurant where lunch can be small or extensive. So a simple bocadillo or tortilla, but also an extensive menu del dia. It becomes a menu del dia, for the large amount of 10 Euro. But I leave the wine for what it is, wine, and take water and 1 beer, I have to walk even further today and do not want to bump into a wall or on sour legs. At the checkout I am asked if I do not want a stamp, something that every pilgrim does not want to miss, a pilgrim passport full of stamps. So yes a stamp.
The reservoir that should arise here, the government and the population fighting how big it can actually become, is now clearly visible. The route leads over a discarded road, if the lake is allowed to grow it would be submerged, so a future waterway. Further on, a bridge with a lot of play between the surface and the water surface, also for growth, is to be understood as the lake. The road on which I walk is not the only road that is no longer used, a little lower is an even wider road with no traffic and where the plants rise up through the asphalt.
Walking through this area is not very strenuous, even when it goes uphill. Just like yesterday I have to go uphill again today to get to the overnight location. It will be Ruesta, a village with a large castle ruin where only 4 people live permanently. These are the managers of the inn. Upon arrival I see familiar faces again, everyone actually walks the same route and chooses the same overnight accommodations. The die-hards walk the real route.
Although there are many places to spend the night, on the route or next to it, every pilgrim chooses the same kind of overnight place almost every day. Those who want luxury the guesthouses and hotels, the others the alberges. When reporting to the reception you will see new faces again. Pilgrims who travel different distances than me. Do I also want to participate in the dinner and breakfast tomorrow morning, yes please, because there is nothing else nearby. The overnight stay is therefore 25 Euros.
Up to the room, then install and send a message home. Breathing and then personal care. A tour through the area, done quickly and then a beer on the terrace. Talk to the pilgrims to view photos and exchange stories. Here too, the unknown pilgrims are traveling different distances per day than I do. An older couple that travels a maximum of 25 kilometers and opts for historic places. They often walk alternative side paths to view something of cultural-historical values. It is still long before dinner, so retreat to the room, place for 6 but occupied by 3. The blog / vlog hour can begin.
The food is eaten together and is prepared by a man from Africa. The soup is typical of this region: Bacalou. A soggy white fish that becomes nicely thick and juicy when cooked, delicious. The main course are various pastas and the dessert was also tasty, (but what was it again ??). While eating you can see the sun go down through the bushes. With the contours of the ruins it is a beautiful sight. The wine that is drunk is not bad. All house wine so far, which is usually included with the food, is good, no Migraine chateau the next day.
This evening will also not deviate in terms of closing, in other words: help with tidying up, washing up is not necessary, but put everything aside and then back to the room, to bed on time, because tomorrow is another day. With a breakfast and a visit to a hermit’s church. Fortunately the small dormitory is next to the toilet room, in case I have to get out tonight.
Accommodation: Albergue Ruesta
