Day 3 - Roncesvalles to Zubiri

Day 3 - Roncesvalles to Zubiri

Cloudy, showers

We had planned to go 27 km to Larrasoana today. It all seemed doable at the planning stage. We did 5 km per hour for our practice walks. Assuming that we go slower with the backpack at 4 km, we would still be able to make it mid afternoon if we start no later than 7 am. However, one bummed leg, six sore feet and all the up's and down's in the hilly terrain makes it 9 hours for 22 km, you can do the math. We were going to push on at 4 pm for the last 5 km from Zubiri to Larrasoana but one look at the rocky downhill stretch just outside of Zubiri is enough to convince us that is not a good idea and we stop right there for the night.

We really had enough walking and decided to knock on the first albergue in Zubiri. That also have the advantage that we will have a quick getaway the following morning. No luck. The hospitalero however is very gracious to introduce us to another albergue at the other side of town. We will have the beds so off we went. That turns out to be the best albergue we have had so far and that will be hard to beat. They have all the services including super fast internet. Remember my dead phone? I ended up doing a lot of downloading just to restart my phone. The hospitaleros are two young guys Pablo and Alexey who are willing to help with everything and also cooked the pilgrim meal. Dinner is great. It is simple but very nicely cooked. They earned a round of applause at the end of the evening. 

We also had great company with the fellow pilgrims, including Lutz, the retired German sergeant who has a trolley he designed for the Camino that cost him about 130€. 

We are so lucky to happen on such a great place and great company. We have been lucky a few times already. They say the Camino will provide the way and it is proving to be true so far.