DAY 1 – IRUN –> SAN SEBASTIAN
The journey begins, day 1 was filled with nervous energy and anticipation and the calming effect of seeing the row boats on mirror like water towards the end of the day…
OK, now DAY 1… the day when your feelings and emotions are all over the place 🙂 mine was excitement mostly and lets DO THIS! but also apprehensive due to my existing injury
Also letting you know you can quickly scroll through if you just want to see photos because ive documented a lot of info in this post about the whole day, the route, maps, accommodation and other random camino-y things!
Irun –> San Sebastian officially known as stage 3 – For todays walk there are 2 seperate routes so you can make a choice of which to do – we kept with the official thicker red line route even though it was longer, as this one was along the ridge of the mountain with sweeping views over Irun and the mountains looking over into France
IRUN
We left Irun after staying there for 2 days – buying walking poles for me, and grabbing our offical Pilgrim Passport & also meant to be resting a bit, but ended up being the total opposite!
We walked 15,500 steps on the first day we got there and then 32,700 steps the day before our start date!… yep, the day before we were supposed to walk 28.9km – ummm…not sure how this was going to work out AND I was actively looking after an injury, a pretty bad one actually, I have been trying to fix my plantar fasciitis since Feb so I had no idea how I was going to do the first day of the hike let alone the whole month! I decided I was going to take it as it comes, that was my only option really… saying that, we were in Sofia 10 days previous and walking nearly 20,000 steps a day there as well – silly or not, we would see…
Looking back now, I felt like it was actually REALLY good that we pushed ourselves from the beginning and just got our body used to so much walking – it was painful by the end of the day but I found I could push through AND it was incredible how the body can heal itself so well over night!
We got our passports from Jakobi Hostel where a lot of pilgrims were starting their pilgrimage from as it was close to the starting point of the camino
We left our apartment at 7:50am – it was a late start but we had a good rest and sleep!
I did stretch a bit which took some time – I promised to wake up earlier to do my exercises
This was the start of the Camino just outside of Irun town along the road towards the airport
We got to the official starting point here over the bridge around 8:08am
The image above is the circled part in red here – you can also see the beautiful farmland surrounding Irun which we walked in until we started to really climb up into the mountains
We were a little apprehensive but had an idea what was going to be ahead of us (somewhat!)
The Canal Amuteko – The camino starts from the right hand side behind that cement wall
I had an injury of the bottom of my foot and I had been doing exercises for months before but it still wasnt 100% so I was a little nervous for that but thought, oh well, lets see whatever happens happens and there is nothing I can do about it, I didnt want to pike out and not do the walk altogether so slowly 1 step at a time literally
There werent many people along the trail but we did end up meeting some of the nicest people that we would meet along the whole Camino and we would bump into them over the next 10 or so days every now and again
The hermitage is dedicated to Saint James the Apostle and contains a notable sculpture known as Santiago Beltz (Black St. James); however, the original black image disappeared in the 1960s, and only a picture of it remains inside today.
We started to get used to seeing the yellow arrows painted onto any surface basically and started to become accustomed to it
The walk was really very beautiful and pleasant with so much greenery around – the incline was a tad annoying but the scenery was well worth it – I tried to stretch my foot as much as I could but didnt get much time really 😦
Our first stop! Around 9am we came across the cute Hermitage of Guadalupe on a hill top over looking the beautiful view across the mountains and the towns below – https://maps.app.goo.gl/jxDC1BvUY24cRLAx5
The Hermitage of Guadalupe is dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe, patron saint of Hondarribia.
A sanctuary has existed here since the 16th century, its said that the building was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt during the sieges and conflicts that affected Hondarribia. The present structure dates mainly from the 19th c.
Inside, the Virgin is surrounded by nautical objects and model boats donated by local fishermen, reflecting the strong maritime traditions of the town.
Each 8 September, Hondarribia holds a major procession to the hermitage in honour of its patron saint
We took a much needed break here and it actually hit me that we had started our camino and we had a month of walking to do like this!
There are so many emotions involved, I was excited, my foot was hurting but I had to push it to see what I was capable of
We reached the top of Jaizkibel Mountain Peak and were literally walking on the rocky ridge metres from dropping off over the other side!
They were all two storeys high and had a terrace; only the perimeter walls raised in sandstone are preserved, the interior is completely empty. On the ground floor some small rectangular holes were opened that served as ventilation and for observation
I wish I had more energy to explore around and inside it! I was tired and was saving my steps as we had heaps more to go, it was only 9:40am by then!
It was pretty daunting to look up and see the tiny little people walking up the steep looking mountain path, but then I saw the animals scattered around the path and my curiosity takes over!! what were they? could I pat them? lemme see!
Again, I wish I had the energy to go inside but alas! no….
I was so grateful about the weather and the fact, even though I was injured, that I had been able to climb this mountain right now and see this amazing frikkn view!! So good to be alive!! now.. no time to think… carry on walking… I learnt very well after day 1 to take photos while walking so as not to fall behind!
Note: that we noticed the KMs were not matching up according to our camino app map as well as google and we never ended up knowing exactly how many KMs we had left each day, we seemed to have to add on a couple hours because of the terrain so dont trust the KM distances on the signs or the camino apps, you just have to see how you go daily and go from there
PASAIA
Pasai Donibane –> also known as Pasajes de San Juan
The old town of Pasaia Donibane extends around 1 single streets that weaves around on its self, the narrow cobbled streets are so quaint and cute and the town seems just so relaxed and easy going
After nearly going down the wrong path towards LEZO instead of PASAIA
It was a beautiful view and the water colour was so pretty, the air so fresh, it was lovely being here
This town served as a port for exporting iron and wool since the Middle Ages, and also was a major hub for shipbuilding and whaling expeditions to Newfoundland
TRANSPORT – FERRY
Pasai Donibane –> Pasai San Pedro – https://turismopasaia.com/en/regular-way-donibane-san-pedro/
I was wondering how we were going to get across this bit, the camino apps said “ferry” and we didnt know about the timings so we just went with the flow – our other option was going down towards Lezo and walk around instead of catching the ferry
It was around 2pm when we reached this section of our walk and we had 8.5km still left!
At this point, we didnt know how many hours that was as we hadnt had the experience of walking on this camino and through mountain ranges inclines and declines so we were aware we had to keep going steadily (my foot wasnt feeling the best but I stopped as much as I could to rest it and stretch a bit)
I was a bit annoyed I couldnt explore a little bit up and down the streets and head towards the church but we were running out of time heading to San Sebastian and that was our priority
She told us about the area, her life and found out that she was over 80 and walked every day and she really was walking much younger than she was – these spanish has it right!
Las Doce Tribus –> ended up being a bakery as well as a donativo and it was run by this religious “cult” which we found out about a few days later. They are doing a great business on the camino and making sweets and coffees along the way for the pilgrims, a great business to run as we need more of these services along this route
We ended up losing Yelle here as he decided to stay he was that comfortable and happy – https://maps.app.goo.gl/hEV6mGAKXUu9cgek9
We met our friend from Brussels here for the first time as well, he was so talkative and lovely and he was writing in his journal and on his online blog – he was walking alone, (he would end up being one of the few we would see all the way mostly to the end and we really liked him and his lovely friendly personality!)
When this happens with the signs, we head towards our camino app on the phone
San Sebastian
San Sebastian was originally a fortified fishing village for cod and whaling – it was a strategic area and became a Castilian vassal state in 1200 while retaining its trade privileges and apparently a very resilient town to seiges and fires and was able to be developed and grew
It was only in the 19th / 20th c that this town became a resort getaway for rich people and in 1893 miramar Palace was built and in 1887 a grand casino was developed
OMG, my foot was in pain, I was walking really slow and limping in a way – it was nearly 6pm and we had walked 28.9km today… for the first day this was a long way…
We were walking with our new friend, Miriam, she was pretty interesting and very sweet we walked with her for a while and she was going to stay here for 2 days to relax
From above the town looks so interesting with its blocks (sort of like the Eixample area in Barcelona) and the layout of the town and surrounds is so nicely and neatly created
SAN SEBASTIAN has the most Michelin Star restaurants than any other city… the largest number per capita and is a well known gastronomic city
… anyways, we didnt think about anything, as soon as we said goodbye to our new friend, we went looking for our accommodation to drop our bags and go get a cold beer and some food! I barely made it to the accom because of my foot, I needed to get the bag off my. back and do some stretches and take my shoes off.. this was the first time i’d walked this far and I had pushed myself, I didnt know how I was going to recover for the next day to do this all over again, but I had no choice and I just didnt think about it and tried to enjoy the moment
SO many little cafes bars and tapas restaurants and all were crowded and busy – it was a lively town with so much to see and do, mostly revolving around food in this area looks like!
The buildings are amazing here! The Basque region has very different architecture from what im used to seeing around Spain in the more central regions, and it took my breath away!
The “Centro” newer part of town was very clean with elegant and very beautiful buildings, the whole town seems upperclass and very well off
I cant believe we walked this far and through such beautiful scenery, it was a magical day!
We had got there pretty late and we didnt have energy or the time to walk around the town, my foot was hurting or I would have done a short stroll but we just had the energy to find a supermarket, bought some sandwich stuff and had our food in the room, sleeping at 11:30pm
This city looks amazing though and we walked along the beach a bit after our beers, lucky with the weather as it wasnt raining, and as we were staying in the old town got to see some of the old side streets and there are amazing old buildings here
Plus, we didnt want to wing the first night with the accom as we didnt know how we were going to feel
WOW – what a memorable day! The scenery was the highlight, walking through the woods, the animals lazing about on the mountain, all relaxed even when we were there, the view over the cities from the peak and walking along the actual edge of Mount Jaizkibel… what a feeling it is to be alive!
CAMINO DEL NORTE – 3JUN26
The Wandering Passport 