Camino Baztan - Day 3

27 September 2023

Urdax to Elizondo - 19 kms

We had a lovely meal last night, all 12 of us pilgrims, in the old Monastery at Urdax. The French trio that we had crossed paths with earlier were there - only two of them are Basque - they are sisters, neither French nor Spanish. One of them explained that they grew up in a home where only Basque was spoken.

Another trio was made up of two French men and a chap who is French Canadian - he can speak English but it doesn't always come easy to him, then there were four Spaniards - a couple and two women walking together. It was a fun evening. 

This morning was a bit of a scramble as we all got ready to get on our way again with the different groups leaving at different times. We were on our way just after 8am.

Today was fabulous. The path took us straight up into the hills. Yesterday we climbed to 400m, today we climbed to 600m - both a warm up for tomorrow's climb. We then had a steep descent and found ourselves in the beautiful village of Amaiur where we had lunch at a hotel. Already at the hotel were the two French and Canadian men and just after we got there the other trio arrived, the Frenchman and the two Basque women - one of whom placed our order for us, speaking Basque. 

We walked through beautiful wooded areas, especially when up in the hills, with views out to farmland and little settlements from time to time, as well along roadsides and through villages. 

We had one nasty experience when we were challenged by four very aggressive dogs, one in particular came charging towards us. We kept our heads down and kept going and all was well in the end! And our snake encounters continued.

Coming down from the hills we entered the Baztan Valley, and are in Elizondo tonight, the main town in the area, with the Baztan River running through it. 

It was a hot humid day once again, the temperature was 30°C this afternoon. Cloud cover protected us from direct sun which helped us to manage. We're rather tired tonight though 😊

Setting off from Urdax, the Monastery and albergue in the background. 

The path took us straight out into the country. 

We were 763 kms from Santiago de Compostela at this stage. 

We had chestnuts, hazelnuts and acorns raining down on us.

We had a morning break in the woods - water and Espelette pepper chocolate. 

Making the most of a water fountain - they are few and far between. 

Coming into Amaiur. 

At the hotel in Amaiur. L-r: Guyon, French-Canadian; Jacques, French; Michel, French;  Marie-Claire and Françoise,  sisters, Basque; Jeff: Gérard, French - he jumped out the window for this photo. We had a fun time together. 

Gérard insisted that I take this photo. He said that the window perfectly framed the view.

Leaving Amaiur. 

...and back in the countryside. 

We walked through the small village of Urrasun.

This area used slabs of rock for fences.

It was near here that the dogs threatened us.

Another small settlement 

At last, walking into Elizondo.

We had a view of the Church of Santiago from our room. 

The Church of Santiago in Elizondo. Sadly it was locked. 

Elizondo 

An Elizondo house. Elizondo had a very strange feel about it - maybe it was because we had both read the Baztan trilogy before leaving home. The books certainly aren't my usual genre. I think the stories, which included Basque mythology,  biased our thoughts as far as Elizondo was concerned.  It may have been just because we were so tired after the day's walk too though.