Date: 3rd June 2019
Route: Roncesvalles to Larrasoaña
Distance: 17 miles / 27.4 KM
Accommodation: Pension Tau
The trail from Roncesvalles to Larrasoaña was a dream compared to the first day. The elevation profile had made it look like it was going to be a lot of ups and downs, but we started at about 950m and never really got any higher than that despite all of the hills, so it ended up being quite an easy day!
I didn’t buy the breakfast at the albergue in Roncesvalles as I’d read online somewhere that it was just orange juice and toast and not really worth the money, so myself, Queenie and Miri decided to walk on to Espinal (6.5KM) and get something to eat there. We stopped at a lovely little cafe which was being run by a gentleman who was quite overwhelmed with all of the pilgrims ordering breakfast at once, so at one point he had us all helping him clear the tables and collecting the dirty crockery. It was such a “Camino moment”, everyone chipping in together to help, I loved it. We also saw our first pilgrim on a horse!!
From Espinal, while the trail was beautiful, there wasn’t really all that much to see as we were walking along tree lined paths for much of the afternoon. The first mishap of the day was when we realised that Miri was suffering with some pretty bad blisters as her shoes were too small and she fell behind a little bit. We knew we were going to stay together in Larrasoaña that evening though, so it was another case of just catching up later in the day.
We had heard that the municipal albergue in Zubiri was closed until August and so our plan was to walk another 5.5KM to Larrasoaña and stay in the municipal there. We did need to stop in Zubiri so that Miri could buy some trekking poles (they have a handy little hiking shop) and we could stock up on food in the supermarket. I don’t know if we somehow missed the supermarket, but the only place we could find that sold groceries was a very small, dark, little corner shop next to a garage. It served its purpose though and we managed to grab some basics to take with us to the next town.
In my opinion, the last stretch from Zubiri to Larrasoaña was the hardest bit of the day. It was very hot, we were walking next to a big industrial area and the path was uneven and tricky to walk on. We had assumed that the municipal in Larrasoaña was open as the Buen Camino app didn’t say otherwise, but when we got there it was closed for renovations. This put us in a pretty sticky situation as the municipal in the previous town was also closed and so Larrasoaña was pretty much full.
Queenie and I spent quite a bit of time wandering up and down the streets of Larrasoaña trying to find a place that had 3 beds available. Our main concern was getting Miri somewhere to stay as she was really struggling with her feet and knees, but the only place that could fit all of us together was Pension Tau at €75.00 for the room and breakfast. It was a really nice room and the guy running it was very friendly, but I was annoyed at having to break my budget so early on in the trip. This prompted my 6am starts for the remainder of my Camino!
Larrasoaña is a nice little spot and the grocery shop/restaurant at the end of the town is a good place to get something to eat. We arrived there quite late at about 6pm and even though the kitchen was closed for the night, the owner let us buy some microwave meals and heated them up for us. He also let us try some chilled red wine which was a first for me!
Day 3 is a short 10.5 mile (16.5KM) walk to Pamplona where we will have an “almost” rest-day.
Buen Camino,
Jasmin