S05 Way of St. James (Camino) Mutriku to Etxebarria

We set off past the church in Mutriku up the hill on a main road. Luckily, we met a local lady who showed us a shortcut that went steeply up through sheep fields to rejoin the road higher up. After some distance on the road, we finally rejoined the Camino a few kilometres after the chapel of Calvario, which we therefore missed. From there the way crossed wooded hillsides, with a welcome break at an isolated cafe with tortilla and even a pilgrim stamp! We met an Australian lady there who was suffering from blisters, and also the french couple we had met on the first day. From there, we continued up and down over the rolling hillsides, sometimes on concrete roads, sometimes on mud tracks. A feature that we started coming across was eucalyptus plantations, with a multitude of young trees planted in a regular pattern. We discovered later that this was a European Union project, not necessary welcomed by everyone due to the monoculture it promoted. The rain was starting to set in towards the end of the day, and we were getting tired, so we were glad that we had opted for a room in Etxebarria, some kilometres short of Markina-Exemein. Despite that, we had a very steep, wet, descent and Angus managed to slip on a concrete road, luckily without injuring himself. The day ended with hamburgers in a local cafe, full of boisterous families.

For more photos, see Angus & Sue's website