The journey to the start of this year’s trek along the Camino del Norte was not totally without incident.  The check in at Gatwick was the biggest shambles ever, with lots of people undoubtedly missing their flights and the anticipated journey from Bilbao to Irun was disrupted by works at the main train station.

2 bus journeys later, we arrived in Irun, leaving Bilbao behind for 6 days.  Irun seems like a pleasant place, right on the French border and considered as the start of the Camino del Norte.  Having arrived on match day, our walk to the official start of Puente de Badosa was shared with several thousand football fans walking to the Gal stadium to watch Real Union Club against Mirandes (the local team won 3-2 for the record).

We followed the advice from many blogs to visit the official start the day before the first day on the trails, as it’s pushing 30 minutes from the centre of the town and you don’t need those extra km on the first full days walk. 

I hadn’t quite realised how close Irun is to France, but this soon became evident when we saw a ‘gendarmerie’ van on the bridge itself.

We stayed in Pension Bowling, which was cheap and proved the saying that ‘you get what you pay for’.  It is right next to the railway line, so you have the noise of trains until late in the evening and from early in the morning.  The people at the main auberge in the town also warned us that there would be prostitutes hiring the rooms out above us, but that never came to fruition.  Make sure that you have cash with you to get your credentials stamp book, as they did not accept cards, which did cause a little commotion.

So, after a quick bit of food in one of the local squares, we headed off for an average sleep, punctuated by the train trundling past our window and the anticipation of the start of the journey.

One of the fantastic things about the Camino is that you meet many people along the way, each with their own stories and on the whole people are incredible pleasant.  We did meet 2 young German lads at this stage who introduced themselves as being from Germanistan, which was a particularly odd way to start a conversation and a quick way to end it.

On the other hand, we bumped into 3 Japanese ladies twice on this section.  They must have been in their 70’s and were moving slowly, but what an adventure.  So far away from home, such a long distance to walk at that age.  They cropped up in conversation several times over the next few days, as we wondered where they were and how they were getting on.

While I’m writing about people we met, the time we spent with Richard, a Brit from Essex was particularly interesting and cemented ideas in our minds.  He had retired early in order to make the most of the active years he has left.  ‘DO NOT LEAVE IT TOO LATE’ were his words.  I wonder if I will read this in a few years having taken his advice or whether we didn’t take the plunge.

Lezo was an unexpected gem. We were all expecting to arrive at the boat crossing at the bottom of the hill, but Lezo was before it. We arrived at the hottest part of the days.  As with all the towns we passed through the old part is beautiful with narrow cobbled streets and a church not too far away. 

We were incredibly lucky to arrive during the Santa Cruz Festivities, which gave us the perfect opportunity to sit down and relax, as the streets were not passable.  We were greeted by a group of men dancing to the beat of a drum with huge cow bells attached to their lower backs.  They were followed by different carts with men, women and girls depicting different traditional trades.  We decided to brave the narrows streets going against the flow of the parade up to the town square, where we bumped into 2 giants figures with big heads (gigantes y cabezudos), dancing away.

As with many of the mornings we had planned to leave early, especially on the first day.  Someone had other thoughts, a wonderfully kind man called Ricardo at Café Colon just down the road from our accommodation.  It had barely opened and there was no-one inside apart from a man drinking an early (very early) morning beer with his dog.  On this trip to the Camino, we had our Spanish speaking secret weapon with us.  Not only is she fantastic company, but May is also from Madrid and made friends with every Spaniard she met, high on the fact that she was in her homeland.  After being sweet talked by May, not only did Ricardo make us breakfast, but he also made us a packed lunch to take with us, including cooking a tortilla from scratch.  We would have been there longer if we had taken up his offer of a bit of alcohol to start the journey. 

Our journey finally started from the centre of Irun, slightly later than envisaged, due to Ricardo’s hospitality.  Just follow the arrows.  You can’t go wrong (well almost) The sign showing 840km to Santiago seems a little less daunting when you are only doing part of the journey.  It really isn’t long until you are in the countryside, along the side of the river until you meet the first climb of the day.

The first part of the climb leads to the Ermita de Guadalupe, a lovely church built in the 16th century.  We arrived during mass, which was really quite apt as we were on the first stage of a pilgrimage.  After a good drink of water, we set off on the next stage of the climb.  There are 2 options at this church.  A steep route with better views or a route with less climbs, but not the same views.  We took the difficult option and blimey, that was tough, but worth every step.  It is a 30% climb for about 300m, then it becomes shallower, but it does keep going up for some time. Apart from the initial walk through Irun, the first 6 miles are uphill with a total climb of 1800ft

There really isn’t much flat at the top of the climb. It is not too long before you start the descent down into Lezo, which is at sea level, a section that takes you back back 1800ft in about 3 miles (ouch my knees hurt). The views are a joy with mountains on one side and the Bay of Biscay on the other.

There were some really loud engine noises coming from the nearby mountain road, which seemed a little too loud for boy racers. Turns out that there was a time trial race going on up the twisty turny mountain road. It was the only thing that disturbed the peace as we approached Lezo.

We stopped in the bay for the usual coffee and a glass of coke before making our way around the harbour to catch the boat over the estuary. 

This is a really lovely short crossing on a very small boat.  It takes about 2 minutes and costs next to nothing.  There are a few places here to eat, but we carried on for about 10 minutes before hitting another beast of a climb.  Not only was it steep, but it was also steps, which make life much more difficult.

The climb was well worth it, with more stunning views of the exit to the sea and the dramatic cliffs along the coastline. At this stage we had had enough of the hills and

It was strange coming down into San Sebastian.  It is beautiful and to have a beach like this right in the city is fabulous, definitely a place to visit again, but it was packed.  It was the San Sebastian film festival and the likes of Brad Pitt and Penelope Cruz had dropped in for a few nights.  After a quick visit to the beach and a dip in the sea to sooth our aching legs, we headed into the city to find ourselves a bar to feed up on pintxos. 

We found the Bidaia taverna right on the centre of the city and the food was amazing. A massive selection of pintxos and some veggie ones too.

The penny dropped as to why it was so difficult to book accommodation for the night.  The film festival had taken all the places.  We had to get a bus out to a hostel.  It was about 15 minutes plus a little walk, but not too bad.  The hostel was like a cross between IKEA and a storage unit.  Very modern, well kitted out, clean and pretty clinical.  A good night’s sleep was had by all (probably as it was the only night I didn’t snore).

Here is the map and the elevation on day 1. It is not easy and it is a taste of things to come.

The hills are tough and even in September, it is still pretty hot. There was hardly a cloud in the sky.

The feeling of just having to get from one place to the next while eating and drinking enough to get you there is fantastic.

There are no other worries, the life that you have left back at home seems to be a world away already.

Just follow those arrows. That you’re only job.