The Way to Land's End

• Starting Point: Zariquegui
• Ending Point: Puente La Reina
• Daily distance: 9.57 miles (15.4 km)
• Total distance: 58.87 miles (94.7 km)

The day began with an ascent to the windmills and to Alto de Perdón, a pilgrim statue erected by the energy company. There is an inscription that reads: “Donde se cruza el Camino del viento con el de las estrellas” (“Where the way of the wind meets the way of the stars”).

The descent down was quite rocky, but led to a beautiful statue of Mary. 

The path then became to meander through corn fields. We took a one mile detour to visit the mysterious Ermita de Santa Maria de Eunate. It is a 13th century octagonal shaped church with 33 arches surrounding it. The mystery is its origins…nobody quite knows who built it. Some say it was built by the Templars. Others believe the 33 arches represent Muslim prayer beads and suggest worshippers circled the church meditating three times (99 doors) before entering the 100th door of the church. Inside the church sits a statue of Mary. 

More cornfields followed. As we were walking along, I noticed what must have been thousands and thousands of snails on the foliage along the roadside. 

I don’t know whether our bodies are adjusting or the trail was kinder to us today, but today’s hike felt easier.  We have one more day of lower mileage (around 11 miles) and then we start really ramping it up (15 and then 18 miles!).  
We finally arrived at our destination for the night. And what a treat…we splurged on a private room at the hostel for an extra $5 each (a lot on a pilgrim’s budget). Usually a bed costs $9-13 per night. No climbing to a top bunk or being hunchbacked on the bottom bunk. It was heaven! 

After getting our room, we had dinner at a local restaurant. If the albergue doesn’t serve dinner, most restaurants offer a pilgrims menu. I selected mixed paella (rice with pork, mussels and shrimp), roasted rabbit with aeoli and fries. They serve fries with everything here, at least on the pilgrims menu. Dessert  and water or wine is included all for $10 total. Breakfast and lunch average $5 each. Then you have snacks, cafe con leche and laundry. Overall, I’m finding that it was reasonable to budget $40 per day for this adventure. 

After dinner, we did laundry and went to Mass. The Catherderal was beautiful. We were again called forward for a pilgrim’s blessing. Hey, I’ll take all the blessings I can get!

Again, I’m finding the internet speed super slow. I have more pics to load once I get better connectivity.