Moving on from Bilbao, we stayed in San Sebastian for a couple of nights, before deciding to visit Pamplona. However, when we reached Pamplona, we got stuck in the back streets and eventually decided after driving past the same buildings for the sixth time that it was nothing special, also the campsite we'd decided upon was infested with flies. We thought it would be for the best if we drove a bit further and stayed in the Pyrenees for a night.
If you have a map of Spain in front of you, our brief stay in the Roncal Valley between San Sebastian and staying in the Picos De Europa is a bit of a mad detour. It was well worth it though. When we arrived at the hostel in the village of Urzainqui (bottom picture) a storm was blowing up, and in the end it turned out to be one of those violent night-long mountain storms you get. The next morning, however, we ventured out on a walk to the village of Isaba and back, the photos on this page are from the walk.
If you go walking in Spain, they paint handy waymarkers. If you look at the signpost on the picture on the right you might see green and white stripes painted on the actual post. These crop up every hundred yards or so, painted on a stone or a tree trunk, to let you know you are on the right track and if you stray from the path it won't be long until you see the two stripes crossed over to tell you to turn back. Just as well really as Spanish maps are nowhere near as good as British ones, so if we'd had to rely on those alone, it would have been hopeless. I'm quite high up in that photo.
If there's any fellow geologists out there reading this, I saw some great en-echelon tension gashes in the rocks.
Urzainqui is a peaceful little place. The thing I liked best was that there was a little grassy square with a spout from which poured ice cold spring water straight from the mountains. Just the thing! |
