We left Uterga – where the alberque was great – good supper and breakfast – we stayed at casa Baztan
The sunrise across the fields was spectacular
We decided on reaching Murazbal after admiring the magnificent walk mural …
…to detour to the church Eunate which was an extra 4 kms through very quiet farm roads
Wikipedia has a complete story in this church and the fascinating history – wonder where the truth lies …https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Saint_Mary_of_Eunate
After a short breather and walk around the church – which was unfortunately closed till 10am – we moved on to Obanos where the village was clearly trying to recover from a week of a special fiesta ( complete with bill running) – pity we missed it ?- we managed to find a coffee stop
On to Puente la Reina where we found some supplies and evidence of the fiesta – it was cleaner than Obanos –
The River (Rio) Arga which we first crossed as a small river in Zubiri is now much larger
From here the climbing is very tiring especially up to the hilltop town of Cirauqui
Then a short sharp down hill over a very old Roman bridge we climbed again to Lorca – passing through a modern tunnel under the highway – which had wonderful acoustics
It was a relief to arrive at Alberque la Bodega del Camino- it’s an ok Alberque but costly and they charge extra for everything
Supper of veggie soup, chicken & veg main and ice cream lolly was tasty and generous
Tomorrow we move on only 8.5 km to Estella to pick up the parcel we sent from SJPP for Jules