Walked today: 5.0 mi Camino2023: 41.2 mi
We began our walk thru the village square at 6:45. It was only 66 degrees but unusually humid at 85%… with a forecasted high of 94 degrees.
In the 14th century Santa Felicia, sister to the Duke of Aquitaine (San Guillén) left her home for a pilgrimage to Santiago. The life suited her and when she arrived in Obanos she decided to stay and to devote herself to aiding pilgrims. Her brother set out on a mission of his own, that of bringing her back home with the lure of the comfortable lifestyle she had left behind.
He was unable to do so and in a fit of rage, he killed her. Overcome with remorse, the young Duke decided to complete her pilgrimage in penitence. On his return journey, he holed up in the nearby hermitage of Arnotegui. He built a chapel there and continued the mission that his sister had begun. The Iglesia de San Juan Bautista preserves the skull of Guillén.
A little more than a mile from Obanos we approached the town of Puente la Reina.
As we left Puente la Reina, the sun was becoming a factor so we did our first test run on a sun umbrella we brought with us from home. It does a great job of creating perpetual shade for the user. With some fine-tuning on mounting it to the day pack, we should have an effective tool for mitigating future sunny walks during Camino2023.
The final 1.5 miles to Mañeru was a nicely packed gravel walking surface that could best be be described as: steep > steeper> very steep and the last 100 yds… NO WAY!!!
We walked into Mañeru at 9:45 and stopped at Bar/Albergue El Cantero for breakfast and to rendezvous with our pre-arranged taxi ride back to Casa Raichu in Obanos.
Upon returning to Casa Raichu , we crashed in our room and in the living room available to guests. At 7:00, dnner was prepared and served by Elena, the owner/manager and our delightful host.
We met and chatted with two delightful ladies this afternoon and at dinner. One was from Belgium, the other from Australia. It was the first Camino for both. They met for the first time few days ago and plan to walk the Camino together.
We settled our bill for the past two days and said our goodbyes as we will meet our taxi tomorrow at 6:45 to take us back to Mañeru to continue Camino2023.
Jimandi 