- Distance: 18.3km
- Ascent/Descent: 790m up, 1099m down
- Time: 7 hr 13 min
Mood of the day: Feeling fine
A longer day up and over and through these hills to Sare.
Did not sleep particularly well: there are no screens on the windows, so we closed the outside doors, and that made our room a bit stifling, so at midnight we opened the doors and let the cool air and the flies in. Tried to get back to sleep, but oh, cowbells down below, sigh. This is the country.
An expected breakfast (baguette, butter, jam, coffee) and we were off through Ibardin settlement, which is one of those odd border town filled with booze and tobacco for tourist shopping. The first half of the day felt much more coherent than yesterday’s “let’s go to the top of this hill then back down” jumble.
Walked into Spain briefly and saw what I presume was an old border station from the Franco era-—gotta keep out the world!-—then up and down a valley. Back up a big old stretch, stepped over a cog-wheel train, then down into Sare, where we realized the hotel is really 2km outta town, sigh, so another 25 minutes walking just when we though we were done.
Pleasant little place with inexpensive lodging (80 euros) and dinner and bed.