Roncesvalles to Larrasoana (Camino de Santiago)

We awoke at 6am and were walking in the dark along a wooded path that ran parallel to a paved road. Clouds only added to the early morning darkness and it was an hour or so before it began to rain. We started walking with a young Italian fellow in bright orange running shoes. Just as we left the heavy woods we passed a stone cross. A sign stated that witch covens held forbidden rituals at this spot and later would be the location of their death. A creepy place in the rain as the grey sky slowly began to lighten. We found a café with espresso, hot pastries and warmth in Burguette. The constant rain made our path muddy for most of the 17.2 miles of walking. The path edged by wire fences rose over several small hills. We crossed a large slippery pasture and then headed steeply down crossing the Rio Arga at Zubiri. I found a Mercado and purchased a coke and snack and sat under a roof overhand out of the worst of the day’s downpour and removed the soaked rain poncho. Though it was cold it was nice to remove the wet nylon for a short time and rest for a moment. Our destination was Larrasoana and its one alberque another 5.8 km further. We arrived at 1:30pm but had to wait until it opened at 3pm. It took a lengthy amount of time to get registered as each pilgrim’s name, passport number and country of origin had to be handwritten into a large binder, each pilgrim passport stamped and a payment of 6 euro collected. This is the registration process at all alberques. The Larrasoana alberque is run down and all the beds are in one room. Larrasoana is a very small village with one café/bar and store we just could not find for some reason. The bar is the social gathering spot of all the pilgrims. We were lucky to get a large table and shared it throughout the early evening with a series of travelers. We were joined by the Italian with the orange shoes and his German friend, then by the two Seattle women and then by two Swedish women. We had plenty of time to drink wine and relax before dinner then off to bed by 8:30pm. Journal: ”I awoke at 4:30am, dressed and headed downstairs to wait for Tim and Mike. There was a pounding on the outside door and I opened it. A tall fellow with an Irish accent told me he had missed the alberques curfew and had been locked out all night and had waited on the street until someone heard his knocking. Mike and Tim joined me and we headed out the door and the fellow walked in. We heard a couple of days later that several people had belongings stolen at the alberque. I think the Irish fellow was the devil.”