17: Igeldo to Orio

I remember the walk from Igeldo to Orio as a pleasant one. The guitar weighed heavily on my back and gave me something to think about, but it was an otherwise enjoyable hike. I was pleasantly surprised that it took me less time to get to Orio than I had thought. There is a little chapel shortly before you get into the town, but it was closed. I saw a young couple walk by with raincoats and large backpacks. We got to talking a little bit. They were from France, and also doing this pilgrimage. They took a picture of me.

A little further along there was a pilgrim shelter. The place looked good, and had atmosphere. I asked how much it was, and the lady told me 10 Euros. I asked if I could just hang out and rest a bit before heading on, and she said sure.

At the campground they had asked me if I had a pilgrim’s pass. I didn’t even know what that was. I asked this woman if I could get one here. Yes, she said. She would just need to see my passport.

I was slowly learning about what it means to be a pilgrim on this road. There are many shelters along the road, where you can stay for cheap or even for free if you have a document showing you to be a pilgrim. This document gets a stamp at every stop along the way. Everybody knows this, of course, but I was the pilgrim who had come without doing any research.

Poem on the wall of the Orio pilgrim shelter.

The lady gave me a map and explained where the next three shelters were. I thanked her and went on my way. I was thinking about that tick in my side, and hoping to still find a clinic or something to remove it before it would spread some disease, or whatever the heck it is that ticks do. But it turned out that there was no such place in Orio. The tourist information office was open though, and the woman at the desk told me that I should go on to the clinic in Zarautz, a few kilometers further.