Camino de Santiago LITE: Day 9 (del Norte): Deba to Olatz

The next stage, Deba to Markina, is well beyond our self-imposed daily limit. So from early on the plan was to split it into two sections. However, there is no town with accommodations along the way as far as I can tell. The only solution is to walk to a place and get back to Deba in a taxi, and resume the walk from the same spot. Olatz, located a third way over, is a small settlement. But there needs to be a specific site or address we tell the taxi in advance. The googlemap shows a church which seems to be right on the Camino. So we ask our hotel receptionist, using partly google-translate, to call a taxi which will pick us up in front of Ermita San Isidro in Olatz. We leave ourselves 4 hours to walk 8 km. It sounds a bit ridiculous but the distances in various references seem sometimes underestimated and furthermore it is a steep uphill most of the way, and I don't want to have a taxi wait for us, give up and go back. In case something goes wrong, I have the number of both the taxi and the hotel reception.

Deba: breakfast is simple but still includes fresh squeezed O.J. The picture shows Flysch rock formation, which we haven't seen yet.

Deba: not a pilgrim but a person with a backpack leaf blower! But we definitely see more peregrinos today already than in past days.

Deba: unmistakable peregrinos

The rain is steady and I have to resign to wearing my designer poncho, high end not in style but in function. It is a steep ascent out of Deba but the footing isn't bad. There is no place to stop for food, as expected. But just past Ermita del Calvario, there is an albergue open. We hear a lot of noise as we walk by, and it turns out it is from the same group of Korean middle school students we saw yesterday. The kids and the teachers seem to be in much better sprirts today, the latter saying that they settled into this place impromptu only after a short walk because they were concerned that some kids may catch a cold.

Deba: The way out of the center is well waymarked (left), but a steep uphill starts.

Leaving Deba: probably the last time we are this close to the ocean for several days, as the route turns inland.

Waymarking continues to be excellent.

But the trail gets narrow and muddy.

What's going to be the fate of this slug today?

Maybe Basque chefs were inspired by this natural foam...

Entering a mysterious forest?

The little path around the puddle is well-trodden - we are standing on the shoulders of the peregrinos who passed here recently.

Which way? Oh, but the most trustworthy sign is up ahead.

Yours truly admiring the view in full rain gear. The cover over the bag and the poncho are one piece, and there are breathing slits on sides.

As we pass by Albergue Izarbide, in the middle of nowhere, we have a chance encounter again with the Korean middle school group we saw yesterday.

By the time we leave Albergue Izarbide after a brief chat with the kids and their teachers, the rain has stopped and the air is refreshing.

As we arrive in Olatz, which you will miss if you blink, Ermita de San Isidro is located exactly as I had envisioned (thank you, googlemap, especially the satellite and street views). We will be very obvious to the car coming down the road. But will the taxi arrive or will it not? The taxi does show up a few minutes late and the day is going without a glitch. We ask the cheerful Basque driver to give us a ride to the same spot tomorrow morning to resume our walk.

Last uphill toward Olatz

More four-leaf clovers

Final descent toward Olatz

Getting back on the pavement after much negotiating with the muddy trail with a scar to prove it

Olatz as imagined: Ermita de San Isidro, our rendezvous point on left, and a bar in the middle, which is now closed, at the confluence of the roadway and the Camino

Back to Deba: "beautiful Basque coast," declares our friendly driver

Back in Deba, after a simple lunch at the square, a major operation to clean and dry our wet and muddy boots commences at the hotel. The wife needs plenty of paper towel, which we purchase at a Chinese-run supermarket, about the only store open during the siesta. We pay quickly at the counter not to disturb the lady who is engrossed in a Korean drama on her phone.

Sunjin arrives at our hotel as planned. We appreciate her coming all the way from Korea spending part of her precious Chuseok vacation to join us on the walk the next several days.