I absolutely fell in love with the Basque Country, or Euskadi, if you use the local language. The landscape was stunning, people were very friendly and warm, and I felt a sense of care, even passing by very industrial areas. Everywhere I passed was very bike friendly and made the ride through towns and even bigger cities quite easy. I cycled through a place called Aretxabaleta and it was very emotional for some reason.
There was a lot of joy and a sense of community. It was obviously the time kids were coming out of school. Lots of kids. All in their kick scooters, some electric, but most just normal ones. All in their small groups chatting away and without any adults which I found quite cool. It was obviously a very safe place. Further on, closer to the centre I saw a group of parents in what could be a gathering spot. One mother pointed at me and waved very pleased to see me pass... I couldn't stop smiling with the beauty of everything, the river, the forests and even the town and it's people... It was starting to rain, and even that didn't take out the smile on my face...I pulled in under a kind of a tunnel and tried for the first time my rain poncho...I turned the sheep skin the other way, made sure nothing would get wet and continued with the same smile on my face... It was fine to cycle in the rain and it didn't last long... I'm practicing for when I get to Ireland or Wales, I will see...
At different times, in different places I would see either flags of Palestine or sayings of support of the Palestinian people as Basque people are long time supporters of justice and know what it is to fight for independence from a more controlling and dominant government.
I also came across this board in the city of Urnieta saying they are against male chauvinism, which I found quite interesting as I never seen anywhere else anything like it... Feminists are obviously quite active in this region too ...
Most of the way I was along a river and that's a really nice presence to have...
I loved the balance between human settlements and the preservation of their natural resources.
Gandhi said that the development of a nation is seen in the way they treat their animals. I would say that the development of any culture is seen by the way they treat not only the animals, but the most vulnerable people and also the way they care for their Natural resources and ecosystem.
Well done Euskadi people. The forests are amazing, diverse and filled with life... I also had a moment of grief as I felt we ve lost so much of our ancient ecosystems in Portugal and we seem to want to destroy even more... Where are our diverse and abundant forests? Where are our natural ecosystems? And we call destruction development? I don't think so... These are predominantly Oak forests with lots of chestnuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, Ash, willow, etc...lots of food and medicine, as our mountains and forests used to be like... Now filled with monocultures of Pine and eucalyptus, or the new ecocide places with hundreds of fenced hectares of solar panels.
I slept on an hermitage this time, and it was good also. It was not far from the road as I didn't want to deviate much from it to find a place to sleep. I knew next morning I had 5 km of a very steep hill ahead, so I was being sensible and pragmatic.
It was perfect, not visible and I had access to a little stream behind it where I could collect water. I saw cow dung so it must be a paddock at some time. The gate was open, so they must be somewhere else tonight. I also got some wood as the big stone pillar was an ideal shelter to hide a small fire to cook, so I save on gas. I asked permission and brought 3 stones from the river too to support my pot and kettle.
Perfect, quiet and beautiful. With the blessings of Saint Braz and those who came here to pray once...
This has been one of my many thoughts during my cycling... So many church buildings, mostly closed, abandoned or a touristic attraction for those who don't necessarily care about Christ or his message, but more about the architecture or beauty.
It's a bit sad... I remembered Juan Diego, the lovely man I mentioned on my last post who gave me a lift on his truck. We were speaking about migrants ( his wife is a migrant from Venezuela), and he said something that must be a cliché that he heard somewhere else. He said that Muslims come here and they want mosques to pray, but if we go to their country ( he was referring specifically to Morroco) we wouldn't be able to even practice our faith, nevermind building a church... I understood what he was saying and I didn't feel it was my place to comment. I believe everyone should be free to express their religion or spiritual practice everywhere. If that is the case in Muslim countries, and I know it is, they should be the ones changing and evolving, in my opinion, and not that we should do the same to them... I was very pleased to know that Filipa Batista and her team in the "Centro de Migrações" in Fundão did their best to find a place for Muslims to pray and for people of other religions to have their public place to express their faith and offer their prayers.
I went even further in my thoughts. Why not open these closed and abandoned churches for people of other religions to pray? At least they are praying...
Here s a thought for many other thoughts and discussions ... But I will move on now...
The hill next morning was indeed steep and long, but I actually didn't mind that much. I pull the bike and walked and enjoyed the trees,the plants and the views...
Going downhill was a thrill and breathtaking...it was steep and I was hoping my breaks would hold, which they did. It was stunningly beautiful, the edge of the massive Pyrenees Range... That's the beauty of cycling, when I go uphill, I know the downhill is coming... It's super fun and invigorating! This was not even so high, but I was approaching the sea level soon, so I would go to level zero eventually...
I was so looking forward for that.
In the end I didn't go to Donostia/San Sebastián and meet Alejandro because he was actually not there when I was passing. I chose my route to go straight through Irun and then in Hendaye I would meet the sea.
This was my sleeping place before Irun. I could feel we were getting closer to higher human population. I was getting closer not only to the sea, but also to a border. There was almost no break between one city and the other. This was just before entering Hernani, which is 20 km away from Irun and almost 26 from Hendaye, France. Borders are often a blur, and usually very rich places, like a good permaculture principle reminds us that the edges are the richest because that's where many different cultures mix. People on both sides speak both languages, and in this case 3, Basque, Spanish and French. That in itself is richness, nevermind the cultural aspect.
I was very lucky to find this beautiful place hidden behind a walking track, not far from the train line, but very secluded. There were two small streams meeting and I could hear the water flowing all the time. I love that. I woke up early as usual, did my coffee with gas and went straight to Irun. It was exciting when I first saw the sea from a hill, specially knowing I was going down.
The picture is not that great I know.
In Irun I had a few missions. I was wasting time and money having to stop in cafes to charge my phone in order to have directions mainly. The cable I brought was not the best and the solar panels were not really charging so well either. It was not hard to find a phone shop and I got myself a power pack so I could charge it while cycling with the solar panels and I got a fast charger with a new cable. It was the best I did. It's been working beautifully since.
The other mission was checking my bike after crossing the mountains...I felt it could do with some oil and tweaks on the gears, and I was right on that instinct too. I was on the outskirts of the city and my battery was off, but I travelled without a phone before and the best way to get around is to ask and hope for kind hearts. I found the best. I saw a man on his bike just coming out of a call and approached. I asked if he knew where I could check my bike and he didn't just tell me where it was, he drove me there and I just had to follow. Life without mobile phones is so much more social. Seko, from Senegal lives in Irun for 20 years now. He was not much of a talker, I asked a few things when we stopped on a traffic light and that was it. I told him I loved the Djembe drum, from Senegal. He smiled and said he didn't know how to play. I guessed he was a Muslim because we passed by two other people who greeted him with the typical greeting "Salaam Alaykum"... I made sure I said the same when I thanked him and said goodbye. It was a perfect local shop I would not have found it on any app. The mechanic was lovely, fixed what needed fixing. Oiled it and he didn't want any money. What a blessing. Thank you Seko and many blessings to you and your family.
I went to the centre and as I said I found the phone shop easily. I also asked a local woman for a shop to buy food and she pointed me to a lovely local market with all the supplies I needed. Then I went to a small park just the opposite side of that market, where I saw some nice trees and a perfect place to cook my lunch. A nice rice with some nettles, plantain and dandelion I picked on the way, a can of sardines I bought at the shop, salt, paprika, cumin and curcuma... It was delicious, healthy and nutritious. And I had the rest for dinner as I usually cook one cup of rice and it's perfect for 2 meals. I brought a tupperware that is the perfect size to store half portion, and fits perfectly inside the cooking pot. Here was my "restaurant" in Irun :-)
It was very close to cross the border, a river, Bidassoa. Rivers are always beautiful. And finally the sea.
My camp at the beach...I did find another piece of driftwood that was higher, so I improved my shelter afterwards.
This one was another of those instincts, or maybe a forethought from someone with a bit of experience...in Hernani, at a stream I stopped before the spot I found to sleep, I saw a long bamboo and I have been wanting to find one and make a bike support as in some places there is nothing to lean against....like the beach...so I cut a thicker piece and a smaller piece so they fit into one another and they are easy to carry on the bike...since the bamboo was so long I cut another piece that I used here to raise my tarp and cut smaller pieces in bits to make pegs...perfect for my setting at the beach as there are no trees and nothing to attach ropes ... I love these challenges.
This is where I slept, a bit more out of the way...it was perfect, I was not disturbed.
This was my next sleeping place, not so far, at the chapel of Saint Magdalene, in Bidart, a refuge and solace at the end of a very tough day... I cried as I arrived, giving thanks and enjoying the sun setting in the sea...
I don't know if it was too much sun, or something I ate, if the water I was drinking from taps, or the whole touristic environment around, but I got sick ... I felt very tired all day, the hills were very steep all the time and it was really hard to move the bike, even walking...I felt I needed to vomit, and thankfully eventually I did...it was all out and I felt much better...still weak, but I got the the chapel and I was so thankful for that place.... It was almost impossible to find a place in a forest or the wild as it was all "protected" for conservation... So protected that I saw a mama wildbore and her 5 babies passing in front of me, in the evening, and then in the morning, just in front of this bench in the picture... She seemed to be also looking for a place to rest with her babies, and maybe food, but fences are so tight and they are everywhere that makes it very difficult to be wild in these places... Big mansions, camping places and tourist houses are ok to occupy natural places, but wild life like wildbores and other animals or wild humans as me at the moment, it's really hard ...
Anyway, I was glad next day to go to Biarritz and get a train back to mountains and rural areas...
It is very bike friendly here in France ... A lady in the train station taught me how to book my bike online and how to buy the ticket on the machine....easy. The access to the train is also nice and easy, no steps like Portuguese trains, and very wide doors.
I got early to the station and only had the train at the end of the day. I didn't want to go to any beach anymore so I spotted a lake in the middle of Biarritz, not far from the station and it was perfect to relax and even sleep in my hammock.
I arrived in Tarbes around 9.15pm, I was on the other side of the big peaks of the Pyrenees, there was still snow there. I cycled maybe 9 km until it was dark and I entered a common forest to make my camp...it was just perfect and I made a good call as I had a long uphill ahead for next morning.
I think I wrote too much for now, so I continue in another post. I end with this picture of the lovely spot I spent the afternoon the following day.... what a view... Many swims in cristal clear water with half meter size fish...
All for now...
Enjoy your days!
Blessings
P.S. - forgive me English speakers for my writing...it is not my first language
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