20 April 2008

We got off to a late start as on the way we happened upon an internet place, so we stopped for an hour and updated the blog. It wasn´t until about 11:00 that we finally set off on the road, after trying the path for a short while, and finding ourselves in deep mud. Our goal for today was Trinidad de Arre, but somehow we went right past it, and found ourselves in Huarte, a few kilometres away from Pamplona. We found our way to the local municipal refugio, and were pleasantly surprised to find that the facilities were excellent, and that it was almost empty.

We had met a young couple from Wales on their dirt bikes early this morning and when we arrived in Huarte exhausted and hoping to find a refugio, we met Graham again. He was happy to see us, as no one else had shown up in a huge muncipal building sized to accomodate hundreds. The washing and toilet facilities were spotless and plentiful. We were given our private room containing 8 bunk beds so we spread ourselves out and washed our muddy clothes. The biggest luxury was having our own radiator on which we could dry all our stuff. In other places radiator real-estate was a scarce commodity normally shared by 16 people. The kitchen facilities were wonderful and we were able to cook dinner and share it with Graham and Katy. They supplied the dessert.