The Way of St. James

The second week I was in Deba, several family members and friends and I walked part of the Way of St. James. It’s a popular route for backpackers and you can definitely see why. We started off at 10am and took the train to Zumaia and walked back to Deba. All in all, it took about five hours and was absolutely stunning. It takes you along rolling hills and by the sea, through various little towns and tiny paths tucked away in forests with parts of it taken up by mud. Which doesn’t sound all that appealing, and for some of our group it wasn’t, but I’m really glad I agreed to go.

Because it’s so popular, the path is really well marked. And, if you’re like us and still not 100% sure, there are enough people going both ways that there should be someone to ask if you’re headed in the right direction.  We also took several water containers and bottles, but even on a cloudy, fairly cool day, climbing up and down hills and scrambling through muddy patches tires a person out and at one point we did run out. Luckily we hit a farm right at that point and the farmer was kind enough to let us fill up all of our bottles before we continued on. Lunch was also packed and we stopped about halfway through to eat sandwiches and cheese and fruit. Which definitely helped us get through to the end.

While I wouldn’t discourage anyone from going, if you’re not really an outdoors-y, climbing hills and having your feet and calves ache, I wouldn’t recommend it. You do get to see the area from a completely different perspective and I found it to be a great way to spend the day, but it is  a bit difficult and I know one or two members of our group didn’t enjoy it as much as we had as it wasn’t something they were accustomed to.

I don’t think it’s something I would have done if I were on vacation there by myself, so I’m really glad that the family went and invited me along because it was really pretty and a great way to spend the day.

Things I’m Loving:

+ Food photography secrets – (For those aspiring food photographers out there.)
+ A playlist – (To dance to.)
+ This DIY – (Because snail mail is the best mail.)
+ This Parisian menu – (The French onion soup looks divine.)