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Etxauri

The morning was cool as I headed to the bus station in Pamplona with the intention of checking out the small town of Etxauri. I had to wait an hour so for a small blue bus to take me there for a very cheap fare, it's not far outside the city and hoped there was some countryside to walk in. A pleasant surprise awaited me.
Etxauri1.jpg
Photo taken from the trail going up the mountain.

The bus left on time with a few people on board. The ride is about 20-30 minutes depending on traffic and the driver liked to put pedal to metal as we proceeded into the countryside, where he really took off. I didn't pay that nuch attention to the landscape, I was too busy holding on. A bus stop with shelter eventually appeared next to the church and I got off. Stopping to do my usual sense of the place I found it relaxing and the thought came into mind to be careful of the mountain. What mountain?

Oh, that mountain!

Walking along the side of the church, I came to the end of the wall and looked left. Heading toward it before taking this shot, I met Juan. He was Basque, as is the whole town except a few Spaniards. He told me to head down a certain street and look for some little houses that were all the same and I would come to a road leading to the mountain. It is named Larreaundi: is 840 meters high and takes about 4 hours to go the length of across the top, once you are up to that level from the gentler slope up a good 2 kliks off to the left. There is a trail with signs and a herd of cows which you need to be careful of. Also it is considered the mountain for people in Pamplona to climb. There are even courses for such and with over 6 kilometers of cliff face there must be thousands of climbs on it.
Etxauri2.jpg
This is only part of it. Notice the eagle on the right silhouetted against the cloud.

Etxauri3.jpg
Road to the little houses.

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The route up toward the cliff faces.

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I carried on up toward the place and stopped just before a trail. After my time Maroc where I trekked up a 1200 foot mountain, I returned to London. Within 2 hours of landing I was struck with a severe stabbing in the eyes like a migraine. Trouble is I have never had one in my life and wondered what was going on. It continued for 3 months and was in agony, except when I left London. What does London have that would suddenly do that now and not before? Try 5G phone signals at a high frequency. 5G is not microwave like 2,3,4 G. It's something with much higher frequency and could be quite dangerous if done wrong. Forbes magazine says no one knows for sure yet. As normal the English did their usual going way over the top with it all, concentrating the signals. Well, I did little while there and got out of shape. My right eye is damaged as a result (other people were saying their eyes were hurting too) and I have very little depth perception now because of it. To that end, I only ascended a short way up the rocky little trail (remembering the mountain 'sense' earlier), took a foto of Etxauri and went back down. 5G is in Pamplona at a lower frequency and I don't have any problems.
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Just liked the place so took a foto.

The pueblo has about 600 population and the area is a valley with 9 other very small towns. Juan said there is a total population of around 1000. I took a lot of fotos wandering around the town and decided to head back to the bus stop. A cafe was at one side of the place and I had the schedule for the bus, except it had an addition to Etxauri's name. So I asked this lady running the cafe and she was Spanish, not Basque and spoke no English, insisting the bus did not come for over an hour yet—she was reading the wrong part of the schedule. All the Basque people I met there spoke English, none of the Spanish did. I went to the road which heads back to Pamplona and started to hitch-hike. Then suddenly saw the bus turning for the stop on the other side of the church. No way could I get there on time, but took a chance and waved it down, got on and returned. If I thought the bus ride out was a bit wild, the one back put it to shame. I had to hang on for dear life and sprained my left thumb in the process.

I quite like Etxauri, it's peaceful, very quiet and was happy with the time there.


A very good trip.

Aug 01, 2024




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