Deba to Markina-Xemein - 15 Miles

October 7 and 8, 2025. Now the path turns away from the coast for a few days. The Hotel Antsotegi is off the path, about a mile on the other side of Markina.

We are pretty fed up with hotels that add mileage to an already long day and today was another example of this. To cut out some of the mileage, I mapped a short cut that was almost a disaster. The path was overgrown and it was hot, but thankfully there were no big barriers to getting to the main road and the last 1/4 mile, but I get ahead of myself....

The day started with a very slippery downhill from our out of town Deba hotel. We were behind the group of 20 - amazingly onely 1 slipped. The trip out of Deba took us on a bridge across the Deba river and up into the hills. We didn't see the group of 20 the rest of the trip and believe they had bus travel set up to Loredo and to "the top of the hills" so they could have easier day hikes.

The weather was lovely and we had quite a push uphill to a refugio before coming to more undulating countryside. We saw several types of domesticated animals, breeds of cows and horses which aren't usual in the US or UK countryside, so interesting to see.

Checking in was less than wonderful. I think the receptionist trained at the University of Unwelcoming Customer Service. This was probably the most abrupt and unwelcoming check-in I've had. Thankfully the dinner staff was much nicer.

We wanted to split our walk to Gernika into 2 days which meant on October 8 walking to the small town of Munitibar. We needed to find a taxi to bring us back to Markina since the buses weren't convenient. We were having the same issues as in Deba in that local taxis seem not to want to work with anyone not local. Thankfully the taverna owner helped find us a taxi and all was well. On our way to Minitibar we stopped in the town of Bolivar which was the historic family town of the revolutionary and looked through the museum. We also stopped at several historic churches along the way.

Dinner the first night was the "Pilgrim Meal" - ensalada mixta and mediocre fish. Dinner the second night was off the normal menu. I had some nice Padron Peppers - a favorite from the Camino Frances - and we shared a lovely white fish which was really tasty. Dessert was yogurt with some honey both nights. We were offered some sort of local grappa which was also quite lovely.

Breakfast was "typical" - toast, ham/cheese, coffee. Nothing exciting.

Here are some summary highlights of the 2 days.