Vitalie Ciobanu

Data Analyst as a Service

Tag: Trail

  • Stage 12. Agés – Burgos

    Stage 12. Agés – Burgos

    And just like that, our last stage of the Camino de Santiago for this year has come to an end. The journey from Agés to Burgos was, to put it bluntly, the most boring stretch we’ve walked. But every Camino stage has its own charm – or at least a few redeeming moments.

    The first few kilometers were uneventful, but between kilometers 3 and 8, we finally had something to enjoy. We crossed a mountain, reaching 1,000 meters of elevation once again. The climb was a welcome challenge, a brief escape from the monotony of the asphalt roads that dominated the rest of the route.

    The start of the climb
    Agés – Burgos stage elevation

    Once past the mountain and approaching Burgos, we had a decision to make: take the industrial area or opt for the airport route. We went with the latter, preferring the less crowded path that also kept us away from the highway’s noise. It wasn’t scenic, but at least it was quieter.

    Airport route

    After enduring the long, medium-paved roads near the airport’s fence, the entrance to Burgos was surprisingly pleasant. The Camino led us through a long park, a green corridor that slowly welcomed us into the heart of the city. It was a refreshing way to end the stage, making up for the dullness of the earlier kilometers.

    Once again, we managed to outrun the rain. We arrived at the municipal hostel, settled in, and just minutes later, when we stepped out for lunch, the rain had started. Timing has been on our side throughout this journey!

    For lunch, we tried an Asian restaurant nearby – Tora Street Food. The food was okay, but nothing remarkable. Hopefully, dinner will be better – we’re aiming for ramen tonight. Given that it’s Good Friday, we’ll have to navigate around the cathedral’s events to reach the place.

    And with that, our Camino for this year comes to a close. It wasn’t the most exciting stage, but it was another step forward in the journey. Until next time, Buen Camino! 🚶‍♂️

    Mountain’s highest point

  • Stage 11. Belorado – Agés

    Stage 11. Belorado – Agés

    Until km 11-12, the route was a relatively easy uphill but monotonous, surrounded by rolling hills and expansive fields. The standout stop in this stretch was La Taberna de Espinosa, a delightful hostel with a bar in Espinosa del Camino. The hosts were warm, welcoming and with a good sense of humor, but the real highlight was their toast: toasted bread, local tomatoes and champignons combined into what might be the best toast tasted in a long time! A strong recommendation for anyone passing through.

    The toast!
    The hostel

    Passing Villafranca Montes de Oca, the landscape changed. A steep and somewhat longish climb emerged, adding excitement to the route. For those who enjoy a good uphill challenge, this section was a treat. After conquering it and reaching 1100+ meters of elevation, next 15 km were rewarding: oak, pine, and heather forests dominating the trail, bringing cool shade and a tranquil atmosphere while slowly rolling down the mountain.

    Elevation Belorado- Agés stage

    This woodland stretch continued all the way to San Juan de Ortega, a tiny town with many terraces, a perfect spot to pause if you need to. From there, another less forested path led us directly to Agés.

    Main square San Juan de Ortega

    Tonight’s stop is at Albergue El Pajar de Agés, a pleasant place with shared rooms with eight beds (15 euros per night). Linen options include single-use (1 euro) or washable sets (7 euros). While there’s no kitchen, amenities like a microwave, water heater and coffee vending machine are available. Laundry and drying services cost 5 euros each.

    Bathroom and shower
    The room

    For a quick bite, a veggie soup at a small corner establishment did the trick, though hunger wasn’t high thanks to a steady intake of bananas and bars throughout the day. We booked dinner at the same spot, ordering a vegetable paella – the place looked promising at midday, so hopes are high.

  • Trail running circular adventure: Collbató – Montserrat, twice, and back

    Trail running circular adventure: Collbató – Montserrat, twice, and back

    For trail runners and hikers alike, the circular Collbató-Montserrat route is a thrilling blend of scenic beauty, rugged ascents, and rewarding descents. This circular trail takes you through forested paths, breathtaking peaks, and a few tough climbs that will test your endurance. If you’re ready for a challenge, here’s what to expect 🙂

    Your journey begins in Collbató, following a forest wide, well-marked trail – for about 2.5 km, easing you into the adventure.

    Then comes the real challenge – a steep 3 km uphill climb with a 700+ meter of positive elevation, leading to Pico de Sant Jeroni (1,237 m), the highest peak in Montserrat. The climb is not very tough, only sometimes demanding, but the panoramic views at the top are absolutely worth it. Catch your breath, snap a few pictures, and get ready for the next stretch!

    From Sant Jeroni, a 7 km stretch takes you to the Monastery of Montserrat, a place rich in history and spirituality. While the descent might feel like relief, the last few kilometers are paved and can be tough on your knees – so take it easy and adjust your pace as needed!

    Leaving the monastery, the route pushes your endurance with a steep climb spanning for less than 2 km. Once conquered, you’re rewarded with one of the most stunning descents – 7 km of flowing trails through forests and breathtaking landscapes. This 800-meter descent is one of the few places in the area where trail running truly feels exhilarating.

    Before tackling the next climb, take a well-deserved break in Monistrol de Montserrat. A stop at a local café is practically required – because the next 700-meter ascent over 5 km is sure to test your stamina! Here’s where you’ll feel every step and count every kilometer, especially in hot weather.

    Back at Monestir de Montserrat for the second time, the trail retraces part of the paved road before hitting the toughest section – a downhill stretch covered in loose, unstable rocks, making it hard to fully enjoy the descent.

    Thankfully, after around 3 km, the trail smooths out, offering a gentler and more enjoyable finish back to Collbató. While the last part isn’t as scenic as the forested sections, the relief of reaching the end makes up for it!

  • Stage 7. Torres del Río – Logroño

    Stage 7. Torres del Río – Logroño

    Ahhh, last day, 20 km only. And the total ascent was very soft, nothing hard.

    The morning/breakfast is already slightly described in the previous post, nothing else to mention.

    In general this day went by very fast. Only by mid-distance we reached the first city – Viana. The rest of the route passes through camps and forests.

    Overall a nice and easy day. We reached Logróño in 4 hours and a half and stopped at a nice hotel to thank our bodies for the effort done during the last days. A good shower, with hot water, is everything I needed! Afterwards we went to Calle Laurel, a famous street/area with bars and restaurants offering various types of pinchos. since there weren’t many vegan options, we repeated more than ones in the same place. The best was a place that offer mushrooms grilled in garlic sauce – Bar Cid . It was mazing!

    Bar Cid

    Today, we had a quick and small breakfast in the first open cafeteria, since it Sunday and Easter, there were not a lot of options either.

    However, for lunch we went to a known place called Sol Veggie. This was wow!! You can really see the difference between a place with vegan options and a vegan place. We ordered too much and had to cancel one dish because it was too much for our stomach 😂 Everything was super tasty! We also ordered vegan shawarma for the train back home, that I can’t wait to eat after posting this post 😛

    After lunch Lucía went to have a quick siesta and I went to buy some baclava from a place I dreamed about all week 😅🤤 this is a Syrian place called Pastelería Damasco. They have the best baclava I have ever eaten! If you go there, cautious, this desert is very addictive! I warned you!

  • Stage 6. Estella – Torres del Río

    Stage 6. Estella – Torres del Río

    What a day! Out of the 6 hours we were moving, I think we were under somewhat heavy rain 5 hours.

    About the night, all good. Comfortable beds, clean bathrooms, good service although laundry services a little too expensive – 7 euros per bag.

    Other than the rain during the day, the route passes through nice places and many green areas.

    The route passes through a nice place that works with metal – smithy – https://www.laforjadeayegui.com/.

    A few meters later you reach a wine factory that arranged a spring with running water AND a wine one 😀 there is a limit of 100 liters a day 😛

    https://www.irache.com/ if you have spare time, you can also visit the wine museum.

    Left – wine. Right – water.

    When we reached our planned destination and stopped to eat at the only open restaurant, since it was the Easter Friday, it was a challenge to find something open, we decided to go to the next city to sleep and thus do less the next day.

    The next city was about 7 km away, so we did almost 30 km this day. Luckily the rain stopped a little, because the road goes through open land with a lot of wind and muddy roads.

    We reached Torres del Río and stopped at the first hostel that we saw – Hostal San Andrés. The only good thing here was during the night nobody was snoring! 😂

    To summarize the hostel, during check in we were told there is a restaurant with some vegan options. We ended up ordering pasta with tomato sauces and rice with mushrooms, again, and Lucia ordered minestra de verduras, a Spanish dish with vegetables and ravioli with spinach, that I believe have eggs…

    Man’s bathroom and showers were “outside” the main building and it was quite average. The showers with no hot water, just enough to make you shower as quick as possible and leave, especially in a cold day and bathroom with no heating and the door widely open. The shower space was small with no place to hang clothes or towel, so it remained hanged in the door from outside. Did I mention the room had no heating and it had the same temperas outside because the door is always opened?! When I went to the bathroom during the night, I used lady’s room, it was closer 🙂

    Also during check in we were told they don’t have vegetable milk but they will get one for us from a store in the nearby city. Also they can toast some bread for us. Turned out in the morning nobody knew nothing about this, so there was no milk and no way to toast bread. We went to a small shop around the corner and bought a bagel that we put some olive oil and salt on it. And here we were, before the last day of our St James Way during this vacation.

    Agora Hostel
    Agora Hostel bathroom

  • Stage 5. Puente de Reina – Estella

    Stage 5. Puente de Reina – Estella

    The morning was hard. We got a the world champion of snoring near right near us and I barely felt asleep at around 1am and woke up many times until 5-ish when I no longer could sleep until 6, when someone’s alarm rang. Somehow that snoring guy stopped and I managed to sleep until 7.

    The bathroom, toilets, sinks, everything, was a complete mess this morning. Sometimes I still think “homo sapiens” is a compliment for us, as a species.

    Again, very shortly, we do not recommend Albergue Padres Reparadores in Puente de Reina unless you’re really really really short on money!

    Today was the first day with lots of sun. But, since it was windy, the cloudy moments felt chilly! I took my jacket off and put it on several times.

    There were not that many interesting or wow views today, so I didn’t take many pictures.

    What was nice though, we saw two places with some small things to eat free of charge, you leave a donation and that’s it.

    Other than this, at lunch time we stopped to eat the sandwiches with hummus made in the morning and headed to our destination, a small city named Estella. We stopped at a private hostel – Agora Hostel. 20 euros per night per person. Very nice hostel, with nice rooms, comfortable beds with a private curtains each, clean bathrooms and nice showers. They offer laundry services of one medium size bag of clothes for 7 euros. There is also kitchen available until 8:15pm (we did not enter to see how it is). They also have breakfast, don’t remember the price, that includes toasted bread, yogurt, outs and a juice. We did not order it. We bought some vegetable milk again (coco, this time) and cornflakes so we’ll have this only.

    For the dinner we wanted to go to a place called NamasTé but it was closed. We went to another place just next door called Mundo. They had some vegan options. Although not great, the food was ok. We had croquetas with mushrooms, guacamole with chips and olives separately, and a vegan burger.

    The bathroom from yesterday’s hostel
    The bathroom from yesterday’s hostel
    Main square of Puente de Reina
    The Bridge of Rabia
    Bridge of Rabia
    Today’s route
    Horse mobile maintenance service 🙂
    Sheep crossing a road

  • Stage 4. Pamplona – Puente de Reina

    Stage 4. Pamplona – Puente de Reina

    Ok, hard night. I woke up many many times…

    After having a quick breakfast, we started the walk at 8am. Crossing the city we enter a somewhat long asphalt road going up slowly. After about 7 km we enter the off-road path and start the heaviest uphill at about 10th km. We reach and cross the 700+m mountain – Sierra del Perdón, famous for its sculptures- at km 14.

    Sierra del Perdón

    The downhill part is steep as well and with some stones. Nothing too difficult but may seem like this for some people.

    Afterwards, it’s kind of straight road until the hostel. Ohhh, the hostel. We stopped at the one with the lowest cost – 9 euros per night – Albergue Padres Reparadores, https://maps.app.goo.gl/H9fVNskPhi8CbWqw7?g_st=ic. Well, you get what you pay for.

    The beds are well used. The pillows should have been changed years ago. Kitchen is, well, equipped let’s say but most of this equipment is also waiting for a new replacement. Bathroom and toilet, in the same room, are not very clean, to say the least. Either the washing machine or the dryer cost 3 euros.

    Will see how the night goes. Tomorrow we have about 22 km to Estella.

    Pamplona
    Pamplona
    Pamplona
    Today’s route
    Cizur – Zariquiegui
    The highest point
    Obanos

  • Stage 3. Llarasoaña – Pamplona

    Stage 3. Llarasoaña – Pamplona

    Rainy day 😂😂 luckily it was a short one.

    First, about the dinner and breakfast. The starter had maybe a 50% portion of hummus , for two people, with two 5-6cm sticks of bread. As main dish there was a vegetable soup, very likely to be frozen vegetables and only boiled some time. For second, we had a small portion of rice with champions, also seemed to be something pre-cooked and only warmed up or something.

    We shared the table with one Italian guy, Fabio, and one from Netherlands, Arnold, if I’m writing it correctly. Very nice guys with whom we shared the dinner and some discussion. Both plan to reach Santiago de Compostela. Good luck to them!

    Breakfast topped it all 😀 a sandwich with hummus, where we hardly noticed the taste of hummus and when opening the sandwich it looked like someone “cleaned” the fork only, because there was no hummus there 🤣 to summarize, paying 15 euros for the dinner and 5 for the breakfast at Pension San Nicolas in Larrasoaña does not worth it.

    It started raining yesterday during dinner and continued until today afternoon. That means we got the cold and somewhat wet boots today and started walking through the rainy snow 🙂

    The route is pretty nice and easy. Not much to say or show in photos, as we made fewer pictures than usual.

    After the rain stopped, the sun showed up and started shining brightly. I had to change my socks because I felt my feet would not last long in the wet boots.

    Other than this, we reached Pamplona and checked in the municipality’s hostel, Jesus and Maria. Quite big I can say, with long corridors with few 8-beds compartments. Shared rooms for the bathrooms and toilets, so anyone use any cabin available. The hostel has laundromat either free laundry and 1euro dryer (which works whenever and however it wants). We put our clothes 3 times to have them fully dry.

    For lunch we went to Baratza Makrobiotika vegan restaurant. Daily menu changes so we started with croquetas and tortilla de patatas. Then we had a very tasty vegetable soup fennel cream. Then we had a dish with a mix of other things which delicious as well. For desert we had lemon pie and chocolate cake. Everything made in house! We got another tortilla in a sandwich to do and 2 empanadas (dumplings) for tomorrow. Overall, a place to recommend!

    For dinner we made another soup from a packet we bought in the first day, added some chickpeas and fideos. We also toasted some tofu to accompany the soup.

  • Stage 2. Roncesvalles – Llarasoaña

    Stage 2. Roncesvalles – Llarasoaña

    Well, this day was much nicer than the previous one. Much more wild and beautiful.

    Roncesvalles

    Straight from the start we enter a nice path through a forest. It’s kind of short but energizing to start the day with.

    Overall, the entire day passed through nice areas, with many nice views and trails. It was mostly going down today, not lots of uphill some short and steep parts but very manageable. I’ve enjoyed today’s walk.

    We planned to finish in Zubiri, after about 22km. But we reached this city relatively quickly, by lunch time, and since there was no stores or much things to do here, we decided to go to the next bigger city after lunch, Larrasoaña.

    We had lunch in a bar-restaurant. They ran out of falafel the day before so all they could offer was some salad, potato chips, olives and a big sandwich with avocado and tomato. Not a lot but ok to replenish the energy for 5 more km.

    After having lunch we entered a small shop and bought almond milk and biscuits for tomorrow’s breakfast and chickpeas for tonight’s dinner then we moved on.

    We stopped at Pension San Nicolas, a private one, because we wanted to do the laundry and cook. Here we were told they can make us something for dinner and picnic as breakfast as well.

    Laundry: 4 euros. Dryer: 3 euros.

    Other than this, the pension is nice, clean, and bit cold. There is a fully functional kitchen, although no accessories (towels, paper etc). The hosts are nice!

    The boots hace to be left outside. Under a roof, but outside. So in the morning I expect them to be almost frozen 🙂

    Roncesvalles
    Distance to Santiago de Compostela
    Tomorrow’s plan, short route

  • GR-131 Faro de Orchilla – Tamaduste Trail Running

    GR-131 Faro de Orchilla – Tamaduste Trail Running

    The GR-131 hiking route is a must-try for hikers, as it crosses the entire island and offers breathtaking views of the volcanic landscape.

    According to the Ministerio de Agricultura, the GR-131 trail runs through the center of the island, from the far north to the south, and is charged with a cultural and religious symbolism like few other trails of Canarias. The trail is generally considered a challenging route, taking an average of 2-3 days to hike.

    Also according to local websites, El Hierro has more kilometers of trails than roads, with trails that invite hikers to walk through unique scenery, which changes radically the further you go with lots of changes in altitude.

    It’s also worth noting that the island is known for its volcanic and sharply mountainous terrain, so you can see volcanic rocks everywhere you go, and I mean it.

    Also, according to Wikipedia, the line of longitude running through El Hierro, the westernmost of the Canary Islands, was known in European history as the prime meridian in common use outside of the future British Empire. In fact, it was used as the prime meridian for more than 500 years in various parts of Europe, especially outside of the future British Empire.

    • Distance: 41.19 km.
    • Moving time: 6:06
    • Elapsed time: 6:58
    • Avg moving pace: 8:54 /km
    • Total ascent: 2040 m
    • Total descent: 1940 m
    • Min elevation: 16 m
    • Max elevation: 1500 m
    • With: Alone. Some 10 km before the peak with a nice stranger. We ran together until the peak, where he turned around. Nice guy, too bad we did not exchange contact details. Proof that trail language can be used everywhere.
    • Track: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/12650072929
    Faro de Orchilla
    Meridiano 0 monument
    Santuario
    Malpaso peak. 1501m
    Airport
    Tamaduste city