After a run of night shifts I had a 2.45am start to drive to Edinburgh airport for my hiking trip in Catalunya. To add to the usual anxieties of getting up in time for my flight and finding the right bus on arrival to take me from Barcelona airport up the coast, there was an additional concern, the protests that were taking place following the sentencing of some Catalonian independence leaders. In the end, the biggest challenge was indeed identifying the location of the bus, though I was eventually helped by a friendly bus driver who made sure I knew exactly where to stand in wait, and I was relieved not to see any sign of the protests nor to have my travel plans delayed in any way.
Prior to the trip I debated back and forth with myself about the best starting and finishing points and how far to walk each day. In the end all these aspects were defined by the practicalities of finding convenient public transport back to Barcelona and the number of days I had available once I’d factored in a day of guided birding as well. Nonetheless on the day of departure i knew where I would be staying the night but hadn’t totally committed to a departure point for the hike. Begur was the sensible option, giving an roughly 8km walk, whereas Pals, which was 6km further just sounded really attractive and worth seeing. In the end common sense won out and I bought myself a ticket for Begur. With the bus ride taking over 3 hours and sunset at 7pm that only left me about 3.5 hours and I needed to get something to eat before heading off on my hike. I dozed for the first stretch of the trip along the motorway, but woke as we reached the coast and stopped at towns I’d be passing through on my walk.
Arriving in Begur the bus stopped just around the corner from a little square with a viewpoint over to the castle on the hill opposite. After stopping for my first photographs of the trip I went to a little cafe in the square for a quick meal. Having been attracted by the word tapas, the only menu I was given was the three course menu of the day, so I went for that, trying croquettes, fideua and cream catalana and setting off rather more full that expected. Still, between night shifts and travelling, I wasn’t sure when I’d last had an actual meal.
I had a very small explore of the town centre before heading off to find my way to the GR92, the long distance route I’d be following for most of the trip. I was slightly nervous about the start of the hike which would involve walking side of a winding country road, but in the event I only saw a couple of cars, neither going particularly fast so it wasn’t an issue.
It didn’t take too much hiking to bring me to my first way marker and then my first official view of the sea (the unofficial one views earlier being from the air and the bus). At this point I was some 250m up on the cliffs looking down to sea and along the coast to my destination which was somewhere hidden in the mist ahead. The drop down towards sea level was a steep and rough one and certainly would have been a good challenge going in the opposite direction at the end of a day’s hike.
The final stretch into Tamariu took me away from the coast again and through a forested area. It was easy to find my way through the town and to my hotel. Having checked in, I wandered down to the beach where I found a couple of restaurants to choose from for my dinner. My decision was made based on the one which offered up squid, alongside which I had a glass of wine and grilled sardines for the main course. The latter were very tasty but far too much effort to work around the bones.
