Ena to Santa Cilia de Jaca, 25 km

Elevation gain 1,261 m

Elevation loss 1,378 m

Total distance walked 324 km

We were serenaded by a nightingale all night in Ena – it was beautiful.

It’s a grey morning and quite fresh. We have a very steady climb on a gravel track through scrubland/woodland and some crops.

We reach Botaya at 7.4 km – another beautiful stone village but with no services. There is a youth hostel which may or may not be available for use. But most important to me today, there is a picnic table just outside the village where I can take a rest and grab a bite to eat accompanied by the sound of flowing water right alongside.

It’s still very cloudy and quite cool at 09:00 which is a blessing as there is a ridiculous hill to be climbed immediately I set off.

The scenery is layer upon layer of hillside and mountains – all different colours of greeny grey. It is very peaceful apart from the birds who are singing loud and clear.

I’m on the road for a short while and then directed onto what seems to be a lovely woodland path

Our disruptive friends from the other night have been working very hard on these last two stages. All arrows have been refreshed with sparkly yellow paint and they were kind enough to leave us a note at the albergue last night to say they’d left a box of eggs in the fridge for us. How kind!

The steep and winding track, although a bit stony is largely made up of leaf litter and tiny pinecones. It wouldn’t do to have vertigo on some of these narrow tracks with sheer drops to the side.

This stretch of climb was 197m in 1.92 km

At the top of the hill we finally reached the new Monasterio San Juan de la peña. We call in to the cafeteria and I am taken aback at how very modern the interior is. I don’t take the opportunity for a tour but a pilgrim will never use finer facilities. (From Google … Construction began in 1676 and lasted until the early 19th century. The dependencies were abandoned in 1835 and the building began to deteriorate, leaving in the middle of the twentieth century practically in a state of ruin. It was subjected to a profound restoration by the Government of Aragon, and converted into a restaurant and museum space. The New Monastery was declared a National Monument on August 9, 1923.)

And now I am making my way down a very steep hill with lots of tree roots and stones forming steps. It’s all charming and lovely, and cool to boot.

After turning onto the road for a very short while I come across the Monasterio Viejo de San Juan de la peña which is built into the side of the mountain. There is a €7.50 charge to go in, which also includes the new Monastery and the church in the village below. So if you’re interested in looking around the new monastery buy a ticket up there and it will cover all three. The old monastery is absolutely fascinating and beautiful and an amazing feat of engineering.

(From lonely Planet… The road from Santa Cruz winds 7km up to the 10th-century Monasterio Viejo, tucked protectively under an overhanging lip of rock. A fire in 1675 led the monks to desert this original site and build the Monasterio Nuevo1.5km further up the hill. Abandoned by the mid-19th century, these historic monasteries have since been rehabilitated and merit a visit by anyone interested in architecture, sculpture, history, scenery or wildlife.

The Monasterio Viejo, one of the most important monasteries of old Aragón, contains the tombs of Aragón’s first three kings – Ramiro I (1036–64), Sancho Ramírez (1064–94) and Pedro I (1094–1104) – and two churches (the lower one Mozarabic, the upper one Romanesque). But its greatest highlight is the Romanesque cloister, with marvellous carved capitals depicting stories from Genesis and the life of Christ.)

Then it’s onward on a track quite soft and gentle underfoot. The views of the surrounding mountains are quite astounding. It’s difficult to think of enough adjectives to describe the sights and views on this camino – well on the last two stages – so apologies if I repeat myself.

The last part of the descent from the old monastery to the village below is extremely tricky with lots of large loose stones and deep rocky steps. It’s a bit like walking over a landslide.

Well, that descent must set a record for my slowest ever camino section. The ground was so unstable and I was so worried about damaging my knee again that I just took it extremely slowly and very carefully, and actually discovered something that might be useful going forward. If I take a deep step down with my bad knee and I turn my foot in either direction inward or outward, it doesn’t give anything like as much discomfort as it would if I had placed my foot forward. I’m so anxious not to end another camino with an injury.

This section was 369 m down over 2.59 km! But the scenery and wild flowers are just fabulous.

The village we have descended into at 18 km, Santa Cruz de la Serós, is another stone built stunner. The bar in the centre was closed so we took a rest on stonewall had a bite to eat and a boots off break, but on walking out of the village I noticed another bar and a restaurant.

There’s a short climb then a long descent, also tricky and unstable underfoot for stretches.

I see my first orchids on this camino and the aroma of the broom is lovely. There is such a profusion of wild flowers on the tracks and surrounding me in every direction are hillsides and mountains covered in pine trees, all lit differently depending on how the sun is peeping through the clouds. It’s all just stunning.

I finally reach Santa Cilia de Jaca after 25 km and find the albergue amongst the attractive buildings in the old part of this small town. There’s a panaderia but it’s not open and a bar that doesn’t open until 18:30. The hospitalera is lovely and provides us with dinner – way more than we can eat for €10.

We hatch a plan for tomorrow…

C. del Sol, 8, 722 608 760, 18 places, €10, can reserve, no use of kitchen but hospitalera will cook, well reviewed