I’m starting today without a plan, per se, but with hope. The weather is looking a little warmer today at least, and the terrain is somewhat flatter. I was sort of planning on going to Zubiri today, but I’m hearing that the albergues are full. I’m not quite ready to play ‘lodging’ roulette and I’m also not sure how far I’m willing to go today. I figure I’ll walk a couple of kilometers and then figure out where I’d hope to stop tonight.
Today I feel like I’m starting to get a sense of how the Camino works. There are literally hundreds of people setting out around the same time today. One of the questions I got a lot before I left was ‘Are you doing this alone?’ Today I get the sense that being ‘alone’ will be a bit of a challenge.
As I get ready to leave the albergue, I run into the two Americans from the rescue hut the day before. The one who was in trouble was very nice, but still pretty emotional. She offered to buy me a beer the next time we saw each other, so, I’ve got that going for me?
As I head down the path, I’m feeling pretty strong today so I opt to try for an albergue 3 miles past Zubiri. I catch them on Whatsapp and am inordinately pleased with myself for completing the entire reservation transaction in Spanish.
A couple of times, the clouds break and I’m able to get a taste of the views that I missed yesterday. I know that the terrain will change a lot over this journey, but what an amazing countryside!
As I walk thru the woods, I keep seeing these clusters of intense purple. Yesterday, in my haze and delusion, I thought they were mussels (the bivalves) which couldn’t possibile be right.
As we pop out of a wooded valley, we run into a bit of morning grid lock.
I have to admit, I was giggling as the sheep were wandering herding past. I expected everything to smell like shaggy dog, but instead it smelled like one of my favorite sweaters. This is a traffic jam I could get used to!
I run into beer lady and another perigrino from Borda and we stop for a coffee. She got a slice of cheesecake and a Santiago cake to share. The cheesecake was tasty, but the Santiago was amazing! I understand that we’ll encounter this cake a lot. Yay!!!
I jockey with a group of French travelers for several kilometers. I’ve noticed several people now pulling a cart with their stuff. It’s an interesting approach. I’m curious how it compares to a backpack.
The final decent into Zubiri is a back breaker. It’s still raining occasionally, and the trail is largely boot sucking mud or slick rock. Then I encounter what feels like three miles of this –
Those are ridges of stone, running along the path. Also, the path is headed down at a fairly good angle. Gwah. Pushing past Zubiri to Larrasoana no longer seems so smart. But, a known bed is better than no bed, so I press on.
I get into the albergue at 4:30 only to learn that because I didn’t ask for dinner when I made my reservation, I can’t eat at the Albergue. Fortunately, there’s a grocery store just two houses up that is also a cafeteria. I stagger over after my shower to discover it’s tiny and they are already full. The owner says I can either take food with me or come back in an hour or eat outside. Since it’s pretty cold out (And still raining) I opt to take a beer and a bottle of water with me and come back. When I get back to my room, there are two other ladies settling into our 4 bed room. It turns out that they put on a sad face when they arrived and were offered seats at the dinner table. So, cool.
Anyway, we chat for a bit and they are both lovely. Soon enough, it’s time for them to go downstairs and for me to go up the street. The grocery owner’s wife is making a HUGE salad as I walk in and the table it still largely full of the same people who were there the first time. The owner gestures for me to sit at the one open spot and she brings over the salad. I’m a bit confused until I realize all those lovely veggies were for me! They also made me a microwaved shelf-stable seafood/pasta dish that was surprisingly good.
As I was eating, I started chatting with the other diners. One of the gentlemen was a pastor and was super intense. Another gentleman shared that he has terminal cancer and is doing the Camino instead of sitting at home and waiting to die. And after that, the owner brought out a guitar and we started singing. It was strange and uncomfortable and wonderful and beautiful all at once.
I headed back to the albergue and learned from my roomies that I didn’t miss much at dinner. We had a lovely chat and turned in for the night.
Today, today feels like the start of my Camino. Today was the kind of day I expected and hoped to have. Physically exhausting, but mentally uplifting. My hope is that there are many more of these to come! 50 kilometers down, 725 to go!
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