Day 2 // Roncesvalles – Larrasoaña // 28.7 km

Yesterday I thought I would give myself a little break and do today’s hike by the book - 22 kilometers. This morning I woke up with a different mindset and decided I should do more. 

I was waiting for this sign!

80 percent of the route of the day was just going through the forest. It was a cold morning but I enjoyed it while it lasted because I knew that it’s is going to be hot as hell later on. 

There was a grocery store in a couple kilometers after I started. I got some fruits for today’s journey and continued my way. 

We reached a small village and decided to eat a light breakfast.

A small village with beautiful houses and even more beautiful balconies.

I was looking up, so into enjoying the architecture here until I heard Steph yell - ‘Agnes, the wrong way!’ Well, there’s a lesson for the future to pay more attention to where I am walking so I don’t miss the signs that lead me to where I am supposed to go. 

The path today was not fun. It was rocky and took us up and down all day, and the ‘down’ part was really hard to enjoy since it was extremely steep. There were other pilgrims who chose to walk downwards in zigzag. I wondered how many more kilometers did they walk extra today. 

You could definitely do this alone too, because you constantly get showered with inspiration and motivation. The other pilgrims doing the hike always say ‘Buen Camino’ (a phrase which you hear so many times a day, and it doesn’t even matter if you’ve seen the person who said it to you already - they will say it again) and you also see little notes on your way from the people who have already done the journey, encouraging you to keep going and not give up.

We take a little break for lunch in the forest, I change a pair of socks and we continue on. 

At around 2 pm we reach a city called Zubiri that we thought we will spend the night at, but we had already decided that morning that we are going to continue the hike. We had done 22 kilometers and we decided to take a break for an hour and snack a little. 

Maybe this journey is not about big goals and great success but about sitting by the river, drinking a cold bottle of coca cola and soaking your feet in the water? I asked myself when I had done something like this before and.. you guessed it - never!

This definitely was the highlight of the day! And a well deserved coca cola! 

I washed my socks and then my apple. Yes, I did it. 

We get up to make our last bit of today’s hike to the auberge. It is crazy hot. I even thought about if I should do this. I soak my headband in the water, the legs feel refreshed and I keep going. 

The path took us by a construction site. For contrast, this view was nice too. It feels like walking through desert during the hottest part of the day.

Thought of the day - if you have a big backpack, there is no need for a chair with backrest. Super comfortable!

We reached our final destination for the day at around 5 pm. Auberge has free spots for us and I get my 3rd stamp in the pilgrims passport! I feel like a child again getting excited for getting stickers from the teachers for doing a good job. 

A technical information - you have to leave your shoes in the hallway of the auberges. And yesterdays auberge even had a separate room for this - how cool is that?

Auberges are super strict with their rules. They close at a certain time, they turn they lights on/off at a certain time, they don’t allow to wake up earlier or leave later and everyone has to be out by 8 am. 

Auberges mostly have a mattress and a pillow for you. At some places you may purchase disposable sheets. We use sleeping bags to avoid all the hassle. 

There is a place for you to wash your clothes. Today is warm and I can finally dry my clothes like a normal person, not by attaching them to my backpack.

Pain? I guess it is worse for others. One girl keeps feeling sick from drinking the water. We drink it and we are doing good. Andre, an Italian guy, walks superslow because his knee hurts, but he does not have a thought of giving up in his mind. 

Of course my legs feel heavy too, but I keep stretching and massaging them, plus putting them up in the air and the spa session by the river today really helped a lot too. I can also feel the muscles being worked on in my butt and hips from hiking all the mountains. Overall I feel quite good! 

I got a little tan today too. 

I high five people in the auberge for the great work done today and go to bed. 

See you tomorrow!