Day Two - Leaving Roncesvalles - 28k

Left with a chill in the air, glad that I’d brought woolly hat, scarf and gloves along for the high mountainous bits but also for spring mornings and evenings out. Damien my first rare British counterpart was off at a gallop wanting to get down the trail as soon as possible, had complained the previous day that he’d been all over the world staying in hostels, in Mongolia etc but that he’d never been anywhere where you couldn’t hire a towel! I suppose if I’d mentioned to him about the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy and how important it is to always bring your own towel, he may not have found it as amusing as I did, however mine wasn’t that great either, not reaching around the waist to be tied. Oh well, so it’s quick drying and lightweight but doesn’t entirely cover my bum, modesty is another aspect of the Camino that in some places just doesn’t apply.

Really enjoyed the long walk through the forest, it feels similar to being at home but the weather is so hot already. I stopped for 20 minutes to catch some rays and rest my legs and feet. Getting to Zubiri, I felt like stopping but couldn’t make my mind up, so after a quick rest I tagged along with the Germans from the night before to make it to Larrasoana. The whole Camino makes the smallest things seem to grow out of all proportion. I was confused because I wanted to have familiar people around in the evenings and it soon felt like a family, but in hours not in weeks and months. Larrasoana was frustrating because there were no shops around and no restaurants. I spent so long wandering the streets that I missed everyone else making plans for dinner, pooling resources and in the end my pride almost got in the way of joining in. But I learnt my lesson in time and when I left early the next morning When I made a break for it, I wanted to get ahead of them all and yet I missed them already too, not knowing whether I should be feeling so lost without people I’d only known for two days when I’d come here to walk alone across an entire country in up to six weeks. I had the wrong idea about what the Camino would entail or mean to me and come with so many prejudices about people in general, cynical that anyone could surprise me anymore.

I said to someone that I had found it so difficult to find like-minded people at home but that on the Camino, almost everyone was.