With the noise of people fighting with their backpacks, I woke up and felt barely recovered from day 1. Nevertheless, the day started with a leisurely walk along the wood and the creeks, and we passed several cute small villages.
I often thought Spain as a very dry country, but we passed along many rivers and creek during the entire walkI was expecting the Camino won’t be as busy this year with COVID still going on, but it was not. Instead, it felt as busy as it could be, and I learned that the pope extended the Holy Year to 2022, and a record number of pilgrims arrived in Santiago in April.
It was only day two, but I could get by as a die-hard pilgrim saying Hola and Buen Camino to everyone passing by. I was so high on the adrenaline of commencing the journey, and so was everybody else. The back pain that killed me yesterday was gone. The walk was simple strolling ups and downs.
When I started chatting with other pilgrims, why we walked the Camino was one of the first questions we would ask. Some mentioned the movie - [The Way](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441912/ or the Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho. Many were in the transition moments like I was. They had questions to sit on and wanted to gain inspiration and energy for their 2nd or 3rd chapter. I was surprised to see how many people from different walks of life were walking and how many older people were walking faster than me with heavier backpacks.
Toward the end of the day, we started the steep descent toward Zubiri. It was a steep rocky road and the afternoon sun was strong. And I began to feel slight pain in my left knee. The pain got worse when we reached the end of the downhill in Zubiri. But we still had 6km more to our Albergue in Larrasoana since we couldn’t book anything in Zubiri. The sun was so intense, and we frequently stopped to refill our water and rest under the shade. Finally, we reached the restaurant in Urdaniz. We were supposed to arrive and have lunch at 5, which was closed. We were supposed to get there at 3. But they were kind to offer some iced water, and we chugged instantly. I dragged my feet for the last 2km to Larrasoana and almost cried to see the town’s sign.
As I was checking in at the Albergue, I thought this walk could be the most challenging trip I have ever taken. I used all my energy left to walk up the stairs, shower, and wash my clothes by hand.
I hoped to stay as dry as possible during the walk since it is a sacred pilgrimage, but after having one nice ice-cold beer, I gained the energy to eat dinner at a restaurant across the street. It was as merry as it could be, so we ordered a bottle of wine. A woman was singing a beautiful song with a guitar, and I thought I would learn how to play guitar before returning here again.