I left Roncesvalles on a misty dark morning. It rained just a little bit today. Mostly cloudy, and a little cool. It was lovely. Shortly I came across Burguete, the town that Hemingway loved so much. I had my first cafe con leche, and a warm chocolate pastry of some sort. Heaven!

For lunch I stopped in a village and had a bread and cheese roll with an Irishman named Jamie, and a fat dog.

But even though the terrain was wonderful, the day got worse for me as me knees steadily got worse. . It isn’t too bad when the trail is level, but any incline makes it hurt a lot. Every step was like slipping a needle into each knee and I started to wonder whether my Camino would end so quickly. Along the way I was encouraged by Morag and Peter as we passed each other along the trail. As well I met Mette (from Denmark) who kindly traveled with me several times and help keep my mind on things other than the pain. I walk slower than Rick with his cane at that point. At the end of a long day moving it took me almost an hour to travel the last 3/4 km to the final destination for the day, Zubiri.

At the Farmacia I was given ibuprofen (900mg three times per day) to use with my codeine. It took away some of the pain and swelling but not all. I also picked up some ear plugs, but with the pain I didn’t sleep well.

I had a nice supper in a local café where I met two ladies from Norway (for some reason their names escape me), a Danish gentleman named Kim, Anne, and Mo. Anne and Mo are Canadians from Ontario.

I also met two young Canadians. They are spending a year travelling the world and the Camino Is one part of that. The cool aspect is the lady was raised in Winnipeg.

Soundscape – Walking
Soundscape – Distant Bells