NAJERA TO GRAÑON

My body is getting much stronger. I’m doing long stretches with the backpack now. For a few days I only carried a daypack. About half the pilgrims I pass are carrying small daypacks. There are about 5 transport companies that will take your backpack from town to town so you can just travel light. It’s a lifesaver. There would be a lot less pilgrims without it. In the olden days they used donkeys.

My knee is better, my cold sores are healed, the rash is gone. Basically, I woke up feeling great. At the start of the Camino I felt like there was a 2-yr-old inside me having an enormous fit. She was throwing herself to the ground, screaming, kicking and yelling that this was too hard and she wanted to go home right now! My body felt like it was going to fall apart by the end of the first week. Now I feel like I’ve adjusted, my body has adjusted, and I can do this. I walked 15km to Najera with no problems. Najera had a festival that lasted all night. It was crazy! Live entertainment in the square and the streets were packed. They partied all night. Somehow, we slept through the late night party going on outside our window.

The golden shell!