21.7km

I started to cough a lot last night and seem to have a sore throat. Might have caught a cold. I hope I’m not falling sick.

But Happy New Year, feliz año nuevo! I have a trail family now! Last night, Ji Sung mentioned that he called the main albergue in Zubiri and they said they were fully booked, and we should try to secure another place. After a few calls and some baby Spanish (Areum and him kept passing the phone to me, haha), we managed to get a room with three beds at a place in Zubiri. Ji Sung turned to me and said, “we’re together now.”

Ji Sung just graduated, speaks decent English, and has learned a little Spanish. On the first night when we met, Ji Sung asked why we were doing the Camino, then qualified that it’s a question people ask but he himself doesn’t have an answer yet. His friend had invited him along initially, then couldn’t make it. Areum is actually Catholic so this means a lot to her. They didn’t know each other prior, and met at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port as well.

We leave at 7.40am and start on a nice trail with autumn leaves littered underfoot. With just a salchichón (salami) sandwich from the albergue breakfast in our stomachs, we eagerly look for places to eat at each town we go to.

At the first town, Burguete, everything is closed. It’s the New Year, and most Spanish seem to stay at home.

At the next town, Espinal, I see Max up ahead with his bicycle and get excited, calling out to him. As we walk closer we hear music. Turns out, there’s a small bar called Aderena open! And Max was just leaving from there. Happy to find food, we go in and see some food laid out on the counter. One interesting thing is piquillo, a kind of red pepper from Navarra, which the bar owner serves with chicken breast. He is very kind, and I am glad to get my café con leche fix.

We walk through quiet towns, farmside trails, forests with more fallen autumn leaves, and strong wind at times (my rain jacket stays on throughout), with some beautiful hilly landscapes alongside at points. No road walking today.

As we pass Bizkarreta-Gerendiain, a white cat follows us for quite some distance out which surprises me. My cat won’t even walk with me out the front door.

We don’t see anymore bars open, even when we finally reach Zubiri at 2.30pm. By this point, we are hungry, and my cough has gotten more serious and uncomfortable. No pharmacies open either.

We check-in to Pensión Usoa which is a pleasant-looking house with various bedrooms, towels provided, and a shared kitchen and living area. The owner speaks little English and I help converse to explain our plight. She tells us that sadly everything is closed tonight. But we search the kitchen and realise previous guests have left behind pasta, rice and a dubious-looking onion in our fridge. We’re saved! Areum also has two packets of ramyeon (noodles) and some gochujang (chilli paste) we can work with. The only thing it doesn’t have is oil. The owner says she’ll go to her house to bring some oil for us, and when she returns, she brings three eggs as well! The Camino provides indeed.

We cook up a storm of the various starches and I do my best with the rescued onion. The ramyeon proves the most satisfying and we even eat the remaining soup with the rice.

As I am about to assist with cleaning up, they tell me to rest first and that they will take care of the dishes. They pass me a pill they say all Koreans take for the cold. I fall promptly asleep at 6pm.