Day 2 - Ronscevalles - Akerreta - 3 September, 2014

Time Departed: 7.50am
Time Arrived: 4.10pm
Distance: 28kms
Cumulative Distance: 53kms
Percentage Completed: 6.6%
Weather: Sunny and hot.
Accommodation: Hotel Akerreta
Feelings: Henk - Fantastic, Neil - Good, Di - Happy

We slept well and surprisingly none of us was stiff or sore after yesterday's effort. We were so eager to start the day that we turned up for breakfast at 6.30am only to find it didn't start until 7.00am. At our second attempt we had breakfast in a room full of walkers. We came across three from Sydney who had booked their walk through the same travel organiser as us, Raw Travel.

We set off in cool weather with the sun making a slow appearance. The walk was immediately different from yesterday as we went through thick woods and alongside farmland for quite some distance. It was also mostly flat walking for the first few hours. 

There was much more chatter during  the morning as no one was breathless from the steep climbing like the previous day. We are hearing so many different languages. However, everyone greets each other with "Buen Camino" (Good Walk) and this crosses all languages. We are surprised at the range of ages undertaking the Camino. There are many who would be aged from 60 to mid seventies as well as those in their early twenties.

We walked through a number of lovely small Basque villages all with brightly coloured geraniums adorning their white houses and dark shutters. 

After three hours and reaching the half way mark for the day we found a shady cafe at Viskarret and had a half hour break. We all agreed that we had the best croissant that we had ever tasted.

After this the walk had more ups and downs and it was starting to get hot. Thankfully, there was respite from the sun with lengthy sections in shady woods. At 12.30pm and although we weren't feeling hungry we decided to stop for lunch to make sure we kept up our energy supply. Henk and I had bought a baguette and some cured meat at one of the village shops and this was very tasty.

When we set out again it was hot and we could feel the heat coming up from the stony path. We came across the elderly Sth African couple we had met on the platform at Bayonne. They were struggling but doing ok. Most walkers today finished their walk at Zubiri at the 22kms mark but we moved onto our hotel that was booked at Akerreta which was 6kms further along the Camino path.

The last 6kms was a struggle. It was not due to the distance or the terrain but the heat. When we had 3kms to go we came across a fountain and large shady shed with seating. We rested for 20mins and enjoyed the company of two older American women. A middle-aged German woman turned up looking so red and tired we thought she was going to have a heart attack. When we finally made it to the hotel we were wet through from perspiration and totally stuffed! We thought the last hour was tougher than yesterday due to the heat sapping our energy.

We were greeted by a very friendly Basque hotel owner who told us that the hotel was the one used in the movie, "The Way" made in 2009 and our room was the one used by the actor Martin Sheen. We will have to watch the movie again when we get home. The hotel is a beautifully restored Basque farmhouse built in 1723. Our bedroom is next to the original Pyrenees-style kitchen with an open fireplace in the middle of the room and bread oven.

After showers we quickly recovered as we were out of the heat. Akerreta is very small and set in lovely countryside.  Walkers were still arriving well after seven o'clock so we could understand why dinner was later at eight o'clock at the hotel. We had a great conversation with four Irish women after the meal.

Tomorrow is a shorter day of 14kms when we reach Pamplona where will be having the afternoon and the following day sightseeing so we can have a good look around.