4. Tag 2 in the rain to Castiblanco de los Arroyos

I slept well and woke up around 5:45. I set my alarm for 6 o'clock, but I was already awake before that. Even though I'm not walking a long distance today, I still wanted to set off as early as possible to arrive before the rain. I made myself a light breakfast. The best thing is just a coffee. I can really skip food, but a coffee makes starting the day a lot better. Then I packed my things and left. And indeed: It rained during the night, but it was dry at that moment. It was quick to get out of the city, and then I had to walk about 1.5 kilometers along the highway in the dark with a headlamp. It felt dangerously thrilling when trucks passed just 10 centimeters away, but it was the only way. Once I got through that, I almost lost my way, but finally found the right path into the woods. The rain started, and the path became increasingly muddy. The path was already a challenge in dry conditions, but in the rain, it felt more like slipping around than hiking. My hiking boots were completely stuck in the mud. Several times, I was close to slipping. And the heavy rain and dark blue sky didn't help either. Furthermore, the path often consisted of sand, which was, of course, completely soaked from the rain. Gradually, everything began to get wet.

On the way, I didn't meet any other pilgrims. I only saw the bicycle tracks of the two who had slept at my accommodation yesterday.

It got bright, but the rain persisted and remained consistently heavy. Throughout the entire way, there wasn't a single hut where I could take shelter. And often enough, I didn't feel like continuing, but there was no point in that. Going back would take almost just as long. So I continued and philosophized with myself about everything possible. Then I had animal company. A sign indicated that my destination was still 6.9 km away. Due to the rain, I didn't even check the time or distance. But time and distance were only slowly moving forward, mainly because of the soft ground. If a taxi had driven through the wilderness, I would have taken it, but there was absolutely nothing here. So I kept going, and then next to a highway. I could see my destination from far away, but it still took over an hour to get there. Luckily, there was a Carrefour Express, a small supermarket, just before arriving, where I bought a few things. And I arrived at the accommodation just before 11 o'clock. No one was there. Therefore, I called the owner, who arrived on site within a minute. It was a dream to finally take off my shoes, take a shower, and put on dry clothes, even though the shower was not warm and not cold. Exactly in the middle. And then I enjoyed my ciabatta with hummus.

Now I still have the entire day ahead, but due to the rain, I probably won't go out again. But I have something to eat later and have a single room for 17€. Everything is clean. I can’t complain.

I am planning for the next few days. It’s supposed to rain for the next two days, but then the sun is expected to come back. I hope so. I don’t mind a bit of rain, but this continuous rain is quite annoying, especially when you are soaking wet after just an hour, with shoes just as wet, and there’s not a single option to find shelter.

With that said, I will certainly check back in later.