My whole body was sore during the sleep. The Aussies on the other side of the room snored hard, woke up, and made noise getting ready at 5am. I surely was irritated, and Peyman could see it. The walk started along the river, and it was nice to hear the sound of the flowing river. The walk started along the river, and it was nice to hear the sound of the flowing river.

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With the noise of people fighting with their backpacks, I woke up and felt barely recovered from day 1. Nevertheless, the day started with a leisurely walk along the wood and the creeks, and we passed several cute small villages. I often thought Spain as a very dry country, but we passed along many rivers and creek during the entire walk I was expecting the Camino won’t be as busy this year with COVID still going on, but it was not.

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I could not easily fall asleep with excitement and partly because of the snores in the rooms. Pilgrim’s office warned me about the heatwave, so most of the people in the room had already left when I woke up at 6. I got a cup of coffee, and started walking. The trail was already full of people. The high route over the Pyrennes is called Route Napoleon even though Napoleon did not set a foot on the path I met my Camino buddies in the first two hours of the most challenging section of the entire French Way.

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Growing up, meat was always part of my diet. I only ate plants when I had cold soba or bibimbap during visits to Buddhist temples. However, my belief that I always needed meat changed when I attended a meditation retreat a few years ago and tried recipes from Zen monasteries. Contrary to my expectations, the monks’ food was nourishing and savory. Adding Goma-Shio (sesame and salt in Japanese) intensified the flavor.

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