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Published: October 24th 2014
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We left Portomarin before dawn, followed by a small group who joined the Camino yesterday. It takes a little practice to spot some of the arrows that point the way for you and in the dark the problem is far greater. They can be small, on a rock or light pole, be half worn off or just confusing. To miss one is to walk a long way until you realise you are a lone traveller. You then have to backtrack to find the real path. On a long day it's really unwelcome.
Today's walk was on good tracks for most of the way, shaded by a pretty constant canopy of trees. We had a steep climb at first and then just meandered up and down for about 23 kms. I have had foot problems for the last 4days with a large blister on my right heel and a small one on my big toe, left foot, where it rubs on the one next to it. It's getting better but they do give you about 20000 reminders a day that you are walking.
It was a good day to walk and we achieved 7.8 kms before we stopped to have
Camino Crop Circles..made with stones.
You see some unusual things on the Camino. a coffee and top up on food. We ate yoghurt and fruit in our room before we left so it was like a second breakfast. We seemed to make good time and our next break was at Casa Maruja, a lovely alburgue where many pilgrims stopped for a breather. A group of 5 Korean girls who we had seen over a couple of days literally staggered in. One girl, in shock, just stood in front of me swaying and shaking. I said," Sore legs?", and she nodded and wobbled off in the direction of her friends. I hope they make it to Santiago as they seemed a nice group of girls but to be struggling on day two is not a good sign.
We arrived in Palas de Rei , had a coffee and found our accommodation. Now, our current predicament, having Sue's bag transferred at our insistence, means we must book ahead to have a place for the pack to be delivered to. This time we referred to a well known guide and found Guntina, a private pensione, listed in this guide. A room for 3 was 30 euros, a very reasonable price.
As we entered the
bar of Guntina, I thought I had walked onto the set of a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western. About six gringos were hunched over their drinks with a cigarette hanging from their mouths, and as I entered they all gazed at this hombre as though they hadn't eaten for weeks. I wanted to get the pack and leave immediately for friendlier accommodation. Mine host, the ringmaster of this place, took us next door, grabbed Sue's bag, and pointed to a place two doors down, handed over the keys and told us it was on the second floor. Bye, bye ! I opened the door of this small room, fully expecting to see something wrapped in CSI crime tape, but was pleasantly surprised; it was clean and had a nice hot shower. There was a sign on the door which I was sure said something about being able to rent it by the hour, but Tim assured me it just said to leave the key in the door on checkout. Obviously my Spanish is rusty.
We tidied up and went out for dinner early. Doug, Libby and Ken came in and ordered dinner as we left. We were in bed by
Fuente del Peregrino
Water fountain for pilgrims. These are the water top up points and are scattered along the Way. 7.30 pm as tomorrow was a hard walk and we were already tired. I can now say, after about 4 hours sleep, that this was the worst sleep I have had bar none. The bed was like a valley and you spent the night trying not to roll into the middle. There was also a service well that our window looked out on and illuminated the room all night. A good mattress would have solved the problem. Apparently Tim slept well.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Casa Maruja
Looks like a great place to hang out.