A walk through the woods to Portomarin

We were up at 6am, gathering our things and getting out of the albergue.  The other dormitory was already empty, and the group of young Spanish people in our room were also up at 6, so we were able to turn the light on and see what we were doing.   There was no breakfast, so the boys shared the one carton of apple juice and the jam sandwich and I had most of the apple that we had.  

It was barely light when we set off walking in the heavy mist.  It was quite eerie.  We could barely see the other pilgrims on the way.  After almost 2km we came to a cafe,which looked closed, but Jonathan went over and fund that it was open. We went inside and had coffee and colacao, and something to eat.  By now the sun was trying to break through the mist, but still not succeeding, so it was a little humid.   The Way led us along country paths and across streams and through farmyards (not always sweet-smelling) and gradually the sun burnt off all of the mist and the temperature rose.

There are more walkers now, because many people start in Sarria, but it is still very friendly.  We passed a trio from Gloucestershire a couple of times, as we took breaks, and  also the funny Italian again.  We made good progress, stopping for photos and a light second breakfast, and reached our destination of Portomarin well before lunchtime.  We stopped at a large albergue, and the boys got a good feeling.  I had to go to a bank,so Jonathan and I left Nico with the backpacks and walked further into the town.  We soon found a bank, and out of curiosity, walked up to the Xunta albergue.  The line was long and I got a bad feeling about it.  We walked backdown, and I was able to register us.  We set up our beds and headed back up to the town of lunch.  By now it was getting hot, and we watched many other pilgrims arrive.  The boys had their usual bocadillos, but I was not hungry, so ordered a racion of croquetas, they were homemade, tuna ,and delicious.  

As we were sitting eating lunch, Mark and Michelle walked by. We told them where we were staying, and they decided to register there as well.  We finished our lunch and walked back to the albergue, and mark was already asleep!  We had got the ingredients to cook for dinner, and invited Mark and Michelle to join us.  After a short nap, we began to prepare dinner, rice, with red pepper, onion, courgette, chorizo and salami.  It turned out really well. The albergue was very big, the kitchen well equipped, and as they had a small bar, we were able to have a beer with dinner.  We all st chatting for a while, and then Jonathan went to bed, and Mark and Michelle, Nico and I went up to the church for mass and the Pilgrim blessing.

As Nico and I were walking back to the albergue, we saw Mathilde and her grandmother, Margaret, who we had first met in Foncebadon, and seen several times since, having a quiet drink, and stopped to say hello. After a couple of minutes, we sat down and joined them.  It was very pleasant to be sat outside, sharing experiences on the Camino.

 

After a while, it was time to get going.  We arrived back at the albergue, when Jonathan was fast asleep.  We went to bed, hoping to sleep well, because there were so few people, and the room was air-conditioned.  However, there was a really loud snorer, and there was too much light from the front office, and both Nico and I slept badly.  Jonathan, on the other hand, had a really good night's sleep.

Early morning mist, rolling hills like middle earth, albergue beds, evening meal and the view of the reservoir at Portomarin from the albergue