Day 23. O Porrino

Various alarms started tingling  from 5 am, so getting up wasn’t a problem.  As I finish packaging I hear the sound of raindrops outside.  Nice tempo…  its time for the raincoat.  Quite a shower outside…   it turns out I definitely didn’t carry this 350 g for nothing.

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Tui is still asleep but the peregrinos are not.  The Way is filling out with people,  headlamps are beginning to glow. On a side note there is a time difference between Spain and Portugal. Spain run 1 hour ahead, which means dawn breaks after 7 am, which means quite a bit of walking in the dark.

A group of peregrinos ahead takes a wrong turn left through the forest. The path is well marked with yellow arrows but it is to lose them in the dark.

The Way continues through forests and villages.  I was just thinking on the absence of a morning dog chorus when a huge white dog in the passing courtyard gets all frisky.  Two more are enjoying their rest and glance at me as if wanting to say…  “let the greenhorn be…  he is still young…  we can’t even count all the peregrinos we’ve seen,  they don’t merit getting up,  let alone barking …even if they carried a bag of dog food”

The  Way hits the road and rain picks up even faster tempo. The raincoat bears it well but my shoes and trousers are completely wet…  fortunately GoreTex manages to keep my feet dry. After the road …  forest.  Mud hasn’t accumulated yet and trees and shading the path from  worst of the rain.  Exiting the forest I encounter an interesting 3D wall painting…  the artist is definitely talented.

Somewhat further..  a crossing with a “war of the arrows”.  Some pointing left some pointing right…  some overlapping the others.  Obviously both groups of draftsmen have strong feelings on which route to take.  On one side there are Camino associations who’d like for peregrinos to enjoy the scenic,  forest path and on another, bar owners who’d like for peregrinos to enjoy their hospitality. After consulting my guide I decided on the forest path.

My destination for the day is O’Porrino,  somewhat shorter daily route since yesterday was over 30 km long. My hostel roommates,  among others,  are a German,  Spanish and a French-Spanish-Canadian peregrinas.

Interesting small town with medieval main street.

That was day no. 23.