Mos / Day 6

My alarm goes off at 6 AM. I haven't slept much due to the unbelievably loud snorer in my room. I get up rather reluctantly and open the blinds to look out of the window. To my surprise it is still pitch-dark outside... The one hour time difference between Portugal and Spain really does make a difference. Because I don't want to walk in the darkness I take my time for my morning routine. My foot doesn't feel too bad this morning - I take the antibiotic and drink my magnesium and get ready for a slow day.

I leave the albergue around 7, when the sun starts to rise. The streets are empty and quiet, which is a nice change after all the snoring that's been going on through the night. Soon I leave Tuy behind to follow the way along a path through the woods and fields.

industrial area of O Porrino on a Sunday morning...

The only bar along the way is situated on a small hill. I decide to have a quick coffee and refill my water supplies before heading on. Leaving the terrace I get a fist glimps of what I'm headed to. The industrial area of O Porrino expands in front of me, as a dull and strenuous looking section. Straightaway, passing empty factories and parking lots. As it is a Sunday morning, there is hardly any traffic or work going on and it's at least quiet. The only noise I hear is the distant humming of the highway and the monotone clunk of my walking stick. After a while it gets quite rhythmic and relaxing. Finally, the seemingly endless street comes to an end and I walk into the town of Porrino.

Here I see the first 2-digit milestone - 99,408km. Very exciting! In a small chapel called San Sebastian I light a candle for my little brother and text him.

After a few minutes I reach the town center at exactly noon. It seems like I am the only pilgrim around... or the only person at all for that matter. I text Uschi to find out where she's headed today. She tells me that the albergue in O Porrino isn't that good and after a cola and a bocadillo I decide to walk further today. But since it is only half past 12 and I have only 5 or 6km more to make today I grant my feet some more rest in the shade.

By and by a few locals pass the café and a few kids run through the square but all in all it still seems like a ghost town. I am quite happy to get out of town a little while later. The landscape changes drastically and the way takes me through beautiful little villages and after about 1 1/2 peaceful and uneventful hours I reach Mos, my stage goal for today. It's a tiny village with a church and a beautiful bar with a terrace like an oasis. There, sitting in the shade are two familiar faces, Charli and Egon. I am really happy to see them, because I hadn't seen anybody I know all day. I join them in the shade and we chat and (in Charli's case) write and sign to pass the time until the albergue opens.

Charli and Egon

The albergue costs 5 Euro and we each get a throw-away pillowcase and sheets. And THANK GOD for that!! When we walk into the dormitory, the air is stuffy and hot, there are papers piled to the floor in the corner and dirty dishes in the kitchen sink. I choose a bed at the very end of the room, because to my horror (and also astonishment) the snorer from last night is sleeping in the first bed. How did he get here so fast? I decide to take a quick shower and spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the shade at the bar. However, once I see the bathroom I decide not to take a shower at all. Firstly, there is only cold water. I am not that hardcore. Secondly, the bathroom looks and smells like it hadn't been cleaned in a while. Yikes! I am not picky when it comes to albergues, but this one is disgusting! So disgusting even, that I won't post any pics, as not to scare you off. If I could I'd walk to the next one, but that's another 10km away and I have to treat my blisters with care.

I spend the afternoon eating ice cream at the sun terrace of the café and chatting with a few other pilgrims, showing off my blister. Later I have dinner with Egon and a German loudmouth, who's going on and on and on about how rich he is and that he really doesn't need to work and spends all his time travelling freely around the world. My brain hurts from thinking of ways how to best show my lack of interest in absolut anything he says!!

At the end of the day the dormitory is fully occupied. I open the window next to my bed and hope to get some rest in this stinky hellhole of an albergue... What a day!!

I wake up in the middle of the night because somebody to my left fell out of their bed with a crash. Ouch! I am able to go back to sleep for a little while before the alarm goes off way too soon.


Distance covered: ~21 km