Barbadello to Portomarin

Day 30 (Thursday 6 June) 112 kilometres to Santiago. It was a quiet but sunny and warm afternoon in Barbadello yesterday. My dhobi wash dried quickly - no need to pack damp socks this morning.

I remain pleased with my equipment choices, with one additional minor problem - fluid/gel containers. I had filled a small plastic travel bottle with shampoo before I left home (a luxury - I know). It had held up well on other less strenuous walks, but not this time - the top has been leaking for many days. In similar fashion, a collapsible plastic squeeze container that I had been using for sunscreen proved problematic. It was very difficult to fill (Diane had the patience for it - I didn't) and proved to be messy and too small in actual use. In any case, the answer for me, on both counts, is a product called GoTube - available at MEC in Ottawa, amongst other places. The GoTube caps are plastic and can break if dropped onto a hard surface, but seem to hold up well otherwise. I have one in use this trip and will rely on them exclusively in future.

My evening is solitary. The degree of social activity available to me is directly proportional to the number of English speakers who are staying in the same albergue (or to a lesser extent, French). In this case, there are a few young English speakers who are avidly discussing US basketball teams, and that's it. I'm asleep by about 09:45 and the dorm room, despite having 10 bunk beds in it, is quiet all night.

I set off from Barbadello for Portomarin at 07:15, having had apple pie for breakfast before leaving. The walk today is only 19 kilometres. My initial intent is to slow down, but early in the walk I encounter Galway Edward, who is a faster walker, partially owing to the fact that he has his rucksack shipped forward to the next albergue each day. The pace is therefore not ideal, but Galway Edward is a great raconteur, so I quietly accept an earlier arrival time in return for his company.

We stop for coffee in Morgade and briefly meet up with multilingual Deutschland Annie, who I have not seen for several weeks. Just as we are finishing our mid-morning break, the first wave of Spanish teenagers appears. Galway Edward says something along the lines of "getting away from all these hormones" and we make a quick exit.

A little later we come across a another example of a curious structure that I've seen before. It bears some resemblance to a coffin that has been enlarged vertically. In fact, it turns out that these are for grain storage - to keep it dry and free of rats. The Basque equivalent of a small silo.

We raise Portomarin around noon and I locate my recommended albergue shortly after. Galway Edward is staying in another - I may see him tomorrow on the trail.

 

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