The Way to Golega
Breakfast was pretty good today, and I was out the door as the sun was rising over the valley below. My hotel was on the far side of town so I followed the signage in a very circuitous way to leave Santarem.
It actually took a little over an hour to finally get the city behind me and be out on the trail. My starting point also added an extra mile to the day's journey.
There were several places where the markings were not good and one spot where I almost made a massive blunder. From the time the Camino de Santiago left Lisbon, it had shared the track with the Fatima. Here in Santarem, it diverged. Luckily I only went about 20 yards before realizing my mistake.
The surface through the farmland was uneven and almost like dried clay. The footprints of former travelers who had experienced the mud were preserved for others to see. At that moment, I had great gratitude for clear skies and temperate weather.
About an hour further down the trail, still in farmland, I saw several hunters out with shotguns. Dogs of all shapes and sizes were running up and down the rows of corn, flushing quail. Occasionally, I would hear a shotgun blast off in the distance.
Most of the day's walking was through farmland. As a kid raised out on Long Island, I always thought a stalk of corn grew several ears like a tomato plant.. Today I discovered that each plant only produces one ear of corn. Along with the corn, there were fields of grapes, tomatoes, peppers, and squash.
This was another day where I remained completely unplugged. There were some nice brakes from the farmland as I got to go up and down hills and through some eucalyptus forests. But at least three-quarters of the day was spent on dusty roads walking along by myself. In fact, I had no conversations and ran into nobody except an occasional bicyclist the entire day. That was not a bad thing.
Today, I contemplated what tattoo I would get if I had to get one. Finally, I made a decision: Jiminy Cricket, on my shoulder. He was the voice of common sense and when Pinocchio didn't listen, he wound up a braying ass. Remember, this was only hypothetical, if I absolutely had to get a tattoo for some reason.
Then it was on to picking favorite musicians and going through song lists. I started with Harry Nilsson and then went to David Bowie. Ultimately, circumstances dictated that I shift to an old movie. During the last hour the trail ended, and once again I was on a pretty busy road with very limited shoulders. In that narrow space, inch worms were hanging almost everywhere. The two best things that happened were flocks of birds, and a man and a woman on bicycles. Where the birds were thick, the inch worms were not. And the bicyclists sat about six inches higher than I stood, so they blazed the trail I followed, almost completely free of dangling webs.
The movie inchworms brought to mind was the old Danny Kaye film, The Hans Christian Andersen Story. So songs like "Inchworm" and "Ugly Duckling" turned into actual earworms. I think it's been more than 50 years since I've seen that film. It's amazing the stuff you remember when there are no distractions.
Finally, I entered town and saw signs for my hotel. At least I thought I did. I entered the luxurious lobby and they asked if I had a reservation. Of course, I said.
It turns out that my hotel had a similar name, but a very different star rating. Not only was my room above a stable, but also the air conditioner didn't work, and there was no sound on the TV. After spending last night in such a comfortable environment, I took for granted the trend would continue. It did not.
Still, the room was serviceable and close enough to the trail to make it convenient. I did a grocery store run and loaded up with food for tomorrow. I'd rather have more than I need than to not eat between breakfast and 6 p.m. again. There were really no options during today's segment. While there is information available, too often places are closed that you expect might be open. Today was a Sunday.
I'll finish up this entry with a couple of general suggestions and specific points for traveling this portion of the Portuguese Camino. First, if something doesn't feel right, adjust it immediately. Thinking that something will work its way into being comfortable is a very bad choice, whether it's a hot spot in your shoes or how your backpack is rubbing against your shoulders. There is no race to finish the day, unless you are trying to secure a bed in a hostel that doesn't take reservations.
Next, bring more water than you think you'll need. I bring an extra water bottle and fill it with Gatorade powder to keep my electrolytes up as well. That is an incredibly refreshing drink when you're several hours into your walk.
I've discovered that after I take a break with my shoes off, and then begin walking again, I often have to stop after 20 or 30 steps and readjust. I've done this sometimes three times in less than a quarter mile. No blisters so far and really no sore feet. That habit, along with changing out to dry socks, seems to work very well.
Specific to this portion of the Portuguese Camino, bring something to sit on. There were no benches, no concrete stanchions, and only one stump (reminiscent of The Giving Tree) for most of today's 20 miles. The only places I found to sit were in the two villages I transited. Finding a clean, dry place to sit without having some type of pad would be a real challenge, especially if it had recently rained.
Only 16 miles to go tomorrow. It's funny that I consider that a light day. I'm going to hit my wet clothes one more time with the hair dryer, and then head to bed.