Day 5: On the border line

Dear traveler,

A new day, a new sound that wakes me up from my sweet dreams. Somebody thought of using the vacuum machine at this time of day. Wonderful! 

I'm alone in this room, with some other ladies visibly annoyed by this sound. Mamarmot is nowhere to be found. Dad, no idea. He slept separately in the boys dorm anyway. I get dressed and go out in the hostel lobby. Outside the window, I see Mamarmot on the beach and her camera in her hand. Of course!

We regroup soon and hit the road, thinking that we'll stop for breakfast in the first interesting place we find. We don't need to walk too much for that. As Portugal accustomed us, at every step you can find a place with all the world's delights. 

I remember my folks saying that we'll be crossing into Spain today by ferry and I still have one postcard I want to send to my teacher. I need to find a post office quickly.

Meanwhile, I end up with a sandwich and a huge pastel de nata in front of me. I'll miss Portugal...

-"Do we really have to cross into Spain today? How about all these goodies?"

-"Marmot, we thought about not crossing today. We don't really like the idea of crossing the border by ferry and... we would also like to stay a bit more in Portugal. There is another route... "

But who is still listening to Mamarmot? I'm super excited and I dig into all these goodies on the table. I'll still be mailing the postcard though, since I already wrote and prepared it.

Now back on the trail! We return from these beautiful streets back towards the beach and continue forward. To our left we are always accompanied by noisy seagulls and the ocean that seems a bit restless today.

Look, a swing with a view towards the ocean! It's hard to get enough of this place.

A straight path takes us through sand dunes and vegetation and the shell reassures us all the time that we are on the right way. 

-"Look, marmot, see that small mountain in the distance? That's Spain. If we cross, the ferry would leave us at its feet."

And I suppose that after that we would have to climb it too. Let's leave it like that. Our path is way better.

I'm not sure how far we have to walk today and where do we need to go but somehow, I feel very good. I'm chatting with dad on this smooth path while Mamarmot jumps into every bush to photograph flowers and rocks. Now she's here, now she's not, just like the waves of the ocean.

People are carelessly enjoying the beach, regardless of how strong the wind blows.

And me? Just a traveler that has no clue where to and what day is it. Direction is forward and that's enough. 

At some point the beach continues with a tall pine forest and it feels like entering another world as not much time passes until we leave the sound of the waves behind.

As we get out of the forest, we end up directly on a long wooden dock. From the other side of the river, Spain greets us. 

Not today, Spain! I know you missed us. I missed you too, especially your potato pie. But you'll have to wait for us for a few more days.

The water is filled with boats, small, big, colorful, and some people are waving at us and offering to take us over the border. They seem a bit surprised that we say no, probably because most people that end up here would board the first boat to Spain.

We continue walking and Mamarmot says that this is Minho river, a river that lies between Spain and Portugal and along which we'll be walking a lot, for at least two days.

The dock leads us to the well known paved streets and a town with stone houses and churches. We stop here for a delicious bite and my folks decide our destination for today, or at least that's how it seems. We continue walking through this town that leads us to the highway. I never enjoyed this kind of roads, even if it's not too crowded. I've got nothing interesting to see and everything kind of annoys me. I'm starting to feel the midday heat and the next question would be "are we there yet?" but Mamarmot is visibly annoyed by the fact that she keeps on calling at albergues and receives only no for an answer.

-"I cannot find any accommodation available. Where we were supposed to arrive today everything is booked, a few kilometers ahead there is a refuge but their plumbing is broken and to walk farther... would mean to cover over 35 kilometers today. The only solution is to stop in the next village and hope that we'll find some place to stay."

Oops, that doesn't sound good. I remember a few days ago when we already walked until the end of the earth and we could not find accommodation and everything hurt... I don't want to go through that again. 

-"Come on, marmot, no drama! It's still early and we'll figure it out. Worst case scenario, we return here and we'll surely find something. But now, let's continue forward."

After not too long, we reach to the next village and we follow the shell on a street that goes up to the albergue. The only albergue around here. That doesn't sound promising.

The door is locked so Mamarmot starts making some phone calls again. After long conversations and a few words in Spanish, she ends the call in a sigh. 

-"She said she most likely has room for us but she will confirm when it opens, at 2 p.m. We've got to wait for a little while. If no beds will be available... it will not be nice. But I'm counting that pilgrims will arrive later at this place."

A walk through the surroundings and we discover a beautiful stroll area along the river, where my folks decide would go for a run a bit later. It's very beautiful. We complement that with a cold lemonade at a cafeteria across the street and now it's time to return to the albergue. 

A smiling lady greets us there, calmly reassuring us that the albergue is empty, no booking can be made in advance and we are the first one to arrive, therefore, first served. We struggled for nothing. 

We take over our beds and then go out to find something to eat but luck is not on our side. Being a holiday, all the stores are closed, except from the restaurants that will open around at 7 p.m. Stomach, you'll have to wait. Lucky for us, we find a man that sells fruits and vegetables on the side of the road and that I kept some stuff in my backpack, so we manage to quench our hunger for a while.

Back to the albergue, we have a few hours to relax and I enjoy it to the fullest as such ocassions are quite rare. 

We start chatting with one of our roommates, who is from Taiwan. Tales about green mountains, remote villages and crest trails leave my folks daydreaming. But hey, hey... let's go back to Portugal. Now please! I'm starving!

Finally at dinner, I am glad I waited this long for these goodies. Fish and potatoes and even the octopus ordered by Mamarmot looks delicious. But I will not try it this time either.

After this meal, a stroll fits perfectly and my folks take me to where they went for a run this afternoon, on the river bank.

Like us, a bunch of people have gathered to enjoy the sunset and to enjoy the silence. On the other side of the river, Spain is getting painted in shades of orange.

It's interesting for me that I can enjoy how the sun sets in two different countries at the same time. Although I think that on the Spanish side, the sun lingered a bit more. A bit more we linger here as well, until the first stars are starting to make their way on the night sky. Tomorrow, the adventure continues on the border line.