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After another brilliant nights sleep and a bit of a lay in I set off at about 9:30 this morning.
Thankfully the cloud cover had cleared and there were blue sky's ahead.
The aim today was to make it to Briallos - about 16km but learning from yesterday's mishaps I added an extra 5-10km for getting lost!
The weather was exceptionally beautiful today and it wasn't long before the jumper was off! The scenery today was breathtaking and somewhat tropical - I had a new spring in my step.
Every Pilgrim I crossed I made conversation and asked distances to next towns.
I visited a place called Calais de Rei - quite a large city and got somewhat lost leaving it.
I noticed a van pulled over on the highway so I went and asked the lady for directions.
Her name was Mariana and she was lovely; she got out a brilliant map (which she later gave me) and explained as best she could in broken English how I get to my destination. She was so kind and gave me exactly what I needed as I was lost and the sun was beating down and temperatures were soaring. She gave me the map, wished me a Buen Camino and off I went. I sat in the nearest bus shelter where an old man come and joined me and wanted to know about my journey - unfortunately he could understand no English but we did our best to communicate. Next thing Mariana comes running over with a bottle of ice cold water :) Unbelievable she had gone and got me refreshments! At this point I felt truly blessed and at that point the whole 950km journey so far was made worthwhile - the kindhearted nature of this lady was beyond words.
The rest of the way to Briallhos was a walk in the park and I arrived by about 1pm.
Unfortunately who ever is supposed to be here and unlocking the Albergue is not so I am sitting out in the sun waiting - but really with little to complain about.
So three more people rocked up to Albergue at around 2pm - 3 Portuguese Pilgrims and they said there was a key hidden somewhere which we found and were able to let ourselves in with.
The lovely group of Portuguese invited me to have lunch with them and unfortunately I only have one of there names Joanna as she could speak some English! Anyways we had a great lunch of rice, vegetables and sausages!
We shared some great stories, many laughs and they gave me lots of info about the Camino Portuguese. Unfortunately a lot of the Albergues along the way are now closed making the walk a bit more difficult and unfortunately longer days.
They drew me maps gave me names of alternative accommodations and made me feel confident about the rest of the journey. They even invited me to come stay in a few weeks at their place when I arrive to Porto.
Unfortunately disaster struck tonight when I was cooking dinner - being a bit over sardines for dinner every night I brought some frankfurts and decide to fry them up in a flour batter. Anyways whilst frying I picked a piece up and put in my mouth and the oil on the sausage singed and sizzled all my lips, tongue and roof of mouth; the skin peeled back straight away and the area is now all numb. Joanna is a nurse and said it was bad but just to make sure it doesn't get infected. A slight downer on the evening but C'est La Vie.
I also managed to pick some fresh corn cobs today so I boiled these up for dinner and they were amazing to say the least - unfortunately my mouth is numb from the oil burns and there was not a lot of taste but delicious non the less.
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