Day 11 ~ Porto do Mos

It was hard to leave Nazaré. The beach apartment I had was perfect. That and I was a little nervous about the path ahead. It is not well marked and with bad weather forecasted, I was concerned.

I left with the sunrise and walked towards the sun. I had made myself a deluxe egg breakfast and had 2 cups of spectacular coffee. It was nice having all the comforts of home and a mini market across the lane to buy whatever I needed. 

It was a bit confusing navigating out of town and of course started with an incline. After quite a bit of city walking, I passed under the main highway and already had to make a choice. No markers and google maps couldn't help. 

I thought, this can't be right, the path was deep, beach sand and around me were  several other unmarked sandy paths to choose from. All heading into a forest and in all directions. Was this a test? I looked for a path with footprints and sadly human garbage to indicate a path traveled. I also chose to follow power lines as they usually lead to civilization. Just to be sure, I started to pray. I prayed for guidance and safety and strength. I trusted my instincts and when the path I chose split again, I followed my gut again. Eventually I started to see blue and yellow ribbons in the trees. I'm assuming they were put there intentionally as markers. They were so few and far between though. I relied heavily on Google to keep me heading in the right direction....that and the sun.

The sky eventually grew dark and the path had me climbing and descending often in deep sand. I prayed again, for light and guidance. 

As if my prayers were heard, the sun continued to shine on my path while the sky in every direction was dark and rain was imminent.

I struggled with the sandy hills but continued to pray and find strength. This went on for at least a couple of hours of relentless undulations and threatening skies but still the sun was shining on my path. Just as the skies could hold off no more, I reached a tunnel passing under a highway.

Only when I was protected,  the sky opened up and the rains fell. The wind was strong and the rain came down sideways, still I was safe and dry and so very grateful and believing all that much more of the power of prayer.

In the tunnel, I geared up for more rain withe my poncho. I waited for the angry rain to pass and eventually headed back out. I bypassed a small town and found myself walking beside a neverending stretch of industrial buildings. In the distance I could see a hooded silhouette in a field. Initially the figure seemed ominous.

Creepy yes, but as I approached on my way, I discovered it was 2 elderly local women hunched over in the fields farming. They stood up as I passed and spoke to me in Portuguese. I did my best to understand them. I think they mentioned the rain and my long walk. We shared a laugh and I continued on.

I took so many wrong turns today and did a bit of backtracking due to such poor trail marking. But I found my way.

I found a café in a small town that was serving  3 locals... and me. I am the only pilgrim walking that I have seen. In fact, I'm getting alot of stares but as soon as I say Bom Dia or Boa Tarde, I get a smile or the same back. Some of the older men do this grunt kind of response, like a caveman greeting and it makes me laugh every time.

I was happy when I started seeing markers and blue arrows but they never seemed to be there when I needed them. I was guessing alot. At one point I took a wrong turn and out of frustration gave up on the established path and just made my own. 

I was so happy with my decision. I bought ham, cheese and chips at a market and had a picnic on the grass beside a busy road. I was surrounded by the smell of eucalyptus and orange blossoms. My feet were aching and I had at least 8 kms to go.

When I reached the outskirts of Porto do Mos, after a couple hours of road walking, I could see a small mountain and I hoped I wouldn't have to climb it after so many kms already.

I heard the sound of many people and the sound seemed to be getting closer. As it turns out, it was a catholic Easter camp group of teens. There was easily a hundred kids. 

They caused a pedestrian traffic jam and I had to at some point walk with them just to avoid stopping. The kids were a so interested in what I was doing, where I was going, where I'm from and as they passed me, they all either said hello, or bom caminho or good luck. It was so uplifting. One kid said "Forte!!" and flexed haha. They were all so kind. 

I let them pass me and instead I made friends with a little chihuahua. 

He was trying so hard to get through his homes' fence to get to me. That was the only happy dog I have met on this journey. The rest have been really angry.

I found a minimarket and I bought gf pasta, veggies and Wine. I knew I was 30 mins away from my new home and I also knew there was no way I was walking anywhere tonight after checking in. 

When I reached reception of the eco tourism hotel, it seemed a little sketch but 

a nice lady came out and drove me up and around to the top of a mountain. 

My hobbit home for the night is a silo renovated into a tiny cottage with lovely grounds. It has a tiny kitchen but somehow I managed to cook a damn fine vegetarian pasta dinner and ate it outside during sunset. 

I was a little creeped out at first being alone and isolated on a mountain top but I had a hot shower, a good meal and I'm now relaxed and officially exhausted. 31kms means my feet hurt. 

It was an interesting day and at times beautiful. It was above all else, a spiritual day. Tomorrow I will try to stay on the actual path... 

Boa Noite and beijos xx