Saindo da Cidade Fortificada - Day 5

Leaving the Fortified City

Santarém - Golegã (22.0 miles) 

Sunday was probably my least enjoyable day on the Caminho Português so far. Don't take that the wrong way. There were some good and interesting parts of the day, but overall it was not so great. It started at 12:30 am while we were all fast asleep in the dormitory room. I was suddenly awoken by loud noises, loud talking, bright lights, and the presence of several people moving about the room. At first I didn't know what was going on, then I realized we had new roommates arriving in the middle of the night. I thought it was the Brazilian guy that had checked into the room earlier but was out in the city late. However, I saw that he was already in his bed. He must have come in earlier in the night and was so quiet that he didn't wake me up. These were new guests who were trying to find their beds and the hostess was showing them around in the middle of the night! The guy wanted his individual bunk bed light on, so he unplugged my travel adapter that was charging my phone and watch overnight. After they had woken everyone up and unplugged my stuff, they disappeared just as fast as when they arrived. I wondered if they had come into the wrong room by accident. Several minutes went by and seeing the look of confusion on my drowsy roommates faces, I decided to jump out of bed and turn off the lights. I laid in bed wondering what had just happened, until maybe 20 minutes later, they returned and climbed into their top bunk beds. We could all sleep peacefully again after that whirlwind of events.

Later, when I woke up for real, I quietly packed my bags in the dark and left. I was glad to be out and on my way. The hostel provided pre-packaged ham and cheese sandwiches, a bottle of juice, and a banana for us pilgrims leaving early in the morning. That was a nice way to start the day. I then got lost on my way out of town and made an extra loop around before finding the turn I missed. There were construction equipment and dumpsters positioned in front of the yellow arrow I had not seen. I knew right where I had gone wrong when I saw 3 men make a left hand turn at that intersection where I had previously gone straight. I walked with them down the hill and out of the fortified city of Santarém. There was Sebastian from Germany, Jose from Ecuador, and Martin from Ireland. Looking back we could see the remains of the cities fortifications, and looking forward we could see the Tagus River and farmlands extending to the sunrise! It was absolutely beautiful!

I walked faster than my new acquaintances, so I went on ahead without them. Most of the day was spent walking alone through corn fields, vineyards, and along busy roads. I heard many gunshots early on and eventually saw some hunters with their dogs. I believe they were hunting partridges in the fields, but they could have been shooting at anything. There were also a lot of snails along the way today and even a Ginkgo tree.

It was really kind of boring and I spent several hours listening to an audiobook while I walked. I took a quick nap on the grass under some solar panels while I leap frogged Mattias from Sweden (I learned his name finally!) for most of the day. As I approached the next town of Golegã, the road was lined with large sycamore trees. Descending from the tree tops by silk strings were little caterpillars. I had to walk through them or in the middle of the road. I kept finding them crawling on my clothes and the brim of my hat for the next several miles. All those who have walked this way have been talking about the caterpillars! 

I arrived in Golegã and found my way to the albergue, but the woman working there said all 9 beds had already been reserved or taken. (I found out later that only 3 people actually stayed there for the night.) I moved down the street and found another hostel with a sign on the door that said "fechado" or closed. While I was standing there thinking about where to go next in search of a bed, a man got out of his car and walked up to me. He knocked on the large glass doors and a woman came over and opened it. The man stepped right in and I asked if he worked there. Not really addressing my question, the woman told him to take me upstairs and show me the rooms. I followed and found myself in an old house with many random and old objects scattered throughout. The four rooms were large and had windows opening onto the street below. There were also combinations of 3-4 queen-size, full-size, and twin-size beds in each room. The one bathroom was not very private and overall the house/hostel gave me an uneasy feeling. I would likely have been the only one there. Downstairs was a restaurant that was part of the hostel. Unfortunately, a meal was not included in the £20 price. I decided to find another place. On my way to the Inn Golegã, I passed the insane asylum with its residents groans and shrieks echoing into the street. There was even a hand eerily reaching out of the gate. I also found a simple horse race track facility in town. I believe there is a bigger one I will pass by in the morning.

I finally arrived at my room for the night and found Christian from Germany already there. We had a small room with two twin beds to ourselves. He went for a walk around the town before dinner and I had the unpleasant experience of meeting our only neighbor in the adjacent room. I saw him go into the bathroom in just his underwear, not even bothering to close the door. He was triggered when he came out and saw me in my room sitting on the bed. He slammed his bedroom door and started yelling and cursing in Portuguese. Then I heard furniture being moved around and stuff being thrown against the walls. Not sure whether or not I should stay, I was relieved to see Christian and we ran off to find dinner. Upon our return, I found everything was normal. The crazy man left his door open while he went to the kitchen and I glanced inside on my way back from the bathroom. It looked like he had just checked in. The towels and blankets were neatly folded on the beds and an unpacked suitcase stood at the foot of the bed. We locked our bedroom door while sleeping, just in case. I finished getting ready for bed and getting my stuff ready to leave in the morning. Just before turning off the lights, I found one more caterpillar from the sycamore trees climbing up my pants. What a bizarre day it has been!

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