More of wet, green, smelly Galicia!

As I mentioned in my last post I am in Palais de Rei,  well not quite!  I am actually in the albergue that sits in the big recreation reserve called Os Chacotes, 1.2 kms before hitting the centre of the town.  I am enjoying staying in these places that I haven't stayed in before, and experiencing the little quirks of the Xunta albergues.  Each have little peculiarities, but they are all universal in that they don't have WiFi.  This is a different experience to the other regions.  They all seem to have plenty of hot water, though there are some that one has to keep pressing the timer tap to get more, and though some have shower doors, the vast majority don't!

The albergue at Gonzar.

Enough of albergues though and let me tell you about the last couple of days.  Yesterday I set off in the rain, which continued for most of the day.  The day was spent sloshing through constant streams of water.  If the path went uphill, the streams ran towards me, and just for a change when the path went downhill,  the streams rushed past me!  It reminded me of hiking in New Zealand because it gets to the point where it was just as easy to slosh through the water and muck as it was to avoid it, something one quickly learns when hiking, sorry tramping, in NZ!

This type of walking is very tiring as I am constantly on the look out for things that could catch me unawares such as hidden rocks, mud that is deeper than it looks, and worst of all uneven ground.  Easy to twist an ankle and suffer severe injury, the last thing anyone wants!
I didn't have the albergue to myself last night, but shared it with a Korean chap.  Every time I woke in the night he was reading on his computer, and the last time I noticed the light was at 3.00 am.  I bet he was tired today!  This albergue was a converted school building in Gonzar.  Both here and at Ferrerios there was no opportunity to buy food (and I forgot to as I passed through Portomarín) and so I had a light tea of muesli bars and chocolate biscuits!  Mind you I am not fading away - both days I had a hefty lunch!  Tonight though I have had a proper dinner at the restaurant a 100 metres down the road.
Last night I went to sleep with the occasional sound of cars going past on the road in front of the albergue, and at the back the gentle lowing of cows as they settled for the night.

The little chapel at Ferrerios

And another on top of the last hill before the descent into Palais de Rei

The walk from Ferrerios was much like the day before, passing through little hamlets on the way to Portomarín.  I took it very slowly and carefully on the steep descent leading to the river Miño, which has been dammed and now is the Embalse de Belesar.  On all previous trips here I have seen the "drowned" buildings protruding from the shallow waters.  This time the waters were high and all I could see was water!  I wish I could post a photo of what I saw previously so that you could compare like I did in my mind's eye.

The much higher Embalse.  Previousy I have seen the old mediaeval bridge high and dry, next to this modern bridge.  There was no evidence of it at all this time.

Every other time I have crossed this river, leaving Portomín by the iron foot bridge in the foreground.  That is now closed and pilgrims cross via the second bridge, also a road bridge. 

After crossing the bridge there is a flight of sstairs to climb!

This is the church that was dismantled, stone by stone, and then reassembled higher up the hill.

Just like the steep descent into the river valley there was an equally steep ascent out of it when it came time to leave Portomarín.  This was accompanied by the singing of the rushing water as small streams joined up.

The rushing water,

 and a particularly nice looking Horreo on the way out of Portomarín.

Today has been a treasure.  The forecast a couple of days ago was for 7 days of rain (mind you that is what the current forecast is too), but somehow the day was fine all day, with the occasional touch of a watery sunshine.  Returning from dinner I even saw some stars in the sky!

In contrast to yesterday, most of today's path has been on, or next to, quiet country roads which has meant that even if it were raining, there would not have been the water to contend with like yesterday.

Just some of the quiet country roads.

This is to show that I did see sun for some of today! Another horreo in a village I was passing

I will just finish with a comment about the smell in Galicia.  It, in my opinion, is quite distinctive.  There is that unique smell of hay that has been wrapped in plastic as is sort of "mouldering"!  Then, this smell mixes with the smell of the cow dung which surrounds the sheds, and is on the paths and roads.  This all goes into a potent mix of slurry which the farmers then take out in big tanks and spray on the fields.

This past couple of days there has been one other obstacle to dodge - the farmers on their tractors.  They hoon around these narrow lanes at a great rate and I am constantly listening in case one should catch me unawares.  They can make quite a splash as they drive through the puddles!