May 30

After a sleepless night, I arose quietly, so as not to wake my bunk mates, at 5:00 am. This early start to my day gave me time to do a few posts and wander the empty, peaceful streets to enjoy the elaborate Corpus Christi masterpieces lining the roadways. A hearty breakfast that included boiled eggs (rare to find here), fruit, cereals, yogurt, breads, pastries, juice, coffee and tea provided us with good sustenance to begin our 18 km walk. To begin, we took a taxi ferry (a very small boat with 4 of us) across the River Minho which is the natural border between Portugal and Spain. Historically, this river border was a location where many battles were fought between the Portuguese and Spanish but today they enjoy friendly relations with their neighbours. We landed in Spain on a pristine deserted beach and quickly found a beautiful boardwalk along the ocean. This part of the walk to A Guarda was stunning with a number of interesting and beautiful distractions such as hieroglyphics painted on the trees. We enjoyed a rest stop and stocked up on food and water in A Guardia before beginning the long trek of 14 km (no facilities ) to Oia. It was hot with a few climbs on various pathways including road side and forest paths before we arrived in the quaint seaside Hamlet of Oia. Our accomodation here was incredible, La Cala, A Pilgrims Hostel. We had an ocean view from our spacious bedroom and enjoyed the common kitchen/dining room facilities. A delicious dinner of scallops, shrimp and Russian salad at a cafe beside the ocean while taking in a beautiful sunset was a fabulous end to our day.Weiterlesen