Another day, another great view from the top of a hill. Breakfast at the guesthouse was substantial and today was to start with a river walk and then cross some woods to Mortagua.
The walk out of Penacova was nice, because there was initially no road walking. A wide footpath starts the walk out alongside the river. Although the path eventually gave way to a road, it was a very quiet road and one comes to a viewpoint of an unusual rock formation on the other side of the river. This is called the Livraria (Library) de Mondego. And actually it does rather look like a set of books on shelves. Perhaps. After a couple of G&Ts.
Morning coffee was at the little town of Raiva at the Restaurante Mondego. Leaving town should have been simple but it wasn't. At some point I missed a turning and, while enjoying the lovely scenery, found myself on a 4-5km diversion. So what to do? Walk all the way back? Or see if there is a cut-through? I made the schoolboy error of thinking that a path on google maps meant that there was a path. So I struggled up the river bank for about 30 minutes, hacking through the undergrowth. It was a tough walk and going back would have been a lot easier. But eventually I got to Coico and saw the yellow arrow which pointed me onwards.
There was a dam which one crosses and then it was a short walk to Gondelim. Definitely time for lunch.
The Cafe Bom Amigo certainly lived up to its name. They were delighted to get some customers for beer. However, it was a Monday. So no food. Not even a sandwich. However I could see an open door at the back of the bar. And there was a shop - an open shop - there. So it was a simple process of buying bread, cheese and ham at the shop, being served by the same woman who had just told me there was no food, and then sitting on the terrace drinking beer and eating. I was joined by an English guy who had lived to the village years ago and was a bit surprised to find a compatriot walking the camino. He wanted to know why I had come that way. I guess he had never noticed the little camino signs on the posts in the village. The bar had no stamp though, a theme that was going to continue on this route.
You can always tell when a camino route is not well-used. In Gondelim, this little dog took a massive dislike to me and, not being tied up, decided to bark and run at me the whole way out of the village.
Then it was about 5km to the next stop. It was a tiny village called Cercosa but, as it was warm, a perfect place for a stop and a beer while sitting on a bench outside the bar.
The next thing to sort out was accommodation. The Gronze guide cheerfully states that there is none in Mortagua. I hadn't really taken that seriously but, sure enough, there is nothing for a pilgrim in Mortagua, not even a rundown albergue. One of the upsides of the world stopping travel though is that it was easy enough to find somewhere nice - a Quinta - a short taxi ride away. So, one more beer and then a quick 8 or 9 Km to the final bar of the day. The last bar served the beer in an iced tankard... just perfect for a pilgrim even though I could have done with 6 of them.
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