According to the guidebook, today’s stage was 32 km long ending in the town of Santarem. My feet are sore and my original plan was to cut the day in half and stop near the midpoint of Valdera. But when I reached Valdera, I discovered that all of the hotels in town were booked and the alberge, which only slept six didn’t open up for another 5 1/2 hours ..
Given that choice, I decided I should march on to Santarem. My original hesitation had mostly to do with the fact that between the two towns there were 16 km (10 miles) with no services whatsoever. Just a gravel road going through farmland, comprised primarily of tomatoes and vineyards.
As with yesterday, shade was at a premium. Although I am still walking at my 5KM plus per hour pace I am taking more stops and giving my feet rest every 3 to 5 km. When lunchtime approached I was just passing the 20 km mark and still 12km from the nearest services. I found a bend in the road with shade trees that provided a sufficient refuge for my lunch.
While sitting here, Maris, the Estonian who slept in the bunkhouse with me last night, walked by. In conversation, he advised me that there was no alberge in Santarem and all of the facilities there have potential for reservations. He strongly encouraged me reserve a bed before we got there. I pulled up booking.com and discovered that the hostel that he was staying in only had two beds left so I quickly reserved one of them.
Shade was so rare that when there was a tree, you’d find 2-3 pilgrims under it getting some relief.
The day was grueling, but the hostel is very new and modern. I understand it sleeps 94, but the rooms are smaller. Mine only has two bunkbeds in it. Maris has the other lower bunk and we’re waiting to see who are roommates are.
I am very grateful that Thomas the Dane will not be one of them. He’s checked in to another room. That dude was the loudest snorer I’ve ever been around and every time he switched positions, it was like an earthquake.
I’ve now walked 90,000 step in the past two days. Unfortunately, that trend continues as the next three days are all listed as over 30k.
