Apparently there are a couple of groups, all heading out from Tui today - reminiscent of the pilgrim traffic jam coming out of saria in 2015. Fortunately, their hyper start saw them fading by O'porrino - Sadly, many of those groups were planning an extra 14km beyond, pushing to Redondela... Extra sad, MANY of the people in those groups were very unprepared for the walk in both physical readiness and in appropriate gear...
It is frustrating to see these groups, with people spending to dollar for someone to coordinate this for them, come out and suffer so.
Back to last night, the was so much activity in Tui, I don't know where to begin. The was some sport being played in the nearby sport hall that last well past 10:30 complete with horns blowing and crowds loudly cheering. Then there was the bandstand in the center of town, with bangs playing past 12:30 am - I know that because I some up briefly to hear the finale.
Today, upon arriving in O'porrino I found all the albergues were FULL, THAT, and there is a celebration going on in town. Big festival with many of the streets closed to traffic and jammed up with locals celebrating. At one of the albergues I checked in at, I met Rikesh from Porto who was likewise struggling to find lodging. I was close to heading and pushing to the next town I found ONE albergue with space. We scored right over and found a BRAND NEW albergue, only opened yesterday.
SCORE! Pod style beds and all the necessities, all for €12!
We quickly went about it chores and were ready to head out and explore the celebration. We participated in the celebration's feast of choice.
It has a taste not unlike mild American chili, with chorizo and an assortment of mystery meats (I suspect tongue, ear, and a few other pieces) (yes, they have me Fanta instead of KAS).
So, back to waking, today definitely was more reminiscent of the crowds on the Frances which is not necessarily a bad thing just bit the solitude I had become spoiled with them last few days. I expect this bubble to moderate over the next few days as the groups push their members harshly forward.
There was one very amusing event in the early morning, as I walked my stay pace the leaders in the groups out of Tui subconsciously found themselves trying to match my pace - it was not for them and the first semblance of a hill saw them fall into the distance quickly.
As I (finally) was walking in a wee-bit of peace I came across a road construction warning sign... Only, this path was strictly pedestrian which confused me until I came upon a pedestrian stone bridge under reconstruction complete with all the treatment vehicle bridge would get.
A full on temporary pedestrian bridge, temporary fencing, signage, everything! I was really amused see all of this considering so many other projects along the way and the very carefree manner they were handled, not then again I am now in Galicia and they tend to take the camino network the most serious of all the areas.
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