true life planet

I decided to take a bus from Leon to Sarria, as now both of my ankles are not doing well.

I arrived in Sarria at 9:30 at night. You would think I would have thought this arrival time out more-but, (a) the bus was late to begin with;and, (b) I didn´t think it out at all, actually.

So of course, when I got there it was quite late. A very nice woman who got off the bus with me directed me down a street, and told me to go to a certain house, where there was a family that rented rooms.

I went there, I knocked, they answered, I asked..no rooms. They called the refugio..no rooms, either. They suggested another place, not quite nearby, and I started walking there.

At this point I began to notice that  Sarria had a slightly seedy element-and this element was out on the street. Suddenly, it didn´t seem like a good idea to be walking around, looking obviously lost, with an enormous backpack and a tired expression.

I ducked into a bar. (This sounds like a bad idea…but in Spain, the bars are very nice.)

The  owners directed me down the street, to another bar, who apparently rented rooms sometimes. I entered the bar and found the owner.

Yes, he had a room. Was I hungry? I was famished. Good, sit, sit, eat something.

He proceeded to bring out plate after plate of food. After dinner, I paid for the room and discovered it was in a building down the street.Ok, this is a little different, but I was so tired I didn´t care. I waddled down the street after him, feeling like all I wanted was a bed.

We came to the building that I was supposed to sleep in-it was a half shell of a building, actually-plastic sheeting for windows, graffiti in the hallway. After walking up two flights of stairs, and not hearing another soul, I reached in my bag and wrapped my hand around the container of mace I had just bought in Leon.

We reached the room, he opened the door, and proceeded to eye me up and down.

¨It´s too bad you are alone, with this big bed¨, he said, licking his lips and looking utterly disgusting.

I was at a loss as to what to say, because frankly I was distracted by the nastiness of the room. It was dirty, smelled of cigarettes, and had a dank smell.

¨Yes, well, goodnight¨, I said, pushing him out the door with my walking poles(those poles have many uses!).

I was surveying my disgusting surroundings when he could be heard on the other side of the door…¨I´m right next door, if you need anything-in the room right next to yours¨, he gleefully informed me. ¨There are no other guests.¨, he said.

I locked the door. He came back ,and talking to me from the other side of my door, informed me that he was just on the other side of the wall, if I decided I did not want to be alone tonight.

Unfortunately, the bathroom was outside, in the hall. I decided not to risk it, and peed in a plastic cup. Not easy, but something I have perfected since traveling in Central America. (Note to self: Always travel with pee container.)

I slept with all the lights on, all night.

In the morning-as soon as it was barely light-I snuck out as quietly as possible, and began walking to Ferreiro.

No wonder that room was only 10 euros….

gigi

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This entry was posted on Sunday, June 8th, 2008 at 9:46 am and is filed under 1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.