Day 64: From Desert to Friendly Pub

Day 64 - Tuesday, May 29th 2018: Belderrig to Rossport 22 km / Total 1375 km, 25°C, sunny

Sheeps wake up call. Nice sunrise in the mist. As soon as I packed my tent, the son started to cut the grass. I saw the owner smoking outside as I was leaving, and as I told her where I was going to, she said that it was gonna be a long road with no shops. I know, I know, thank you for encouraging me.

And indeed, there was nothing. I climbed a mountain on a small road, and then it was bog and sheep again. Sheep mainly on the road. No one. No house (which is rare) for many kilometers. But as I crossed Glinsk Forest with many pine trees, I felt shocked to see wild dumping along the road. Come on! It's supposed to be wild nature, untouched and I found this!

After a short break on a little bridge, I met a couple in their car. I talked with them a little bit. I told them they were lucky to live here, and the man said "Do you think so?". Well, maybe it's quite deserted, but at least it's peaceful. 

It was a very long and lonely road. I saw some people working in the bog, extracting turf. With such a sunny weather, it might get dry better. The landscape remained the same almost all day, nothing changed on the horizon. I crossed a little river, the same colour as whiskey, it has this colour because of the bog. I felt like in a desert and remembered that's the song "A horse with no name" by America: "In the desert, you can't remember your name ..." Here I'm no one. I'm just flesh and bones, I just go on, one step after the other, my life is reduced to that simple thing.

Before getting to Rossport, I met the couple I talked to in the morning. The man was on a quad, his wife and dog in the back. I don't often speak twice to the same people on the road. In Rossport, according to Google Map, it was supposed to be a campsite. As I didn't find it, I asked at the bar. In fact, the bar welcomed campers, but only campervans. However, the guy asked his boss who allowed me to put my tent in the backyard. When it was set up, I came back to the pub, to pay and get a fresh drink. Of course, the local men wanted to know what I was doing there. As I explained, they offered me a Guinness. I met Barney, Tony and Keerane, who all paid me a pint. We talked about the Prime Minister and I made them laugh with the teapot joke. Melissa, the barmaid, put some music, and I made them listen "Les lacs du Connemara" by Michel Sardou. As I said I didn't find something to eat on the road, Tony went back home and cooked me some salmon with onions. At 11 pm, drunk, I said thanks, unable to drink my 5th Guinness, and went to fall in my tent, where I succeed to get into my sleeping bag. And Tony brought me the salmon!