I decided this morning to test my fitness. I did the 18km from Redondela to Ponteverda in 3 hours. It included two hills around 150 metres high. I don't think I could have done that pace for even an hour before starting this journey. All this walking has changed me. All this walking in the same direction has moved me. It looks like I'm going to not only have time to do the walk to Finisterre but I will also have a few days afterwards. I am not sure yet what I will do, but at present I can't see myself becoming a tourist. I have trained myself to walk quickly, so where will I go?
Day 24 is complete.
Today's photos:
1. Old food storage hut.
2. Me at the 18th century bridge, Pontesampaio.
3. There are eucalyptus in Spain too.
4. Santurio da Peregrina, Pontevedra. XVIII.
5. Convento de San Franscisco.
6. An interesting house in the old city area.
7. The Praza, Pontevedra.
Now I am in Spain the Camino markers have the distance left to Santiago. I am now less than 100kms away from arriving. I have walked over 500kms, but I am now counting down rather than up.
It's a long day today, walking with a few people who have sore legs and feet. The way got a lot more crowded today as more people started at the 100km point (the minimum distance to get a certificate). There was some concern about getting a bed but we all made it to Redondela. We started in the dark to get a good start but we lost the way several times. Tomorrow we start when it's light.
This is now day 22. Four more days to Santiago.
Today's photos:
1. Less than 100kms to go
2. I don't think I should take the sign literally.
3. Not a good sight after the first 10km.
4. Much better.
5. Me with less than 100kms to reach Santiago.
6. It was both woodland and suburban walking today, but I tend to take more photos in the woods.
I have never crossed a border on foot until today. It was easier than I expected. From Portugal to Spain is simply a walk across a bridge. If only it were that easy all around the world.
Today's photos:
1. Today's walking posse.
2. Last steps before entering Spain
3. The view across the river
4. I must be in Spain now.
5. Walking done for the day; shade, drinks and lunch is the reward.
6. The best view from a laundry that I have ever seen.
7. The view from the cathedral garden.
I like fireworks. I like music. It's less fun when it wakes you up at midnight. And one. A few people have left by 6am when I decide it's time to get going. I am out by 6:30am. I wonder if this will have any lasting effect on my sleep patterns. I have almost become a morning person, though I am not going to sleep particularly early.
Today is a short walk with a big hill. A 400 metre climb. After 20 minutes we find a spot for breakfast and head of again. By 9:30 we have our second stop, having covered over 8 of our 18kms already. The stops are very social and I have had the chance to meet a lot of the other people walking today. Language continues to be the great divider, with English being the most frequent second language. This part of the Camino, from Porto to Santiago, is proving to be a very different experience than the way from Lisbon to Porto.
As we start the assent I can't help trying to guess if the hill in front of us is the one we are going to climb. I guess wrong several times before we hit the hill. It proves to take a fair amount of exertion to get to the top. I think I am now able to feel the point were the energy from the food and coke has run out and I'm using my reserves. I have certainly learnt a lot about how I move and have developed a number of different walks for different situations. The Camino has allowed me to pay attention to many things that I previously took for granted. Simple things are now moments of great pleasure.
The views from the top of the hill are incredible, I think this is the most picturesque part of Portugal that I have walked through.
By 12:30 we have made it to tonight's albergue. Some people are doing the next stage to the border today as well, but I really don't feel like another 19kms.
The afternoon, evening and night are spent talking with my fellow pilgrims. People's reasons for doing the Camino are different and the conversations are a wonderful mix of the profound and the amusing.
It has me thinking that discipleship really is a shared walk in the same direction.
Day 20 ends.
Today's photos:
1. How it looks in the brochure, lots of walkers today.
2. People sometimes place a stone on markers as they pass.
3. A man with his two cows.
4. Carlos laying his broken pole to rest, after carrying for 5 days.
5. The view from the top of today's hill.
6. This can has a representation of the convent window in Tomar, which we arrived too late to see. Funny, Coke, funny.
7. The place before the one I'm staying in tonight.
I decided last night to walk to my own pace today. I think it's going to be one of the learning experiences with more people around. It is very enjoyable to connect with others as I walk but it can make the day much harder in terms of walking. We need to cover 33.6kms to reach Ponte de Lima today. Everyone else that I have spoken with in the albergue is only doing half that. Carlos and I set out at 7am. We have developed a good walking routine and we both like to do the majority of the distance in the morning so we set out to get two thirds done by lunch.
As I have traveled north through Portugal a few things have changed. The term for an espresso that I have used since Lisbon is regarded with disdain here in the north. I found that out yesterday and it explains why I was starting to have trouble with a phrase that had been working so well for me. I can also hear that the greetings are pronounced differently here, I suppose it's my musical background but I can hear the accents even though I don't understand the words. The landscape is changing too. For some reason the regional differences seem more remarkable because I have walked through them.
A lesson learnt today: When an apple on the side of the road reminds you of a golf ball don't assume your waking pole will function as a golf club. This may have limited application for you, but keep it in mind just in case. I now have only one rubber pole cap.
The day's walking passes well. We slow down in the middle of the day and take a long break around lunch.
We arrive in Ponte de Lima at 6pm. It's a pretty town by a river with a number of historic buildings. There is a festival on today and the street is filled with a sideshow alley. The albergue is the biggest I've been to so far, with 60 beds in three rooms. It's nearly half full when we get there, I get bed number 28.
We meet a number of people and end up having dinner in a Spanish and English speaking group. I am trying to add some Spanish words to my vocabulary as we will be in Spain in a few days time. It's fun to try to say words that use sounds not made in English. Roncesvalles, a Spanish town on the camino Francis, is a killer.
Day 19 ends with a hostel curfew at 10pm.
For me that means bed, for the rest of the town it means the party is just warming up. I may try the ear plugs tonight.
Today's photos:
1. There's no bull fighting in this part of the country, perhaps I can see why.
2. A cork tree: beautiful and not a gum.
3. Walking past a fire. I put two out in Porto, but this one is a little beyond me.
4. Santiago, the saint, and a fire above the village.
5. Resting after 30kms. Someone to put the grapes in my mouth would have been perfect.
6. The bridge at Porte de Lima
7. The view of the town from the Albergue.
The start today is slow. I walk with Carlos, a man from Luxembourg and a woman from Spain. After a long break for breakfast we start splitting up. The Spanish woman is on her second day and decides to shorten her walk and take it more slowly, so we say goodbye. We part with the man at São Pedro de Rates when he takes the coast route and we take the central. It's another hot day, 33 degrees. When we stop for lunch we decide to take the scenic detour which will make it a 30km day.
Just before lunch I have my first wildlife encounter. I discover a one metre snake two steps in front of me as it makes its way across the road. I have no idea if it is venomous, but fortunately neither of us is interested in finding out.
Through the course of the day I manage to put a small blister on my heel, proving that the physical challenge of the camino is still a reality.
The scenic extra takes in a climb to the top of Monte Franqueira which is 295 metres high. The views are great, although the smoke haze shortens them considerably. I quite enjoy walking up hills now, far more than going down them.
We reach Barcelos around 6pm and have a look around the churches as we make our way towards the albergue. It's a donation based hostel and we get the last two beds. There are about 16 people here, with a couple more arriving later and taking up some floor space. After shower it's time for dinner. I had a pilgrims meal for lunch so I am not that hungry. It was a nice soup, some rustic bread and my second dish of bacalhau. Dinner ends up being toasted sandwiches, a cultural coup.
Day 18 ends with a birthday party for one of the pilgrims, originally from Russia. Most of the people we met today will walk a shorter stage tomorrow so it will be interesting to see who we meet next along the way.
Today's photos:
1. The monastery.
2. A tiled house.
3. Walking across an old bridge, definitely in rural Portugal.
4. Someone decided that the doll was to heavy to carry to Santiago?
5. The view from the top of today's optional extra hill climb.
6. The church at the top of the hill.
7. Barcelos.
8. A 14th century cross.
We leave at 7am. The streets are deserted and the city is quiet. The sky is mostly blue, with a dirty halo on the horizon. Yesterday the sky was totally smoke covered and there was even ash falling like snow, so it's nice to see that the fires near here are under control. There are now fires in Agueda, which we passed through several days ago.
The rest day has left me feeling fresh and we set a fast pace for the first two hours. I generally walk ahead, with Carlos a little behind. I stop for a coke and leave my gear outside in a prominent place, so Carlos will see it. Not prominent enough. As I come out of the shop he disappears over the hill. I start after him but when I reach the top of the hill I can't see him. After another 10 minutes I still can't see him and I start to wonder if he has stopped for a break too.
I am now not sure if he is behind me so I stop at a font and take a seat in the shade. It is one of the few potable water fonts that I have seen. There is a queue of people with large plastic bottles waiting to fill them so after a few minutes of just sitting on the bench I decide to fill my water pack too. A conversation takes place around me and although I can't make out the words I can see that it involves whose turn is next and who is after who. I manage to establish that I am next, using Portuguese! Four words can go a long way. Even though I am sure it is horrible and there are a few supporting hand gestures, I am a little pleased with myself. The water is good, very good. Muito bom.
As I walk to catch up to Carlos I start to meet a number of pilgrims starting out from Porto today. This stage of the journey is going to be very different from Lisbon to Porto. I get a chance to chat with a few people as I walk.
Carlos spots me from inside a cafe and so the mystery is solved. He was ahead of me the whole time and both of us walked fairly fast trying to catch the other. The worker at the cafe is a Camino supporter and tells us about a local monastery that has recently opened an albergue. It is donation rather than fee and it's only a couple of kilometres short of our intended destination.
We reach the monastry at Vairão at 2:45pm, having walked 26kms. There is a small, fresh fire on the horizon, but nothing to worry about. We check in at a nearby house with a couple who are clearly very pleased that the monastry is now being used in this way. It has been here since the tenth century and was the local school until four years ago. It open as an albergue in July and I am pilgrim #190. By 3:30 I have showered, washed and hung my clothes, and can have a little siesta. By dinner time there are two other pilgrims here and we end up eating together at a local restaurant. It seems that the other ten or so pilgrims went to the town we had been intending to go to. I think we found the better place. Much of the evening's conversation is in Spanish so I get a chance to pick up a couple of words. The road to Santiago is going to be a lot more social from this point on an I am looking forward to this new aspect of the Camino.
By the end of day 17 I have now walked 400kms towards Santiago.
Today's photos:
1. The church tower I climbed yesterday
2. Two churches, one for nuns and one for priests, separated by a 1 metre wide building.
3. Some street art on an abandoned building.
4. The church at Vairão, with a panoramic view.
5. The view. I can see a yacht sailing in the Atlantic ocean. I have a blurry 20x photo to prove it.
6. The view out the hall window of the monastery.
7. The view out of my bedroom window.
