Day 1 18/09/12 Porto – Vilarinho 27kms Total 27kms
Left AWA Porto Hotel Santo Andre in Porto at 8.15, roadworks all around downtown by the cathedral and took me quite a while before I found the first yellow arrows. Then a long haul thru the suburbs which became conjoined towns then villages. Road narrow with no pavement or even hard shoulder and lots of big trucks passing very close, started to get very hot. Finally arrived at Vilarinho at about 3pm without ever being out of built-up areas, checked in at Casa da Laura, a very tidy and quite posh hostel with free chilled orange juice in the fridge. Only one old 78 yr old Spanish there who reckoned he’d walked 13 Caminos, so I didn’t mention my paltry 4! later on 2 Colombian ladies and 4 Norwegian guys arrived which pretty much filled up the hostel. Found a shop and bought some cold meat, cheese and wine and took it back to the hostel for dinner. The others had eaten out at a bar but arrived back later and we sat round a table in the garden and Laura(Hostel owner) brought out a decanter of port and some coconut cookies and a jolly evening was had by all! There was quite a menagerie at the top of the garden with chickens, a rooster, a pig, a collie dog and a couple of rabbits with 10 baby bunnies!
Day 2 19/09/12 Vilarinho – Barcelos 27kms Total 54kms
Away by by 8.00, Norwegians already gone. Finally got off the roads and onto tracks/footpaths after an hour and a half and into some nice countryside. Got very hot (34 deg I found out later) by the time I got to Barcelos at about 2.30pm, a very pretty town approached over a bridge. Found the albergue, only an Austrian and a Dutchman in residence but a Frenchman, his wife and her friend arrived later. Went for a walk around the town and found the Norwegians sitting at an outdoor bar, they’d taken a detour which had stuck an extra 2 hours on the walk and were somewhat upset about that. Back to the albergue for a Menu del dia supper in the bar next door, chatted to Austrian lad for a while, he’d walked all the way from Austria in about 7 months, very earnest chap full of the “mysticism” and “spirituality” of the Camino – very boring, reckons he only walks 15 kms a day now, what the hell does he do for the rest of the day!. We were joined later by the French guy until his wife’s friend came out to tell us to shut up at 9.30pm, not as if we were talking loudly, miserable cow!
Day 3 20/09/12 Barcelos – 5kms before Ponte de Lima 35kms Total 89kms
Left at 8.45am, huge market going on in town centre, apparently the biggest in Portugal. Very hot day today and was having to wear long trousers due to sunburnt calves. Very pretty countryside but dying to get out of the sun and no bars until 1.30pm, dived in and sat there for 2 hours drinking beer and watching TV, Portuguese TV has some very glamorous presenters!! Back out into the heat for another 3 hours and still 5kms from Ponte de Lima, so plunged into the first wooded area I could find and pitched the tent. Had a pleasant supper of cheese, chorizo and a bottle of wine then passed a hot sticky night on my brand-new lightweight airbed – very comfortable!
Day 4 21/09/12 5kms before Ponte de Lima – Rubiaes 25kms Total 114kms
Packed up tent and on my way by 7.50am, 10 minutes later it started to drizzle, really lucky it didn’t start when I was still in the tent as I hadn’t put the flysheet up. Walked into Ponte de Lima just before 9, crossed the bridge over the river Lima and found the albergue, luckily the door was unlocked so I availed myself of the ablutions and got a stamp in my credencial from the cleaner then had coffee and cakes at the bar next door. On the road again just after 10, weather extremely humid and was soon soaked from the shoulders to the knees, stopped at a church to apply some first aid to a blister that had appeared right on the ball of my foot. Road started to climb quite steeply until it became an almost vertical track which was more of a rock-climb than a walk! All the time I was steadily passing other walkers, I counted about 35,quite a lot of them middle-aged ladies. Finally got to the top in the company of 2 Brazilian ladies both called Ana, nice to give my rusty Portuguese a bit of a workout. Arrived at Albergue at about 3pm to discover the Norwegians busy doing their laundry, the place was crowded and filling up fast, had a cool shower and walked down to nearby restaurant to discover the 2 Anas already there so assisted them to finish their lunch. Albergue was packed that night(over 60 people apparently) with bodies sleeping on every available piece of floor-space, I was lucky to have a bed but getting to the loo during the night was a minefield, kept tripping over people asleep on the carpet.
Day 5 22/09/12 Rubiaes – Tui 25kms Total 139kms
Away by 9.00 the next day, Ana and Ana were the only people left behind me, lots of easy downhill walking in cool weather which warmed up a bit at midday. Caught up with Norwegians just before Valenca and we stopped for snacks in a restaurant. They left before me and I had another beer then continued on into the town and across the Bridge over the River Minho into Spain and Tui. Arrived at Albergue with Norwegians, there was a long queue waiting to get in so we pushed on into town a bit and found another one very close to the centre which had a bar under it so was very suitable. Had a walk around, Tui is a nice little city which had quite a busy bar and café scene going on. Returned to bar under the Albergue and had a very late and interesting lunch with the Vikings, I ordered Solomillo, which I thought was salmon but turned out to be a skewer of smoked pork meat suspended vertically like the Sword of Damocles by a kind of tripod arrangement over a plate of garlic-fried chips! Very nice though. Had another walk around and returned to the bar to find the Vikings well into the booze, making a lot of noise and trying to chat up the barmaid. Had a couple of drinks with them then Sven actually fell over when he stood up so I stealthily withdrew to bed !
Day 6 23/09/12 Tui – Mos 25kms Total 164kms
It rained in the night but was drying out as I left just after 9, only took 10 minutes to take a wrong turning and had to retrace my footsteps only to bump into the 2 Anas. They’d stayed at the main Albergue, we had a quick chat then I pushed on. Crossed quite a few motorways and it started to rain hard, found a small bar and went in to find the Vikings just leaving, they seemed no worse for the wear after their little party the previous night. Had a sandwich and a beer then back out into the rain, arrived at the town of Porrino about lunchtime to discover a local festival going on, marching bands, choirs in traditional dress accompanied by bagpipes, Galicia has a strong Celtic tradition. Pushed on thru the heavy rain, passed the Vikings and a couple of Poles one of whom took great delight in pointing out that Australia’s highest mountain is named after a Pole!(Kosciuszko) Arrived at Mos albergue in the pouring rain at about 2.30, only about 16 bunks which soon filled up when Vikings an Poles arrived. Had pleasant dinner in bar down the road.
Day 7 24/09/12 Mos – Cancela 42kms!! Total 206kms
What a marathon! Left albergue just after 8, everybody gone except a couple of American ladies. 2 hours walking involving a very steep road descent brought me to the town of Redondela, walked thru it and had a drink at a bar on the other side. Another couple of hours and I caught up to the 2 Poles, they were a father and son walking together, the son spoke very good English so we walked together for a while thru some pretty scenery at Arcade and over the bridge across the River Verdugo. Left them behind after a while as the father was slowing up a lot and arrived in Pontevedra at about 2.30pm-my intended destination of the day and found the albergue. It was an enormous place with a very impressive reception area like an expensive hotel with lush sofas and coffee tables. Checked in, paid my Eur5 and went to the dormitory, it had 40 bunks and mine was number 40! A party of Thais had arrived and just about taken over the place, they were all sleeping and the shutters were closed so that it was very dark and the bunks were all decked with newly-washed laundry. It was like a Chinese opium den!!.I hate crowded albergues so there was no way I was going to stay there so I went and got my money back and went out into yet another monsoon to find other cheap lodgings. Only found expensive hotels so bought some food and wine and decided to push on and maybe camp somewhere, a couple of hours later still hadn’t found anywhere so decided to get to a place called Cancela where there was supposed to be an albergue. It was getting dark as I passed a milestone indicating that I had walked 42kms with no sign of the albergue. Leant over someone’s garden wall and asked a guy about it, he very kindly took me in his car back along the way I had come and off the road about 2kms to find the albergue closed!. Found a sort of layby with what looked like a concrete bandstand which had a roof, as it was still pouring with rain I decided this was it! Managed to prop the tent up using concrete blocks instead of tent-pegs, climbed in with my food and wine, had a nice supper and drifted off to sleep with the rain drumming on the roof!
Day 8 25/09/12 Cancela – Valga 21kms Total 227kms
Took a while to pack up then away by 9.15, get caught by Spanish lady-Mercedes- who is very helpful with my attempts at Spanish and we walk into Caldas de Reis together with Portuguese guy-Luis- who catches up to us. Get to albergue at 11.30 in torrential rain and take a shower then go for lunch at bar next to albergue with a bunch of Portuguese friends of Luis. The party of Thais start to drift into albergue from Pontevedra and the place starts to get seriously full, Mercedes talks me into pushing on to the next town Valga that afternoon, so we set off in the pouring rain at 3.30 much to the disbelief of Luis and co and got into Valga at 6.45. Turned out to be a good move as there was a very good albergue with a nice kitchen and a WASHING MACHINE!! Only 2 other hikers in residence, went down to a nearby bar with Mercedes where her boyfriend drove out to join us from their home in Vigo. Had a nice meal(the boyfriend very kindly payed!) then back to the albergue between rain showers.
Day 9 26/09/12 Valga – Teo 20kms Total 247kms
Awoke to empty albergue and left at 8.35, Mercedes already gone as she was intending to go all the way thru to Santiago today, sorry to see her go-she was good company and really patient with my Spanish. Easy walk today, stopped in Padron for coffee and arrive at albergue in Teo at 1pm. Nobody else here but door unlocked and welcoming radio playing so had nice leisurely shower and did the washing. 3 middle aged Danes arrive plus a couple of indeterminate nationality, all seemed to know each other and not very friendly so I pushed off to the only bar around which was a real sorry affair and doubled as the nearest thing around to a shop. Had a couple of glasses of wine and half a huge stale dry bocadillo, watched the TV news for a while and went back to the albergue. Nothing doing here so ate other half of bocadillo with some more vino and hit the sleeping bag.
Day 10 27/09/12 Teo – Santiago 13kms TOTAL 260kms
Last to leave albergue at 8.20, sunny for a change with some mist, easy walking, a few villages, passed the Danes and arrived in Santiago at 11.00. Usually when I arrive in Santiago, I’m approached by ladies offering rooms but this time nada! Went to the pilgrim’s mass in the cathedral then walked around and found an albergue in the back streets. Showered then walked around, bumped into the 2 Anas and we had lunch together, said goodbye to them and spent a couple of hours on the internet. Ended up the night in a lively little bar where the bar snacks are greasy pig’s ears, successfully avoided those and had a quiet little toast to myself for finishing my 4th Camino.
No comments:
Post a Comment