Day 36: Fisterra to Lires Today I officially started the highly anticipated Camino dos Faros (Lighthouse Way), following yesterday’s warm-up from Cee. I was up to see the sun rise, before an excellent breakfast (first served at 9am), so I wasn’t on my way until 9.45. It was only going to be 24km, so I would have plenty of time…
Day 35: Cee to Fisterra I was up early. After breakfast, I walked a couple of kilometers to the bus station and asked for a ticket to Cee on the 9.00 bus. The lady behind the counter looked at me blankly and then said “Oh Cee”, but her C sounded like a combination of C, S and X! There was…
Day 34: Santiago de Compostela It’s taken me 26 days to get from outside Lisbon to Santiago, taking deviations to Fatima, then the Camino Carmelita north of Fatima and the Spiritual Variant from Pontevedra. I took 3 days off in Tomar, Fatima and Pontevedra, which together with Coimbra are all towns I would highly recommend. Whilst it’s been very enjoyable,…
Day 33: Vilanova de Arousa to Santiago de Compostela Today I would reach the goal for the first part of my walk, Santiago de Compostela. Of course things didn’t go exactly as planned. As I wrote yesterday, the boat I was due to take at 7.30am from Vilanova de Arousa was cancelled. The next boat. at 10am, was then further delayed by 30 mins,…
Day 32: Armenteira to Vilanova de Arousa This is a stunning stage following the Ruta de la Piedra y del Agua (The stone and water route) passing 51 ancient mills and cascades, before turning west at Pontearnelas towards Vilanova de Arousa, my destination for today. Apart from the downhill from an altitude of 300m in Armenteira, it was a relatively flat day.…
Day 31: Pontevedra to Armenteira Another beautiful days walking, this time with a couple of climbs, the second of which was 430m over ca. 4km. In addition I visited two beautiful monasteries. A short stage, 20kms plus 3 more to get to the place I am sleeping tonight. I left Pontevedra at 9am, wearing a jumper. It was ‘only’ 14…
Day 30: Pontevedra Thanks to yesterday’s double stage, I had a day off today. It was just as well, the inhabitants of a neighboring room decided to have an hour long argument at 2.30 am (it may have lasted longer, but at least I fell asleep). They started again 7.00! I’ve spent hundreds of nights in hotels and…
Day 29: O’Porrino to Pontevedra Today was a very enjoyable and beautiful stage, clearly the best since I started the Camino Portugues back in February outside Lisbon. 39km from O’Porrino to Pontevedra, partly on backroads and partly on paths through forests (giving some shade) and following streams. And with three bigger climbs (and numerous smaller), many of them steep and…
Day 28: Valenca to O’Porrino After being woken by a group of 20 or so Americans ready to walk at 6.45, I showered, breakfasted, packed and was walking through a fairly deserted Valenca by 9am, on my way to O’Pirrino, 21kms away. 30 mins later, after crossing the International bridge, it was 10.30, and now in Spain. The first time…
Day 27: Seixas to Valenca After a good nights sleep and good breakfast overlooking the River Minho, I was walking again. The river is the border between Portugal and Spain, which I will be following, going east to the border town of Valenca, 24 kms. I left equally concerned about my foot and the heat. My foot felt better but…
Day 26: Viana do Castelo to Seixas It should have been 32km between Viana do Castelo and Seixas. The swelling around my ancle had subsided, but it still hurt when I walked, so there was no chance of walking 32kms. I bandaged the ancle, and hobbled to a laundromat to wash my clothes – so at least I have clean clothes, despite…
Day 25: Fao to Viana Do Castelo Disaster happened – well a walkers disaster. But more about that later. Today was 30km from Fao, where I’d had a good nights sleep, despite the 00.30 fireworks, that I could hear but not see, to Viana do Castelo. I left the campsite early and stopped off for a coffee and ham and cheese sandwich…
Day 24: Pavoa de Varzim to Fao It rained all night and was still raining when I had finished breakfast. It wasn’t heavy rain, more a heavy drizzle, the kind that soaks you through to the bones. Given the weather, I was lucky that today was a short day, only 18kms to Fao. Tonight I will be sleeping at a camping site,…
Day 23: Matosinhos to Povoa de Varzim After a good nights sleep and a very good breakfast, I took the double-decker bus back to Matosinhos, where I started walking to Porto yesterday. Today was a much longer walk, 29km, the first 22km along the coast to Vila do Conde, and the last 7km inland to Povoa de Varzim, where I would stay…
Day 22: Porto to Matosinhos Today I am back on the road, continuing where I left off in February, when I walked the first part of the Camino Portugues, starting outside Lisbon and ending in Porto. It was a stressful start to the day. Up early at 5am, my wife drove me to the airport. However, roadworks closed the slip…
