Thursday May 2, 2024
- Starting Point: Anha (km 78.4)
- Ending Point: Caminha (km 110.9)
- Distance Walked: 32.5 km (20.1 miles) + detour to Cathedral Sta. Luzia
- Route: Coastal Route
There’s one major downside to hand washing clothes. You have to arrive at the albergue early enough to hang them in the sun if you want them to dry. My late arrival after my 44-km day yesterday, didn’t allow for that. Not to mention the fact that it rained overnight so nothing was going to dry outside.
This unfortunate situation meant my wet clothes were piled on a drying rack indoors beside the wet clothes from all the other pilgrims staying in the albergue. Nothing dried out fully. So I had to began my day by pulling on moist clothes, and laying on my rain gear over them so I didn’t get hypothermia while walking in the 45-degree morning weather.
The only wet item I absolutely refused to put on this morning were my Injinji toe socks. The whole reason I wear them is to avoid blisters between my toes. But putting wet fabric in a place that already gets too much friction seemed to be a recipe for disaster. Thus, I broke out the dry socks and safety pinned the wet ones to the outside of my backpack in hopes that they might dry in the sunshine as I walked north today.
I’m an early riser, and ended up being the second pilgrim to leave the albergue. As I made my way to the road out of Anha, I was met with a lovely little surprise to start the day off in a good mood. I was barely 5 minutes out of town when I passed an old public bath with a mural that had been painted to look like the night sky on the roof.
As I walked along the roadside up a small incline, I pulled ahead of the other pilgrim who left before me and felt grateful I’d remembered to stretch last night. There were three things that I committed to doing differently on this Camino: (1) packing lighter, (2) trying a new food each day, and (3) making sure to stretch every single night when I was done walking – no matter how tired I might be.
I brought a small cork ball with me to Portugal to make sure this final goal actually happened. It weights hardly anything. And spending 20 minutes stretching my muscles and rolling out the bottoms of my feet (where I tend to get arch and heel pain from my plantar fasciitis was doing wonders for me). I was feeling totally rejuvenated and fresh this morning. Maybe all those physical therapists out there know what they are talking about after all…
Viana do Castelo
The other item of gear I was grateful for on this Camino was my rain gear. It keeping me warm on this chilly morning, and also dry when the deluge of rain began barely a kilometer or two into my day. The morning’s rain began suddenly, without even so much as some sprinkles to warn me. And it was coming down so heavy that water was immediately puddling on the roadway, and the cars driving by me were splashing the sidewalk with the puddle spray for the next 45 minutes solid.
I finally got a break from the rain when I reached the long green bridge heading between Ponte Eiffel and my first town of the day – Viana do Castelo. I probably wouldn’t even have noticed the uniqueness of this double decker bridge, but I arrived there just as the morning train was heading down to the lower level. Trains rode across the river on one level, while cars/pedestrians crossed on the deck up top.
Walking across this long green metal bridge was about one million times better than yesterday’s sketchy bridge experience near Fão. The rain even stopped and sun came out to shine directly on and the St. Luzia in the distance. This prominent cathedral sat on a large hill towering above the city, and the its white stone facade was set against a blue sky as if beckoning me to come up and visit.
My first stop was in the city wasn’t a detour up to the cathedral though. I needed a proper coffee and breakfast pastry and time to figure out where to buy a new 220V USB charger for the one I left behind in the hotel yesterday morning. The external battery I used to recharge my phone at the albergue last night was out of juice. So I definitely needed to find a replacement outlet charger before the end of the day.
Viano do Castelo seemed like large enough town to find whatever I needed. But, as is the case in many European cities, nothing but bakeries and cafes seemed to be open before 9:30 or 10 am. So I sat in one small shop enjoying my coffee and watched in astonishment when older men came in and ordered coffees with a shot of alcohol on the side. It seemed a bit early, but who was I to judge? I ate a frosting filled croissant for breakfast on day one of this Camino.
As I waited for the electronics and phone stores to open, I used my time in the cafe to book ticket for tomorrow’s 7:30 am water taxi from Portugal to Spain. My route today was going to take me up all the way to the town of Caminha, which sits right on the river that separates Portugal from its neighbor to the north.
Once there, there are generally only two ways for pilgrims to get across the Minho River. You can pay to take a water taxi across the river (which only runs once an hour), or you can head 30 km inland to Valença to the first bridge that crosses the border.
I wanted to remain on the coastal route, so the water taxi was the best option for me. But I also wanted to take the first boat across in the morning because I was essentially going to lose an hour and fifteen minutes to the crossing. The first 15 of these minutes were for the boat’s journey from one side of the river to the other, while the extra hour was a consequence of the 1-hour time zone change between Portugal and Spain.
633 steps
Shortly after 9:30 am, I made my way to an open electronics store and purchased myself a replacement 220v USB charger. I was back in business now and I could have easily left town, but the Santa Luzia cathedral atop the mountain was still beckoning. And I wanted to answer her call.
Most visitors drive up to the summit of this hilltop cathedral, but I was going to approach via the long path of stairs up the hillside. To distract myself from the effort, I decided to count the number of steps up it took to get to the top. Surely it wasn’t more than 200 or 300, right?
It turns out the magic number was 633 stairs. That’s almost double the number of stairs to climb to the top of the Statue of Liberty. But it’s just under half as many stairs as it takes to climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Not that I needed to get my “steps” in for extra exercise.
Once I got to the top, there were a surprised number of buildings pulling for my attention. In addition to the cathedral, there was an albergue for Camino pilgrims, a gift shop, and even the opportunity to purchase a ticket to climb to the top of the cathedral’s bell tower (I passed. My knees didn’t need any more steps).
After taking in the sweeping views of the city and the ocean below, I paid the 2€ for the novelty of taking the funicular tram back down to the city instead of busting my knees on the 633 steps once again.
I also found it interesting that they had 2 trams running the same time (one going up and one down), but there was just a single set of tracks. I wondered how the heck this was going to work, but soon enough discovered there was a small bypass hidden in the very center of the journey with a brief area where the two trams could pass could each other half way up (or down) the hillside. Very cool!
All told, I didn’t leave Viana do Castelo until right around 11 am and I still had 27 km left to walk. Nonetheless, my trip up to the cathedral was a really nice diversion from walking just to walk. I felt as if I was really seeing something special on my full last day in Portugal.
Crucerio
Given my late morning start out of town, I decided to just put my head down and just focus on walking for the next few hours. The rain seemed to be limited to just sprinkles, and I was making good time on the route through the rural countryside. Honestly though, I didn’t pay too much attention to my surroundings. Nothing was going to compare to what I’d already seen today with my delightful little side trip.
When I got to Carraço, a gaggle of pilgrims was sitting outside a small cafe and grocery store. I scooted inside the grocery just minutes before the proprietor was closing down for siesta, and grabbed some easy lunch items before heading outside to one of the tables.
The next 20 minutes were spent chatting with an interesting pilgrim from Napa, California, and a couple from Hamburg, Germany. It was nice to have this communal aspect of the Camino. The rainy weather and my fast pace has made it a less social and more solitary pilgrimage thus far.
I think that’s one of the main reasons I was glad to stay at Casa da Carolina yesterday. Not only was it a really lovely albergue, but the communal dinner of homemade soup was a good excuse for us all to sit together and get to know each other. The physical challenge of the Camino is something I love, but it’s getting to meet other people from around the world and have interesting conversations that really keeps me coming back.
At the end of lunch, I decided I really need to turn on the gas and pick up my pace. I had a good distance to go yet, and I didn’t want to get in to Caminha too late.
The afternoon was mostly rural walking on dirt or stone paths with views of the ocean and I even past a few vineyards. The biggest challenge was a 5-kilometer climb up to today’s high point, which was named crucerio because of the cross statue at the top.
I felt like I was blazing past slower pilgrims this afternoon. It pays to be a thru-hiker whose body seems to get strong with each consecutive day rather than a someone growing weary with a major increase in their daily activity.
Once I made it past crucerio, it was all downhill for the remainder of the day. I ran into a crew of guys rebuilding a cobblestone road – something I’d need seen done before.
I was even making good enough time that I stopped at a bakery in Accra for a late afternoon snack. This my opportunity to try my new food of the day, and I went with fatia de pão. This Portugese treat translated to a “slice of bread,” but was really layers of poundcake with different fillings and a flan-like custard on top. All the more amazing was that this dessert and a cup of espresso only cost me €1.30!!!
Goats on the Coast
After my break, the Camino return to coast (and the rain), but once the blue skies returned, I experienced the best views of the day.First, there with loose goats roaming beside the Camino, including one that was on a few days old.
The Camino followed an ocean path that was so pretty it took my breath away. The flowers in bloom on both sides of me. There were waves crashing against the rocks. And Castro de Santa Trega – a Spanish peak with steep sides shaped like a volcano – was directly to my north.
As the path curved inland to following the Rio Minho – the river that forms the northern border of Portugal and separates it from Spain – the day seemed to finally catch up with me.
My feet hurt. My arches ached. My leg muscles were cramping. The wheels were coming off, and it was all I could do to make it to Caminha where I had a bunk at a hostel already booked. Perhaps I’d been too ambitious with my mileage after all.
After dragging myself to the hostel, I decided it was time to give my clothes a thorough wash and headed to the nearby laundromat. If I was going to pack light for this Camino, I didn’t have the luxury of fresh clothes as often. This morning’s damp hiking clothes smelled totally musty and funky now. After two days of travel to Europe, plus three days of hiking, it time to take care of business.
As the evening wore on, I round an Italian restaurant that had good online reviews, then headed there is in freshly laundered and still-warm-from-the-dryer clothes. I expected to eat alone tonight, but right after I ordered, another single woman was seated beside me, so I invited her to join my table.
She eagerly accepted my invite, and after some quick introductions, I learned she was from Holland. A few minutes later an older Dutch gentleman was seated at the table beside us, and our group grew from two to three. Lucky for me, though, they were polite enough to stick to English for the majority of the meal.
The food was fantastic. The company was even better. And it was a great way to end the day. Tomorrow I head into Spain and say goodbye to Portugal. But so far, I have no complaints about the Camino Portugués. Sure, there’s been a good bit of rain (with even more forecasted for the next few days), yet I feel as if this Camino is giving me exactly what I need.
I probably never would have detoured up to the cathedral today if I hadn’t needed to waiting around for the stores to open up so I could buy a new 220V charger. I wouldn’t have met all the lovely pilgrims at Casa da Carolina yesterday if I hadn’t been willing to push myself to walk a 44-km day. And I certainly wouldn’t have forced myself to try so many new things if I hadn’t set this intention beforehand.
All told, my third Camino is turning into my best Camino.
