Monday 30 March 2015

Viana to Caminha

Into light drizzle after breakfast, with buns stashed for lunch, following the arrows through town . . . and having missed one made up my own route, keeping off the main road, dropping to the beach to see the old windmills, picking up a marked walking route and into Afife for a picnic lunch in a churchyard.

A rather poignant conversation with Carlos, 30, a teacher who gave up his job and feeling rather desperate . . . thinking about walking the Camino, but, but, but . . .

Still without yellow arrows, followed the main road a while, before picking up the camino again and the first glimpse of Spain, across the Rio Minho.

Caminha is a fine town with rivers on two sides and a square full of cafes.

At the pilgrim albergue, I am first, then two Brazilian blokes, Estela, a German woman and Jakob and Bartek, Polish students on Erasmus exchanges in Covilha, who put in a double shift today - nearly 50k.

Tomorrow's options were: the ferry to Spain and pick up the coastal route; along the river to Valence and the main Portuguese route; across the bridge to Tui in Spain, appealing for the symmetry of leaving Portugal exactly three months after arriving; taking two days to the border and staying at the Pousada de Juventude in Cerveira - reputedly one of the best in the country. The first option is out since the boat can't operate until the river is dredged . . . as for the others, as always it is clear in the morning . . .

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