Camino Pilgrim

I decided to go completely alone today.

Out of Santarem, two hiking trails lead north: Camino Portuguese & Caminho de Fátima. My guidebook said that the normal route would be completely flat and 10km on a busy highway with no place to hide from cars.
It was not hard to gamble and take the hiking trail I knew nothing about. Well… Google Maps knew.

For Portuguese people, the holiest city is Fátima. There are routes from all across the country leading to this destination. Camino Portuguese is something that most tourists do here (at least the part before Porto).

Somehow, in the past, Camino Portuguese used to follow this path, but then it was changed… no idea why.

I loved to have a constant elevation change for the whole day. Never a dull moment. Not even one! The scenery was so beautiful that I often had to stand there for a minute and just take in the view. I took lots of pictures, but they do no justice to what I saw with my eyes.

Now I understand why all the locals I met suggested taking a journey through Fátima. Most locals are super thrilled to see a foreigner walk this path in the middle of the week. Locals only walk it now and on weekends.

I must have done around 1200m elevation up and down today. Clouds and wind helped me to feel fresh at all times. Best day for a hard hike.

I can’t wait to hit the road again tomorrow. Smiling has never felt this easy.