Camino Pilgrim

I completed Caminho de Fátima! The day just kept throwing surprises at me.

The first big surprise was a mountain I met in the morning. Once I started hiking it straight up, I understood why Google Maps suggested I take a 3km longer option to the next village.

Next surprise was when I spontaneously threw up my breakfast a minute after stopping at the top of the mountain. It probably had something to do with the live cockroach I found later in my breakfast kit that I bought from the place I stayed yesterday…

The climb down the mountain was so heavy on my knees that I needed to rest for quite a while before it seemed OK to walk again. My feet are used to the road now, but my knees seem to be like soft-boiled spaghetti. For the fun of it, that is what I am having for dinner.

Going down the mountain, a tick jumped on my leg, but I was lucky enough to find that bloodsucker before anything happened.

The road to Fátima, after my knees started hurting, went extremely slowly. I was hoping that once I reached this mysterious city, I would understand why all the suffering today was worth it.

Why is Fátima so important? Apparently, three kids saw the Virgin Mary here 100 years ago. Mary told each of the kids the secrets of Fatima. They built a whole city out of nowhere here, centered around religion and tourism. It looks very nice and modern.

What I saw today was a massive parking lot filled with busses that transported thousands buses here. I think I saw three actual pilgrims within four hours. The rest were mostly Asian tourists. I even went to listen to a local religious gathering to find out that it was done in Mandarin for tourists.

Well.. then maybe as a pilgrim I can get some credentials for my journey on foot? or at least a cool stamp to say that I have visited the sanctum? Nope. Only once a month are pilgrims welcomed with open hands. It’s a huge thing, because whole villages of people all around Portugal walk here for this. Today was not that day.

Fátima is a beautiful place if you ignore all the tourism. It is definitely worth a visit.

Especially how gorgeous the sanctum tower looks with nightlights. I do not regret for a second choosing this route. The locals were right, this is the right way to go.
Now I need to figure out what route to take in the morning to get back to Camino Portuguese. I have 2 options – 30km+34km days with cool landscapes and fall behind 1 day or have 20km+28km days on car roads. I will make my decision based on how the knees feel in the morning.