Category: Camino Portuges 2019
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Camino Portugues day 15: Porto to Vila do Conde (26,3km)
Today everything was perfect! The weather was cloudy. I saw the ocean and it felt great. Walking 20km today on wooden pathways felt like the beginning of something important. The road took us through some fishermen’s villages. The most important one can be seen in the picture. All the restaurants around served seafood, of course.…
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Camino Portugues day 14: Grijó to Porto (23,9km)
I reached Porto today!!! This city blew all my expectations. It’s amazingly beautiful, has so many stories to tell and feels like walking home. It would take two full days to really appreciate all it has to offer. Porto is also where a lot of pilgrims start their journey to Santiago. In 10min near the…
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Camino Portugues day 13: Oliveira de Azeméis to Grijó (26,6km)
Today was a strange day indeed. At some point, I felt like melting in the sun. The next moment, I met a pilgrim travelling south and they felt way worse than me. Felt good at least to offer help at a good shade to stop or in the closest café. Not much shade or places…
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Camino Portugues day 12: Águeda to Oliveira de Arazeméis (31,8km)
Rough has just begun to describe how today felt. When you mix up heat, no share & no wind – then you get the trifecta of a difficult day hiking. My approach of using winter socks to soften the steps started seriously backfiring. At 6am it was already +22°C outside and my feet kept overheating…
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Camino Portugues day 11: Sernadelo to Águeda (27,0km)
Got up and on the road before 6am today, because the weather report said +33°C. Today Portugal is celebrating having a religious holiday, so it took 12km walking to find the first open cafe. Had to make a stop every 4km thereafter because of the heat. The good thing is that my body has become…
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Camino Portugues day 10: Coimbra to Sernadelo (25,4km)
This is how pilgrims live. You check-in to a common living area with bunkbeds, wash your clothes every single evening & then eat like a horse. Together with cafe visits, a 25€/day budget will be fine. The day itself was the most dangerous one so far. I was forced to walk on narrow car roads…
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Camino Portugues day 9: Condeixa-a-Nova to Coimbra (16,1km)
A super short day today. Started powerwalking the first 12km. Then I realized that my feet were not ready to do +25km more. I had to wait a few hours before I got refuge in a monastery for tonight. Interesting experience for sure. Saint Isabelle in the picture is who the monastery is dedicated to.…
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Camino Portugues day 8: Ansiāo to Condeixa-a-Nova (31,3km)
Woke up in the morning and could hardly breathe. It was a cold midnight and the Albergue didn’t hold heat that well. In the first two villages, I sat down for a cup of tea. That made my walking progress super slow. The weather was also foggy this morning. The first time I didn’t have…
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Camino Portugues day 7: Caxarias to Ansião (29,0km)
I met familiar faces again! The three Australian ladies from day 2 and 3 were staying in the same village tonight. We went out for some Italian food to kill the extreme hunger that comes with hiking. Today went really well. I am so proud of myself for learning different techniques to bandage my toes. It…
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Camino Portugues day 6: Fátima to Caxarias (20,5km)
Waking up, I knew that this would be a rest day. My right foot was causing sharp pain in several places. I took a little extra care of it before leaving Fátima. The road ahead was moderately well marked. It became clear that for locals the main hike was now further away with each step.…
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Camino Portugues day 5: Amiais de Baixo to Fátima (30,3km)
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…
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Camino Portugues day 4: Santarem to Amiais de Baixo (28,6km)
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…
Camino Pilgrim 