Camino Portuguese Day 5: Rabaçal to Coimbra 32.4km

 Camino Portuguese Day 5: Rabaçal to Coimbra allegedly 28km actually 32.4km

Well today was another great day but boy was it tough! On paper it shouldn’t have been as hard as it was, but the reality was very different.

The problem for me was I didn’t get any sleep last night in the Albergue. Whilst I had earplugs etc to cope with the snorers, because we had been given the very last beds, which were top bunks, and because the room was quite small but crowded with some 10 or so beds, it was just unbearably hot for me. So I really didn’t sleep at all. And everyone gets up at 5:30am and noisily gets ready for the day.

We set off then very early, sans breakfast, with the intent of getting it in the first town. That turned out to be 11kms and 3 hours away! However at about the 6km mark, just outside of Fonte Corbeta, we came across a “self-service” rest stop. Basically 2 pilgrims had set up a tea, coffee and biscuits station, and you just gave a little donation. Their whole property was very interesting - their residence is a caravan; they have some tents set up for pilgrims if they need; they’ve built their own chapel for pilgrims to pray for peace; and the yard is covered in Camino de Santiago bric a brac. We had a cuppa there and as we were leaving, the guy came over and then read us today’s daily blessing. He then said he would walk with us for a bit through the town (barefoot, mind you!) and as he did, he told us a bit about it including explaining some of the home altars that some houses had in front; he introduced us to a guy making wine from his own grapes; and he basically gave us a mini sermon. Russell described him as a Catholic mystic.

He continued to walk with us a short way out of the village, and then he asked if he could give us a blessing, which we agreed. Next minute he was on the ground, holding my feet and praying a blessing over them, kissed them, and then did the same for Russell. Then he sang us the Hymn of the Angel of Portugal. Russell gave him the traditional blessing (The Lord bless you and keep you) and then we were on our way. It was all actually quite special.

We eventually made it to Conimbriga, where we had a lovely brunch at a restaurant at the top of the hill. There we met a pilgrim from Ireland, Kevin, as well as a German couple (who we actually had seen at our albergue) who were travelling with their newborn son! They took it in turns to wear him swaddled whilst the other one pushed the pram. Wow. Tough gig.

The rest of the walk was quite uneventful - forest walking giving way eventually to more industrial landscape as we approached Coimbra. This last part of the journey took forever! The killer was, once we arrived in Coimbra, we still had some 4kms to get to our accommodation, including a lengthy and challenging trek through the botanic gardens. Suffice to say we were very glad to finally arrive.

Had an amazing dinner at the restaurant next door, and now we are completely had it..!

Camino Portuguese Day 4: Alvaiázere to Ribaçal 33kms

Bom caminho! Today we were supposed to walk 31kms but my wikiloc says I did more than 33kms so I’m taking that!

We set off a little later than expected and looked for breakfast, which proved to be quite difficult in the small town of Alvaiázere on a Sunday morning! We did eventually find a bakery open but this meant we left later than expected.

Eventually we set off and it was not long before we ran into our first pilgrims - the German girl we met yesterday and a NZ lady from Auckland. We walked with them for several hours and enjoyed chatting and spending the time. The German girl was a marine biologist from the north of Germany and the NZ lady was a principal from Auckland. We also encountered some cyclists from Scotland and Canberra as well as a lady from Portland Oregon.

The route today was very pleasant. We walked through lots of enjoyable forest trails and enjoyed the more leisurely pace as we chatted with our companions. Arrived a bit later than we had hoped to Ansião and when we realised we still had some 20kms to cover to get to our albergue in Ribaçal, we decided to email ahead and let them know we would be a little late. "No problem", was the reply, so after a quick snack, we left the two girls and really put the pedal to the metal.

It was tough going but we really enjoyed the walk. When we arrived at our accomodation in Ribaçal - Hostel Bonito - it was quite late - coming on for 7pm easily - and the check in counter was part of a small restaurant which was heaving with pilgrims enjoying their dinner. In fact, we weren't really sure we were in the right place, but a pilgrim at a table waved to us as we looked in the window from outside, so we headed in and waited at the counter - the same line people were lining up at to order their food. When we asked to check in, the lady told us that the Albergue was absolutely, unequivocally, full. “But we have a reservation”, we protested. We told her that we had emailed ahead and had been assured that we had our private room that we had booked. Alas, no. That was apparently the manager (so you'd think they would be right) but turns out the manager hadn't told anyone else. When we didn't show they obviously gave our reservation away to another couple (turns out it was a couple travelling with a baby who we ran into again several other times on the trail). But there was absolutely no other albergue in Ribaçal, and the next town is at least another 10kms away. 

I guess they took pity on us, and we ended up getting the last 2 beds - bunk beds in a dormitory - which we were a little dubious about as it is quite noisy, but there it is. Russell was absolutely horrified. The last 2 bunk beds were in a rather large dormitory as it turned out, and they were both top bunks. Russell struggled to clamber up into his bed, and all the storage space in the room was pretty much taken by other pilgrims, so it was a bit of a palaver to even know where to keep our gear. As for showering - well, he couldn't handle the unisex showers, where there was barely any room to hang your gear, let alone actually have enough breathing room to take a decent shower. He opted for the separate disabled shower instead. I sorted out what I could and had my shower, desperate to get cleaned up so we could quickly get some food - I was famished!

Once we were showered, we dumped our gear back in the dormitory and got chatting to a lady from Denmark - the lady on the bottom bunk to me. Ended up having a very enjoyable dinner with her, before heading to bed far too late for everyone else in our dorm, who had packed it in and were asleep when we arrived back. I expect they will be getting up at stupid o'clock tomorrow...

Given we had another 30km day ahead of us tomorrow, I gave up the idea of editing my daily video and crashed...

Camino Portuguese Day 3: Tomar to Alvaiázere 31.7km

Well today was our first big day of this Camino and apparently the biggest we will do thank goodness. The book says it’s 31.7km but my GPS tracker said I did 33.65km so I’m going with that!

Other pilgrims from our albergue got going quite early, which isn’t that unusual, but we didn’t really fancy setting off in the dark or without breakfast. I was a bit concerned when, at breakfast, Russell informed me that  the guide book suggested 9-11.5 hrs for today, and then showed me the profile - you guessed it - up! The book also ranked today with the highest level of difficulty!

We met a couple of German girls at breakfast who told us they were only going 12 kms, and I wondered if perhaps they knew something we didn’t? Hm. 

Nonetheless we set off and very soon we found ourselves on a pretty trail alongside the Nabão river. Immediately I was in my happy place!

It wasn’t too long though before we were going up! We saw a couple of pilgrims on the way - an Irish (we think) guy who was motoring at such a pace! and a French lady. We were leapfrogged a couple of times by the Germans but then soon settled into our pace.

Our first stop was a town called Soianda, about 8kms in, for basically a comfort stop. It wasn’t that “comfortable though. The only place open was a rough looking bar which had 4 blokes inside well into their drinking at 10am. But it was a necessary stop.

We then continued a steady climb through the various other towns which had a steady mix of cute properties and then dilapidated structures. It was all very interesting though.

The route took us through some eucalyptus forest as well, which was a nice reminder of home. On some of the ridges we got some nice views into the valley. 

Many of the towns were closed up for the day so we weren’t sure where we would be able to stop for lunch - the guide book advised of a servo at about the 23km mark and we had decided we would stop there. This turned out to be fortuitous because opposite the servo was a restaurant (not mentioned in the book!) and we enjoyed a wonderful “menu del dia” - in fact it was so much food that we skipped the dessert! 

The final part of the walk was really very pleasant. Although a steady climb, we enjoyed the scenery and just being out on the Camino. 

It’s been a long but rewarding day and it will be more the same tomorrow, but we are loving our journey. 

#randkepicadventure2024 #caminoportuguese

Camino Portuguese Day 2: Tomar

 Camino Portuguese Day 2: Tomar

Today we had a rest day in Tomar so we could explore all that the town had to offer. The town was founded in 1160 by Gualdim Pais, a famous Portuguese crusader and grand master of the Knights Templar.

He founded the city inside the walls of the Convento de Cristo, so naturally we spent quite a lot of time exploring this UNESCO world heritage site. The castle was integral in the defence against the invasion of the Moors. 

Before we arrived there though, we had a few errands to run, and then we voted the Church de Santa Maria do Olival, a beautiful church which also houses the tombstone of Gualdim Pais. 

Then we explored the old town, including the beautiful town square, before we climbed the hill up to the Convento de Cristo. We were greeted at the top of our climb by a man dressed as a Templar Knight, who told us a bit about the site. We visited the gardens surrounding the castle which were very beautiful, and then made our way to the castle. 

Inside the castle we particularly marvelled at the church, which was modelled in the style of the church of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem).

It was  absolutely stunning - literally breathtaking. We spent such a long time here exploring the entire site - not just because of its beauty but also because the signs for the exit were extremely confusing (more on that later!)

When we arrived we heard strains of “Ave Maria” and thought we were in for a beautiful concert (especially as there was a sign displayed indicating such, and we saw a woman with a keyboard singing a few strains). However it turned out to be some sort of hippy, earthy sort of spiritual thing - we were in one of the rooms admiring the architecture when suddenly the performer we had seen “warming up” wandered past with a glass urn that she was “ringing” and a pile of followers processing through the venue, barefoot, in some sort of “earth mother” worshipful trance. Very odd. It did add to the ambiance of the site though. The chapel decoration was one of the most intricate, and beautiful, that I have ever seen. This was without doubt my favourite part of the whole castle. 

When it came time to leave though, the signs were very confusing - they had changed the route and we kept going round in circles! So, we tagged on to the hippy chick and her band of groupies and followed them til we could figure out how to get out - as usual through the gift shop!

We’ve had a brilliant day here and are excited to continue our Camino journey tomorrow!

#randkepicadventure2024 #caminoportuguese

Camino Portuguese - packing lessons learned after only one day!

 So I’m writing this post as a reminder to myself for future caminos and long haul hikes. Packing. It’s the bane of my Camino existence.

You read all the packing lists and watch the YouTube videos of what other people pack, and you think - no, I don’t need that much stuff. I mean, the general advice is to not carry more than 10% of your body weight, right? Well, given I’m a lot heavier than I had hoped to be, that gives me a bit more wiggle room, but still, I weighed every single item that I packed and still haven’t managed to stick to those guidelines! And now, on day 2 of the Camino, sitting in my room waiting to begin my day, I realise all the things that were on the list that I decided I wouldn’t need, and now do. It’s a proper mess and such a mind game. Like it cannot be underestimated just how hard it is to pack for a long haul trip in autumn / winter in Europe whilst one is sweltering on an unusually hot, allegedly Spring day in Australia. Fleece? No, I won’t need that, my lightweight down jacket will do. WRONG! Light merino thermal? But the temperatures are in the 20s in the day. I won’t need that, I’ve got a superlight zip up running jacket, and my down. Again wrong!! 

Here’s the epiphanies I’ve had this morning about the items I didn’t bring, and now will need to try and find here in Tomar, in the middle of nowhere’s ville in Portugal.

Light merino long thermals - top and bottom. Why? Because when it rains I can’t walk in waterproof pants, they’re too hot. So I need to walk in shorts and long thermals. The thermals will keep your legs warm whilst wet and will dry quickly. That’s why.

Light fleece / merino top. Why? Because it gets chilly in the evenings but not enough yet for a down jacket. And because when it rains you can hike in one under your rain jacket and not be too cold, nor feel condensation on your skin in the jacket thus making you feel like the jacket isn’t stopping the rain. That’s why.

I’m sure I’ll think of others as the day goes on and we try to find these things in Tomar, probably for an exhorbitant price… and when I do, I’ll add them to this list so I don’t make the same damn mistakes next time!

Camino Portuguese Day 1: Lisbon to Póvoa de Santa Iria

Camino Portuguese Day 1

Lisbon - Póvoa de Santa Iria 21.42km; train to Tomar 120km

Finally D-day has arrived and we have set off on our Camino!  Our journey was not without a little drama (I mean, have you met me?! 🤣) - we had no sooner set off for Lisbon Cathedral (our starting point), stopping off for breakfast at a cafe near the cathedral, when I discovered I had left my AirPods at the hotel. Oops! 

So I had to back track (whilst Russell took one for the team and had an extra coffee and croissant and minded the packs!). This set us back a good 40 minutes or so but at least I realised it before we had gone too far down the track. And in my defence, I had gotten the ear buds out so as to listen to some music on the route but they had become obscured by the pillow so I didn’t see them when I checked. Lesson learned!

The first part of the walk was gruelling. The feet really take a pounding on the cobblestones which are just unrelenting! We were walking around the back streets of Lisbon and whilst it was lovely to see the houses and the tiled decorations, it was really nice when we finally got a glimpse of the River Tagus, as we approached the Aquarium. This also afforded us our first proper glimpse of the Vasco Da Gama bridge - the longest bridge on continental Europe at 12.3km (so glad we didn’t have to walk over that!).

The route then followed the Tagus river but we were still on concrete and cobblestones. Finally we reached the new boardwalk section, which was much kinder on the feet, but was in full sun for long periods with the exception of periodic slatted coverings (some of which are set up as bird hides- much to Russell’s delight - the wealth of birdlife in this section was astonishing). We saw pink flamingoes!!!🦩

Eventually we arrived at Póvoa de Santa Iria, which would normally be a good rest stop. However, because a certain someone decided to work until the end of term, we needed to cut some distance down as we are on a deadline to be in Porto to walk the Camino with family and friends. No problem - the next few days are all walking along highways (some of which are known to be dangerous for pilgrims) and industrial areas, so we made the decision to jump to light speed and catch the train to Tomar! 

We will actually have a day of sightseeing there as it has a lot of Knights Templar history - we had always planned a rest day in Tomar so why should it matter if it’s only after day 1 🤣🤣!!

Bom caminho!!