By this Author: CariadJohn

Well, to be honest, day 3 was such a bad day I decided I wasn’t going to blog anymore! I just didn’t have the energy! A few days later and I’m beginning to realise it was more a case of my body doing it’s usual day 3 “what the hell are you doing to me??” Dance, combined with excessive heat, and you all know how much I love the heat! It cost me my last Camino!

So anyway, the last few days have become a bit of a blur so I am going to lump them all in together and try and make some sense of my disjointed pain fuelled memories.

On the Camino the highs are very high, and the lows very low. Day 2 had been a real high so I should have known what was coming next. I’m going to try and blank the day out if my mind, other than I did over 14 miles, and a lot of it was on a narrow boardwalk with no sign of the sea around a golf course. There were no cafes, no benches, no shade, no place to stop until the boardwalk broke infrequently, where I would gather with the group of English women suffering the same time, to lean over and pant to try to recover. I even had to resort to putting up my umbrella to get some shade. The path then split, and they went one way, while I went the lonely other way hoping to find some coast.

I eventually got to my hostel, which was in a tiny village called Fao, across the river from Esposende. I went out and had an omelette in a restaurant , but they mistook my plea for chips and I had crisps on top. I was in bed early, but it was a long noisy night without much sleep and aching legs. I had also realised I had totally cocked up the mileages. The address of the hostel I was staying in was Esposende but it was actually 2 miles out of Fao, so that added 2 miles onto the next day. Then I realised that I thought the next hostel was in Viana del Castelo but it was actually in Carreco, 4.5 miles away!

All of a sudden I was faced with 6.5 miles on top of an already 15 miles day.Stop this shit, I want to go home!

One mini melt down later and I had formulated a plan. I needed to find a way to get through this without completely blowing up, chucking in the towel or booking a plane ticket home.

I started earlier the next morning, easy to do after a night of no sleep, an upset stomach due to stress and a shared bathroom! I walked across the bridge into Esposende, and followed the Camino up a cobbledy hill (yuck). All of a sudden it was like being back on the Camino Frances, travelling through the backs of pretty, deserted villages on a Sunday. No cafes, no coffees.

I walked to a village called Belinho where I had decided to take a bus to Viana and then walk from there to Carreco. It was tricky to plan, but with a combination of Wise Pilgrim app, Rome to Rio app and Google maps I had a bus I could take. I just had to get there in the allocated time. Cue me bombing it away from the Camino onto a main road to wait for a bus I wasn’t sure would arrive! It may have been 5 minutes late, but I could have kissed the driver! 3 euros and 30 minutes later I was in Viana where a hunky Brazilian waiter talked me into resting and eating an omelette ( I like omelettes!) and drinking Coke Zero. I finished with churros and all was well with the world.

I hit the trail and the 4.5 miles to Horácio in Carreco. Another case of highs and lows, Horacio’s hostel was the high point so far. He welcomed me into his home with chilled mountain water and home made quince jam and crackers. He only has two bedrooms to rent, so you can imagine my surprise when he mentioned the other pilgrim arriving was a Latvian man. Yes, the Camino provides! It was lovely Girts who I’d had a drink with on Day 2. It was so love.y to see him again, and we met with big hugs! You make fast friends on the Camino! Horácio ordered food in from a restaurant for us, and we ate together and had great conversation, before I went to bed and slept for 9.5 hours!

I only had 5 miles to do today, or so I thought, so I left at 10, after breakfast with Horácio. Gifts is flying and covering big distances so he left early. I headed towards the sea, but then lost the coastal path, ending up inland, getting hopelessly lost in a small village with huge grey walls. Then I got lost in a forest and was rescued by a hunky farmer, so it wasn’t all bad! Once I found the sea again I was happy, especially as there was a little cafe and a beautiful beach.

I took an hour on the beach to relax and sun bathe after a snack at the cafe. The beach was amazing, with only me on it. I then had to sort out my foot after sand had got behind my Compeed plaster! Ouch, but never mind, I was on my way again. I found a distinct lack of arrows today, and ended up trucking the last bit with my rucksack over a beach which was hard bloody work, especially when I realised I had to cross a big river that ran onto the beach! I had to detour over the bridge to get to the town, and then called into the Tourist Information place to get my pilgrim stamp and find my hotel, as obviously my phone had died!

I climbed the thousand marble steps to my room, to collapse, but only when au’d showered, washed my clothes, hung them out of the window and put my kit to recharge. I needed to recharge also, so headed back down the 1000 steps to get pizza a few doors away, luckily the pizza was amazing, and so is this town, my favourite one yet, with a stunning picture perfect beach.

General photo dump of last 3 days pics.

Wow, wow, wow! Just where to even start! Oh and I apologise in advance for the number of beach photos today.No, actually, I don’t apologise!I could have taken many many more!

Anyway, I did manage to sleep, and was away at 7.45am, with it only talking 40 minutes to get out the door. I’m getting faster!

The route out of Matosinhos was like the way out of any other urban sprawl, including 40 steps up over a bridge, which my knee didn’t like at all. After 1.5 miles I was back at the coast and the fun begun.

Now I must admit I had started to worry about today. I was knackered after yesterdays 8 miles, so doing nearly double didn’t fill me with joy.so, I decided to change some things. I wanted to enjoy it, so decided to focus on the journey, and not the destination. I decided to stop every 3 miles, so roughly every hour, and get some drink/food. This worked well. I had my Lidl’s breakfast at mile 3 on a bench with an incredible view.this was followed by a Coke on a sofa at a bar with another fab view. This was followed by the worst meal I’ve had here. I stopped at a beach restaurant and was made to feel really unwelcome. I took a seat at a table for 2 in the front row unde an umbrella, and was immediately moved to the back row as they were “reserved”. No one filled them in the time I was there! I looked at the menu and order red a toasty and coke, and was gutted at! The guy then took the plate and cutlery away from in front of me and put it at another table. When my toasty cam it was on the worst chipped plate I had ever seen, and had a giant hair on it! I was glad to leave!

The cafes/restaurants seem very different to the ones on the Camino Frances where the little villages seem to rely on the pilgrim trade. Today I felt unwelcome,especially when I was moved again in another bar, from under an umbrella, onto a table on the road.

But, anyway, back to happpier things! The scenery today has been spectacular! The Portuguese know how to maintain their coastline and make it accessible for all. The boardwalks they have put in place are awesome, and well maintained for the main part. They were busy with pilgrims, cyclists, walkers, joggers, dog walkers, whilst providing so many different beach access points with hundreds of benches and bins. They even had information boards every so often telling you any relevant history (shipwrecks etc) and also all about the biodiversity. I also saw 3 different groups of people doing beach cleans. Big up to the Portuguese, we could learn a lot!

There was only one point today where the boardwalk had broken, and we had to walk a short distance across a beach, which was hard going. The boardwalk that followed this was covered by sand, so it took a fair bit of trudging in the hot sun. At one point my heart rate went up to 170!

I had promised myself a sea dip today at one of the smaller beaches, as these are spectacular and mulch emptier than the bigger beaches at the bigger resorts. The time seemed perfect after my sandy trudge, so I headed onto the beach as soon as the boardwalk came close. I had stopped to talk to two lovely ladies who had stopped to empty the sand out of their socks after the trudging and told them my plans. As I got onto the beach they shouted down that they were taking my photo! I wonder if I will ever see it, but what a lovely things to do!

Once I was onto the beach I took my T shirt off (wearing a biking top as a bra) and stripped down to my matching knickers! It was so good to get into the cold sea, and I am sure I will look back on this hour as a high spot. I was totally in my happy place and wanted to hold onto that moment forever.sun shining, waves crashing, empty beach, 12.5 miles done. Happy happy times!

I met some fabulous people today too.I walked alone most of the time today, which suited me as I planned on frequent breaks, but got talking to a guy on a bench! Once we established we were both Welsh Evans’ that was it, instant best friends. I walked with Richard again later on for a short while, and had a lovely chat. I also met two Venezuelan brothers who were walking with a family group of 11, and their 88 year old Dad, who was walking some and bussing some. I had my final rest stop with Girts from Latvia, who has a fabulous sense of humour. He had more miles left than me to do so he is well ahead now, but I’m glad I met him. Checking into my hotel I got talking to a British couple and an Australian couple who are doing the Camino. So good to have these interactions.

So I am now finally in my hotel room in Vila do Conde, 14.77 miles later.I’ve showered and washed my clothes, and I’m now chilling till I decide what I want to eat. It’s fiesta time in this town, so goodness knows if I’ll get any sleep tonight! I have bad experiences with fiestas on the Camino.send me sleepy vibes!

Where to start? How about with the total lack of bloody sleep last night! Yep, even though I was totally exhausted on the plane and couldn’t keep my eyes open this did not translate into a good night’s sleep at all. I tossed and turned and saw every hour. Not good with my first walking day creeping closer ever minute.

My alarm had been set for 7am, but of course, sleep arrived finally at about 6.50am so I turned the alarm off and dozed. There was no rush today as I didn’t have so far to go.

I left the hotel and found my way to the cathedral. Porto is hilly! When I got to the cathedral I got talking to a young girl from the Czech Republic called Theresa who was starting her first Camino. As we got our pilgrim passport from the cathedral we met another girl from Slovakia, Ve. We all went to a cafe just outside the cathedral and had a lovely chat and a drink, whilst Ve tried her first Portuguese tart.

We decided to walk together and stumbled across the steps going down to the river I had read about. They were fabulous, with some incredible old buildings, but boy, were they tough on my dodgy left knee! There must have been over 100 of them, and I ended up going down some of them like a toddler!

I was only too glad to get to the River Douro, which was bustling with people walking the prom, and boats. The walking is technically easy from there; just keep the river on your left till you hit the sea. Ve decided to stay in that area so Theresa and I carried on, she was very excited to see the ocean for the first time.

After some narrow suspended walk ways we reached the ocean and continued on our way. The sun was blazing down, and it was good to see sandy beaches. I had decided to spend my first night in a seaside town called Matosinhos, which has a huge beach with a cruise terminal and docks at the far end, but I much preferred the smaller coves and beaches before there. There were some fabulous little cafes and beach clubs calling out for me to stop and relax under a parasol or on a bean bag on the sand, but I had to keep going, as my knee was starting to ache!

I had noticed my knee twinging a bit going down stairs in the house but not really thought much of it. I had approached my training for this like I approach life…. Very all or nothing! My training consisted of a week of walking big mileage every day, and totally nothing else! Not to be recommended, but entirely typical and shortsighted of me!

I eventually stopped for a much needed drink and bathroom stop at a restaurant on the beach while Theresa carried on. I’ve no idea if any of us will meet again, which is typical of Camino life. My fresh lemonade and Nutella crepes with mango ice cream was exactly what I needed and I was able to relax under a sun umbrella for a while.

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My only problem was I couldn’t book into my hostel until 3pm so had an hour to waste. I had planned on having a little sea swim but the weather had clouded over so I just sat on the beach and chilled.
I checked into my hostel at 3pm which is fab! I can totally recommend Fishtails Seahouse in Matosinhos. It’s spotlessly clean and smells lovely, a few blocks back from the sea. I booked a deluxe suite and have a fabulous bathroom, lovely bed linens and towels and a little fridge! I was so exhausted I quickly washed my clothes, had a shower and star fished on the bed naked! TMI I know, but this will become relevant later!! Ooh, now you are intrigued!

I was starting to feel hungry so dressed ( in my one and only dress!) and went out for food. I had decided on a Portuguese specialty, grilled sardines, and walked down to the port area where I knew there was a restaurant open at the early hour of 6pm. I sat in a little local’s restaurant where the washing hung from upper floors and a shark hung outside, and ordered fries and sardines.The sardines were excellent l the chips not! The only problem I find with sardines is that they are tasty but don’t actually fill you! And that, Your Honour, is why I went to Lidl’s and bought a donut. Case closed!

I got back to the hostel from Lidls and sorted my shopping out. Luckily I was fully dressed this time and not naked star fishing as suddenly I heard a key in my locked door and an old Portuguese man appeared in my room, insisting it was his room! Of course he spoke no English and I spoke no Portuguese, but luckily it managed to get sorted with apologies ( I think) from him and the young man who had given him the wrong key! Disaster averted and no more nakedness from me!

So my first day is over and I must admit I am more tired (aka exhausted!) than I thought considering the mileage. In fairness it was always going to be a shock to the system, plus I carried my full pack for the first time, plus a lack of sleep, but I must admit I am a bit apprehensive about tomorrow as it’s maybe double the mileage! Please let me sleep tonight! Send me good vibes a new left knee!

So here I go again. A restless night, a 6 am alarm and a journey consisting of a car, bus, plane, metro and walk eventually sees me in my hotel room in Porto contemplating Life and it’s Big Questions. The Big Question right now is Why? Not Why Are We Here in the eternal existential question, but rather Why Am I Here?? Why on earth did I think this was a good idea, again! There was no sense of excitement this morning, rather a sense of apprehension, with a sprinkling of doom, dusted off with a few tears. I’m sure I’ll feel better when I’m on the move tomorrow. Cities are always so impersonal. I played Spot the Pilgrim in the airport and on the Metro but no luck. Meeting fabulous people was such a huge part of my last Camino but I have to accept it may not be the same this time. The Camino may give me what I need, not what I want! The Camino gods are already playing games with me by declining my card in the pizza restaurant! Damn you Camino gods! (Obviously nothing to do with me putting the wrong PIN number in twice! Ahem!)!My card is now blocked which is not good, although luckily I have a spare bank card for a different account with the same bank that I can transfer between. It just all makes things more complicated than it needs to be, and I’m all about the simple life!

Oh, and as for the big number? The answer is not 42 ( those who know, know!), but it is in fact 6.7. 6.7kg to be precise! This is the weight of my rucksack, including my hiking poles, as measured on the airport baggage scales. I’m quite impressed with that. I was wearing my fleece, T shirt, shorts and trainers, ( I was the one in the airport looking like an overgrown Boy Scout, instead of wafting in a summer dress!) and am carrying another 2 t shirts and a pair of capri leggings, with a silk dress and raincoat. That’s it apart from a bikini and undies and socks. I’ve got a lightweight umbrella , hopefully for the sun rather than the rain, an iPad mini for blogging, chargers, electrolytes, a lightweight nylon rucksack and lightweight crossbody bag for non rucksack times. A pair of Crocs sandals are my only other shoes ( stop sniggering, they are fab!). I think that’s it, other than toiletries and a water bottle, plus a silk sleeping bag liner. My secret weapon is my trusty sarong that works as a towel, sheet, shawl, cover up and privacy curtain. Everything is in coloured dry bags so I can grab what I need easily when I need to.

So that’s it for today. I’m now laying on my hotel bed making the most of my huge bed, as I suspect this will be a rarity. I’m certainly not expecting to get a huge balcony with incredible views again anytime soon. A girl can dream! I’ve washed my clothes in the sink and put them to dry, now I’m off to finish my gin before getting my head down for tomorrow!

So someone once mentioned I might like to try this weird thing called training before I started my Camino! I thought about if for a long long time, then I googled it, then I thought, yeah maybe I should give it a go! So, yesterday I went on my first training walk. Not bad considering I leave in 24 days. Call it stupidity, being obstinate, or just plain lazy, but at least no one can accuse me of being over prepared!

So yesterday all the stars were in alignment (in other words it wasn’t raining) and I was ready to go. The plan was simple, get some miles under my belt and try out my hiking gear, as I’m planning a change this time.

All started off according to plan. I left at 8am wearing my thin running jacket, a thin long sleeved top and a merino wool t shirt with running leggings and my Altra trail runners I used for my last Camino. I stopped at just over a mile, to pull my jacket off and tie it around my waist. I stopped after another half mile and took my long sleeved top off and tied that around my waist. I now looked as wide as I did tall and flapped my way onto further miles. Lesson learnt, I should remember less is more for me when I walk. But, I’m also the type that likes to be prepared for everything, hence why I had 3 layers in case I was cold, a rain jacket in case it was wet, and a Tilly hat in case my hair got wet, plus a buff in case any wind blew my hair into my eyes. Hang on, what did I say about not being over prepared??

So, the miles got done, with me listening to podcasts whilst my monkey brain chattered away. The plan was to meet my husband at the end of the walk to go for brunch, and this involved a change of clothes, which I had packed ready in a bag for him to bring. I had to rethink my clothing plans as I walked, as I was already melting, and the jeans, long sleeved top and trainers were not going to cut it. I sent some frantic what’s app messages requesting my Dr Marten sandals, a specific black and white dress, my leather jacket and wet wipes with deodorant.

The miles ticked by, with me walking on suburban roads, across road bridges, under an underpass, next to a dual carriageway, next to a canal, next to a dock and through a marina. I met Lyn at mile 8 and paused my watch and got changed in the car. Something obviously got lost in translation as I received my jeans, trainers, long sleeved top, dress, leather jacket plus denim jacket and 2 pairs of Dr Marten sandals. No wet wipes or deodorant though. I would look the part of a lady what brunches, but maybe not smell the part!

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I did a little change in the front of the car, (freezing mid way taking my sweaty sports bra off under my t shirt when a car pulled in right next to us) then it was time to restart the watch,and walk the rest of the way to the restaurant, right on the Swansea Bay seafront.

Brunch didn’t disappoint, but I guess no food or drink would disappoint after 9 miles! My toasted sourdough bacon sandwich with an iced Americano slipped down nicely. I then ended up doing circuits of Sainsbury’s with a severe case of Garminitis to stop my watch at exactly 10 miles.

So that’s it! Training completed! If only! It’s all very well doing it yesterday and feeling that almost pleasurable sort of smug achey feeling you get when you know you’ve worked your body and it has responded well. It’s all very different when you expect your body to do it day after day after day, and instead of relaxing in your hot tub and having a lovely little nap on the sofa you have to check in somewhere, wash your clothes, get some food and reorganise your kit before trying to sleep in a dormitory with up to maybe 50 different snorers.

So, the intention was to get back out today, but it’s been raining. All day. And I’m still in my Oodie. And it’s Bank Holiday….. you get the drift? Tomorrow is another day. And another day closer to my Camino. And another day of rain. And you are not supposed to start a sentence with and, but I’ve done it three times now, so there you go.

I’ve been thinking a lot about safety too this time. It’s usually the first thing anyone says to me when they find out I am doing the Camino on my own, “will you feel safe??” Last time the issue of safety hadn’t really raised its ugly head before I went. I had read enough blogs, books, Facebook groups etc to get a sense of feeling that all would be fine on the way. Luckily that was the case. In the three weeks I was on the trail I never once felt afraid, nervous or scared (apart from the one time I was spooked by a tile mural of a saint at 5.30 am in the morning! I felt comfortable sharing mixed sex dormitories. I felt safe walking on my own in the pitch dark with just a head torch for company. I felt safe walking for 2 days in the mountains with a man I’d just met when we didn’t speak each others languages. I felt safe meeting a fellow male hiker for dinner and drinks. I felt safe swapping phone numbers.

This time, however, I’m noticing more and more issues being reported on the Facebook groups. I read one report of a woman who took up the offer of a lift in a car when she was exhausted, only for the man to pull his trousers down and make advances towards her. I also read many reports of a seemingly friendly old man in one town who offers women Camino help and then gropes their breasts and punches their nipples. This man has apparently been reported to the police many times over the last few years but still appears to be active.

The path I am taking this time will be much less crowded than the Camino Frances last year, and I have to reassure myself that as long as I take all reasonable precautions I will be safe. I have an app on my phone I share with my daughter that pinpoints my location at any time. I record all my walks on my Garmin watch that I live track with my husband. I have the Alert Cop app on my phone whereI can report incidents or call for help from the police on my Camino. Most importantly though, I have to trust in my gut feeling and intuition. It is tempting to believe in the “rainbows and unicorns” of the fairy tales of the Camino, but this is real life. I wouldn’t get into a car with a stranger in my day to day life and shouldn’t on the Camino. Friendly old men and lecherous old men can look identical. I like to believe in the best of people, but have to keep a little bit of my brain on constant alert for danger. I consider myself very fortunate last time that I did not experience anything untoward, but remind myself also that this is the reality of the vast majority of women on the Camino. Last time I felt an almost dizzy sense of freedom on the trail, and connections with wonderful people. I met no one who gave me any cause for concern. Please let my next journey be the same.