The First Half of Our Camino Portugues: Porto to Baiona

After arriving in Porto Portugal from Morocco, we spent about 5 days seeing a bit of the city and doing the last of our preparations for walking the Camino Portugues starting in Porto.  We will be back in Porto after our walk so more about that city later.

What is the Camino?

 “Caminos” are traditional Catholic pilgrimage routes, the oldest routes being 1000 years old. There are dozens of “Caminos” starting all over Europe but they all end in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, which is the location of the remains of the Apostle St. James, according to Catholic tradition.  The most famous route is across the top of Spain, usually starting in France, just over the border from Spain.

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The route we chose starts actually starts on the southern coast of Portugal, below Lisbon, but we are joining the route in Porto, Portugal. We chose a variant that runs mostly along the Portuguese and Spanish coast, about 190 miles (309 km) to Santiago. The route is shown below, but we are making a small detour at Pontevedra.

Traditionally this route is broken into 11 stages, averaging around 18 miles per day.  We didn’t want to walk that far each day so Susie broke it into 21 stages, with some rest days built in.  We are currenting in Baiona, Spain and have completed 10 walking days, which is nearly half the planned walk.  The map below shows our stops (well, most of them. Google maps is finicky on what markers it displays when zooming out.

Some people hike with camping equipment. Some people carry pretty large packs or have their suitcases delivered to their next location each day. In contrast, we are traveling about as light as possible.  We each have a small (22 liter) backpack with just essentials:  a few toiletries and first aid things, one change of clothes, some sandals (nice as alternative to the hiking shoes we wear most of the time) and light jacket, a water bottle, a rain poncho and trekking poles.   

We congratulate the hearty souls who stay in the dormitory-style albergues for their Camino experience.  It is a cheaper alternative, and great place to meet other pilgrims. We chose to make reservations ahead of time in private hotels and guest houses. With lots of time and some extra money, we can have a more relaxing experience and sometimes quite picturesque like Casa Puertes hotel in Oia, Spain. And we don’t mind missing out on the snores, smells, and noise of sleeping in the same room with 10 other people.

A Typical Day:

Wake up, get some breakfast, slather on sunscreen and tape our blisters, pack up our stuff (not much stuff) and head out later in the morning. 

We check the map app from time to time but generally just follow the trail markers that look like these, or often just a painted yellow arrow on the ground or power pole:

Breaks to rest, snack, and enjoy the view.

After walking an average of 10 miles per day, we are pretty tired on arrival at the next stop in the afternoon, so we shower, put on the “fresh” set of clothes and rest a bit. Then hand wash and hang dry our sweaty clothes from that day then get some dinner in the evening.  Retire early, sleep soundly, then get up and repeat.   

We have our luggage moved ahead every 5-7 days in conjunction with a rest day, so we can trade out clothes and have access to our computers and get our hiking clothes cleaned in a laundramat.

Documenting the Pilgrimage

There are rubber stamps provided at tourist offices, lodgings, some churches and stores catering to pilgrims.  Peregrinos (pilgrims) like us get a Camino “passport” at the start of the trip and collect stamps as we go. There is a place in Santiago that issues certificates of completion for pilgrims who walk at least the last 100 km to Santiago, based on the stamps and dates collected along the way.  The suggestion is to collect at least two stamps a day especially for that last 100 km.  Our daughter Jenna’s eyes lit up when we told her about getting stamps for our passport. She might even be persuaded to hike in order to get them.

It is really freeing to have such a small amount of stuff, and just walk to a new place every day.  It is a simple daily goal with time to think, enjoy the scenery (which has been spectacular) or just focus on taking the next step.

We have taken hundreds of photos and short videos over the past 10 days, here is just a sampling:

And in case a bunch of photos isn’t enough for you, here is a 3 1/2 minute collection of short videos shot along the way

Next up is, well, the second half of the Camino!