April 26 2018 Coimbra-Mealhada-Águeda
I took off from Coimbra at 0730 with a clear blue sky. Carried on for 55 kilometers until I reached Águeda. All of the more economic hotel alternatives were sold out due to pilgrims on their way to Fátima so I had to settle for a four star business hotel that cost me 60 € with breakfast included.
April 27 Águeda-Albergaria A-Velha-São João de MadeiraA bit of a drizzle in the morning. A little more undulated terrain. Decent hostal in the center of São João de Madeira
April 28 Sāo Joāo de Madeira-Porto
Easy walking but very hard to find a room for the night. It ended with catching a cab and ask the driver to drive around asking for a bed att places that couldn’t be found on booking.com. At last found a guest house with one room left, in the basement. The room had a decent bed, a sink, and a bidé 🙂 Shared bathroom upstairs. But it only cost me 25 €. Holiday Inn would have charged me 160 € for a couple of hours sleep!
April 29 Porto-Vilhaurinho
Muddy and rainy. Vilhaurinho also gave me som trouble finding a bed but a restaurant owner called a friend that let rooms to strangers and she picked me up and charged me 15 € for the night.
April 30 Viljaurinho-Ponte de Lima
Night march after having taken a shower at a disgusting albergue with plastic pillows, plastic matresses, and no blankets and with a very unpleasant receptionist. On my way, in the third roadside bar, was a guy that made a real effort to help me find a room and he succeeded eventually and drove me to a shelter at 2300 🙂
May 1 Ponte de Lima-Rubaies-Tui
A really nice walking day. Many happy ramblers trudging on. Mainly Germans but also Japanese, Chinese, and Aussies! Fancy business hotel in the center of Tui. En fin vandringsdag. Många glada vandrare i farten. Mestadels tyskar men även japaner, kineser, australier! Flådigt affärshotell mitt i city Tui. Laundry of everything at a well equipped laundromat.
May 2 Tui-Redondela
Drizzle. Good shelter in Redondela. Brilliant management that made everything function smoothly, and clear, straightforward information.
May 3 Redondela-Pontevedra-Caldas de Reis
Met a funna American guy my age that was finishing a year travelling the world to tick off his bucket list. Spent the night at Balneario Acuna, a spa facility.
May 4 Caldas de Reis-Padrón-Santiago de Compostela
Met an equally funny Canadian fellow that had second thoughts about having let go of a much younger girl from Argentina the day before 🙂 Checked in at a business hotel near the train station where I had stayed once before.
May 5 Santiago de Compostela-Irún
A eleven hour train ride from Galicia, passing through or by Cantabria, Asturias, La Rioja, and País Vasco ending up in Irún in Navarra late in the evening. Yet another day when the accomodation was hard to find. I tried a shelter for a couple of hours but as I didn’t have a sleeping bag or a blanket it turned out to be too cold. So, I asked at a bar that earlier had told me that their rooms were sold out to point me in the direction of a hotel of a bit higher standard. The bar maid was going off duty and she walked with me to a hotel where I took min for two nights.
