Camino Portuguese – Day 3

My diary of walking c154km of the Camino de Santiago (Portuguese Way). You can find out more about the Camino Portuguese here.

The second day of walking would see us walk from O Porrino to Redondela.

We knew Redondela would be busy as that is where the Coastal Route meets the Central Route (the one we were following) so the number of pilgrims increases quite dramatically. Before we set off we’d booked accommodation in a hostel (private room again) but choice was limited and we kind of had to take what we could. This would be interesting later in the day…..

Another early alarm followed by a good breakfast provided by the Albergue and we were off and walking by 0730hrs. The first hour or so was a bit of a slog through the outskirts of O Porrino but there was a Lidl en route so we could stock up with snacks etc. Except it didn’t open until 0930! Never mind, onwards.

We soon turned into the woods and it was a pleasant morning’s walk. We passed through the very pretty village of Mos and were on track for an early lunch at the Cafe Viega in Fraela. A lack of signs saw us doubling back to find the cafe but we got there in the end. Yet another massive sandwich (delicious bread) and a Kas Limon saw us right for the next few hours. A pleasant couple of hours walking through some tiny hamlets all of a sudden saw us presented with a very steep descent. It wasn’t long but hell, it was very steep. At the bottom it was a bit of a slog alongside the main road into Redondela.

First stop – a bar! Habits form quick. Just up the road was a computer shop so the right charging lead was procured which meant photos from this point forward! Then the fun began…

We’d booked into a hostel in town and once we’d climbed a steep hill we arrived in what can only be described as the seedy end of town. The address was a type of warehouse with a disco in the basement, a gym on the first floor and the accommodation on the top floor. No lift so we slogged up a load of stair to find a hand written note with a mobile number on it.

A look passed between us and it was immediately obvious we were thinking the same thing – no f**king way are we staying here! You’ve seen the film Hostel? Something just felt off about the whole thing so back on the phone to find alternate accommodation. As luck would have it, an albergue in town had a private room for 2 so that was promptly booked and off we trudged down the steep hill into town to the new accommodation. Or so we thought…

We were early to check in to the albergue (which by the way, was one of the most expensive rooms we had on the whole trip) and ended up chatting to Alberto from Puerto Rico who was also waiting to check in. Good job we befriended Alberto as his Spanish would be needed very soon! Long story short – the albergue had overbooked but they could offer us ‘a house’ out on the river coast about 1km away. The German couple wanted the albergue so we took ‘the house’. The owner drove us out to ‘the house’ which was actually more like 3km away in Cesantes.

We ended up in a twin room with shared bathroom and the most odd arrangement for eating/breakfast. The lower ground floor overlooked the river and had a room for ‘relaxation’ with a large record collection and a ‘kitchen’ that we could use, except everything was covered in a layer of dust and grime, it was grim. The owner promised us breakfast would be laid up in the morning.

There was nothing locally apart from a small supermarket so bread, cheese, crisps and tins of beer it was whilst sat on the deck overlooking the river. It could have been a lot worse. The beds were comfortable and clean, the bathroom was adequate but the deck was a nice place to sit in the evening.

Given the issues with the accommodation and the fact that the route was now busier we also decided to pre-book all our accommodation for the rest of the week, just to be on the safe side. Our phone data took a right hammering!

All told, another 23km walked today and just under 32k steps.