Camino de Santiago - Portuguese Way

Why walk the Camino de Santiago? Our answer was "why not?", but for many people this is a religious pilgrimage equal to the haj to Mecca, for others it's a spiritual journey of discovery, made solo, but not alone. (It's almost impossible to be completely alone on the Camino, especially in the last 100kms.) We went, not really looking for anything, but a few us found unexpected things. We found challenge, friendship and humour, plus a few other surprises.

Stop sign graffiti along the Camino
Photo by Rick Johnson

What you need to walk the Camino Portuguese: not a lot and that's the truth. We opted out of the multi bunk albergues, so we didn't need sleeping bags or liners. Honestly, you need basically two of everything: two shirts, two pairs of hiking pants, two sets of socks (I'm a double socker, so that means four socks - more on that later), two pairs of shoes (your hiking boots and flip flops/other comfy shoes - this is an argument for three pairs) three pairs of underwear (one to wear, one to dry and a back up), rain gear, warm gear (sweater, sweatshirt, gloves, toque) and sun hat. Don't forget your jammies. Add to this your medical kit, toiletries, tech requirements, camelback or water bottles, possibly walking poles and sun screen and bug spray and you should be good to go A guide book or app, might be the thing, too.

Note the English sign...in Spain
Photo by Rick Johnson

This was the impetus of our entire trip. Our friends, Susan and Rick, invited us to do the Camino with them, I think on a whim. We were some of the only friends that met Susan's 5 criteria: financial capability, available time, compatibility, interest and physical ability. (I'm pretty sure I'm paraphrasing there, and might have some of them wrong, but I'm hoping it's close enough.)

The Fellowship of the Camino

It was a bit ironic, as we'd been looking at the Camino and decided that if we ever did it, we'd want to do the Portuguese Way starting in Porto (Oporto). There are many routes with different distances, experiences and terrain. This is exactly what Rick and Susan proposed, so how could we say "no"? From that point, we figured out the entire balance of our trip. It's not like we could just go over for a couple of weeks, right?

We gave ourselves 16 days to walk the 234kms from Porto to Santiago. This allowed for a couple "recovery" days if anyone in our party got sick or injured. You'll hear a lot about what you need to qualify for your Compostela (certificate of completion), but there are hundreds of people at the office everyday, so most of what you'll hear is bull pucky. We wound up taking one sick day and finished up in 13 days completing 234kms.

We planned our route to try and keep it to around 16kms (10 miles) per day, but sometimes, we just had to do more, as there was no where to stop. Our longest day was over 22kms, but even then, that's only half a day, you can really do more, if you're short of time and physically able.

Wall of Remembrance

Fellow Pilgrim leading the way

I'll be honest, some days were hard. The path isn't always well marked, or there are diversions. You get obsessed with yellow arrows and shells. You need to be ready for extreme weather (we had NO rain the whole time, just a half hour of drizzle, that didn't require our rain gear), Some sections are challenging - rock scrambling, busy streets and tenuous footing. My body, though used to walking daily, occasionally took exception to what I was demanding of it. My feet were tired by the end of the 4-5 hours, sometimes my knees ached and no matter how conscientious we were, I was dehydrated a few times. The Camino is much more a mental challenge than a physical one, even though you can't discount the physical requirements. 

What was amazing was seeing the landscapes of small towns, countryside and forests by foot. You get a whole new appreciation for distances when you're walking. You come across amazing people, with incredible stories and you get to become just a small paragraph in their lives. You also get to see what you're made of. Can you get over the ache in your feet and get where you need to go? Do you collapse in exhaustion at the end of the day or do you revel in your accomplishment? 

Photo by Rick Johnson

One of the more gruelling days
(2 mountains to hike over)

Ron and I were blissfully free of blisters. We wear double socks (a liner and a thick pair) which cuts down on chaffing. We bought our boots specifically to do this. Our friends had double lined socks that worked in the same way, without requiring you to pre-plan larger boots. We were among the very few that were blister free. My boots did lose some of their cushioning during the trek and I bought gel inserts.

Mind the traffic

Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela

Photo by Rick Johnson

Final shell outside the Cathedral

The incense burner

Compostelas

It was a really worthwhile journey and we got things out of it that you just can't get from taking a car, train or bus. We forwarded our "city" luggage at each stage, but I don't recommend it. If we were to do it again, we'd carry just what we'd need for the trek, leaving our other luggage somewhere and picking it up at the end. This gives you the flexibility to stop when you want, not where your luggage is going. We'd also allow more time to discover some of the amazing towns we came across.
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