LIVE from the Camino UchuuJin on the Camino

[CykaUJ]

First of all, a massive thank you to everyone who so kindly and patiently answered all my questions and fear, both rational and irrational ones! The disappointment of all the cockups from Follow the Camino has led me to adopt Winston Churchill's attitude of 'a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty'.
So because I didn't want to start my first day tomorrow with having to take either a taxi from Vilharino to Vila do Conde or a train from Porto to Matosinhos, I decided that today is my first day and walked 16km around Porto, from the Sheraton to the cathedral to get my first stamp, and then followed a bit of both the coastal and the inland to teach myself where the waymarks are.

It was a great training day.

Day 2 will start with taking the metro to Mercado and then join the coastal route to Vila do Conde.

 

[gittiharre]

First of all, a massive thank you to everyone who so kindly and patiently answered all my questions and fear, both rational and irrational ones! The disappointment of all the cockups from Follow the Camino has led me to adopt Winston Churchill's attitude of 'a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty'.
So because I didn't want to start my first day tomorrow with having to take either a taxi from Vilharino to Vila do Conde or a train from Porto to Matosinhos, I decided that today is my first day and walked 16km around Porto, from the Sheraton to the cathedral to get my first stamp, and then followed a bit of both the coastal and the inland to teach myself where the waymarks are.

It was a great training day.

Day 2 will start with taking the metro to Mercado and then join the coastal route to Vila do Conde.

Brilliant solution. I will be walking porto to sdc later this year. Have a wonderful time.

 

[Introibo]

What a great way to start.
Bom Caminho

 

[SaraB]

I'll be following your updates with interest. I will be walking my camino in April - my first night is booked in Matosinhos so on my first day I am planning to have a wonder (edit: I meant wander, but perhaps wonder is apt too!) in Porto, get my credencial and stamp, and then walk to Matosinhos to spend the night.
Buen Camino!

 

[peregrina2000]

You go girl! I'm so glad to hear how you're going with the flow. Bom caminho to you and keep in touch, Laurie

 

[CykaUJ]

I'll be following your updates with interest. I will be walking my camino in April - my first night is booked in Matosinhos so on my first day I am planning to have a wonder (edit: I meant wander, but perhaps wonder is apt too!) in Porto, get my credencial and stamp, and then walk to Matosinhos to spend the night.
Buen Camino!

Hi Sara!

I wanted Porto Cathedral to be my first stamp, so I spent the day walking around there and seeing all the sites. I am having a few launch pad frustrations due to the agency I booked through, but I'm finding my way around these things. Unfortunately I can't advise you on the walk between Porto centre and Matoshino because I'll be taking the train there and walking on to Vila do Conde, but I'm finding Porto to be very easy.

 

[cj2003]

CykaUJ - good to hear that you are off for the wonder and wander of the Caminho Portuguese! I look forward to walk in your steps later this spring.

Bom caminho!
Christian

 

[t2andreo]

You will enjoy this route immensely. I walked it last April. It is not as heavily traveled as the inland routes. But once you reach the village Rates (IIRC) the routes start to converge, and by Ponte de Lima you will be in the main flow, such as it is.

Yellow arrow markings are not frequent for the first few days, but it is not difficult to follow. The high-walled rural roads ensure you stay pointed in the correct direction.

One surprising and welcome thing is that, in general, more Portuguese speak at least some English than do Spaniards. The Portuguese people I spoke with attributed this to the fact that nearly all their English language TV programming is provided with PT subtitles. In Spain, France and Italy, this is not generally the case. Ipso facto, English has a higher penetration rate in Portugal.

In any event I NEVER had a problem finding an English speaker. I use my favorite Portuguese phrase... "Perdon, falla Ingles?" ( I rather think that is phonetic, but you get the idea.)

Enjoy the weather! One tip, drink water frequently and regularly, even if you do not feel thirsty. In this regard, you want your urine output to be clear rather than dark yellow and cloudy. Although I have done three Caminos, I fond myself dehydrated without realizing it on the first three days or so out of Porto. I am NOT supposed to be making this sort of "tenderfoot" error.

The weather was so beautiful, with clear blue skies, no clouds, 25 degree (c) temperatures and no discernible breeze (away form the ocean), that I failed to recognize the signs of dehydration. So, I had to suffer three very scary episodes of syncope (fainting - or 'dirt naps') before I figured it out. It cost me an expensive pair of eyeglasses too. Overall, only my pride was wounded...

So, NOW I get it. Drink so you have to urinate, whether or NOT you feel thirsty. You are never too far from a cafe on this route. I will do the Madrid - Sahagun - Santiago route starting on 7 April. Let us hope I follow my own advice this time.

I hope this helps.

 

[CykaUJ]

You will enjoy this route immensely. I walked it last April. It is not as heavily traveled as the inland routes. But once you reach the village Rates (IIRC) the routes start to converge, and by Ponte de Lima you will be in the main flow, such as it is.

Yellow arrow markings are not frequent for the first few days, but it is not difficult to follow. The high-walled rural roads ensure you stay pointed in the correct direction.

One surprising and welcome thing is that, in general, more Portuguese speak at least some English than do Spaniards. The Portuguese people I spoke with attributed this to the fact that nearly all their English language TV programming is provided with PT subtitles. In Spain, France and Italy, this is not generally the case. Ipso facto, English has a higher penetration rate in Portugal.

In any event I NEVER had a problem finding an English speaker. I use my favorite Portuguese phrase... "Perdon, falla Ingles?" ( I rather think that is phonetic, but you get the idea.)

Enjoy the weather! One tip, drink water frequently and regularly, even if you do not feel thirsty. In this regard, you want your urine output to be clear rather than dark yellow and cloudy. Although I have done three Caminos, I fond myself dehydrated without realizing it on the first three days or so out of Porto. I am NOT supposed to be making this sort of "tenderfoot" error.

The weather was so beautiful, with clear blue skies, no clouds, 25 degree (c) temperatures and no discernible breeze (away form the ocean), that I failed to recognize the signs of dehydration. So, I had to suffer three very scary episodes of syncope (fainting - or 'dirt naps') before I figured it out. It cost me an expensive pair of eyeglasses too. Overall, only my pride was wounded...

So, NOW I get it. Drink so you have to urinate, whether or NOT you feel thirsty. You are never too far from a cafe on this route. I will do the Madrid - Sahagun - Santiago route starting on 7 April. Let us hope I follow my own advice this time.

I hope this helps.

thank you for this! I had a fairly wonderful day along the coast today, unfortunately I have to turn inland tomorrow, as the coast was a fluke due to the agency's incompetence. Next camino will definitely be an all coast all the way.

I am religious (ha!) about drinking water. Both because I'm a nurse and because my home is in Rift Valley, Kenya. On your next camino, take some rehydration salts or even better, a powdered electrolyte supplement to mix with water. It's insane how much of a difference it makes. I use a Japanese one called Pocari Sweat, but there is a European version called Dioralyte (or something like that).

 

[CykaUJ]

Blog post is up, but to spare you all the emo stuff, here's the notes on Matosinhos-Vila do Conde...

Notes about Matosinhos-Vila Do Conde
-This stage is really beautiful, marred only by a lot of rubbish on the beaches. The high tide creates lots of tide pools, and there's lot of fun stuff swimming and growing in them.
-It is marked, but not *well* marked. Not too much of a problem though, just stay on the boardwalk. It is the longest boardwalk I have EVER seen, at least 19 of the 22km is boardwalk! As there is very little cobblestone walking, heavy hiking shoes are not really needed. I wore Nike Pegasus trainers.
-In Labruge, there is a new albergue called St James Albergue of Labruge, that was opened in July 2015. 8 beds, 2 bathrooms, kitchen and communal area. I did not go look though.
-In Vila Cha, there is a waymark to turn left, but it has been greyed out and replaced with a straight one. I suspect it's been done by locals because there's a cafe 50 metres after, and they ask you straight away if you want a room.
-In Mindelo is a bird sanctuary that you can detour off to the right, but I didn't do it.
-The boardwalk ends in Azurara and it's a little confusing because there are no waymarks. You walk on a small road parallel to the beach, then curves to the right to then walk over a small stream. Once you pass that, there will be a waymark to turn left. This takes you down a dirt road with a shipyard on your left. Turn left on R. da Junqueria and you will come to find the bridge that will take you over the river and into Vila do Conde.

 

[t2andreo]

I DO carry rehydration salts. I just stupidly failed to use the timely.

The past three Caminos, I have used Camelbak branded tablets that are scored in the middle. I break them in half to fit through a bottle neck. The tablets effervesce and create a lemon-lime solution that definitely tastes salty. They worked.

This year, I am switching to Nuun Energy Brand tablets, by Proline Sports. They come in assorted fruity flavors, and are highly recommended. They are also low calorie and gluten free. We shall see...

My problem on the Port - Sanitago route last April was that I failed to "force-hydrate." I did not FEEL thirsty, and ended up taking three dirt naps over a five-day period.

What I've learned, and after consultations with my doctors, is to drink at least one .5 liter per hour, whether I am thirsty or not.

Here's hoping...

 

[Anemone del Camino]

The new Brierly edition does mention the albergue in Labruge. It's a donativo called Santiago in a renovatrd schoolhouse.

 

[CykaUJ]

I DO carry rehydration salts. I just stupidly failed to use the timely.

The past three Caminos, I have used Camelbak branded tablets that are scored in the middle. I break them in half to fit through a bottle neck. The tablets effervesce and create a lemon-lime solution that definitely tastes salty. They worked.

This year, I am switching to Nuun Energy Brand tablets, by Proline Sports. They come in assorted fruity flavors, and are highly recommended. They are also low calorie and gluten free. We shall see...

My problem on the Port - Sanitago route last April was that I failed to "force-hydrate." I did not FEEL thirsty, and ended up taking three dirt naps over a five-day period.

What I've learned, and after consultations with my doctors, is to drink at least one .5 liter per hour, whether I am thirsty or not.

Here's hoping...

Learning to drink a lot of water takes time. I used to have a 1,5 litre bottle of water on my desk and forced myself to go through 3 of them during the working day. I would kind of reward myself at the grocery store if I did it, and allow myself to buy something sweet if I did it. Sadly we humans only seem to respond to reward/punishment. We're not far off dogs in that respect sometimes!
Anyway, it worked, I'm now the queen of hydration.

Good luck with your walk, keep yourself out of the dirt!

 

[CykaUJ]

Day 3 and am in the extremely lovely Quinta San Miguel in Arcos. Pics and blog post up, this is the greatest adventure game for grownups ever! Follow arrows, read maps, climb up things, collect stamps, look at cool architecture. It's the European equivalent of living in the African bush and I LOVE it!

The weather has been AMAZING the last two days, accuweather said the 'realfeel' today was 20C and I believe it. I was in just a t-shirt. Tomorrow though the prediction is for a bit of rain on the way to Barcelos, but I am ready for it!

Notes
-The route I took is in the guide, and is a great way to connect from the coastal to inland route. It is not waymarked so well between Vila do Conde and Junquiera, but it’s fairly straight forward
-There is a section of N-306 that is road with no shoulder and does not have good sightline. Take care of the high speed traffic going through there!
-After crossing the A-7, turn right onto a dirt road immediately after the overpass to find the ancient burial mounds.
-The pathway from the mounds leads to open farmland with tractor trails as the road. This takes you through a forested area which then joins up with the historic inland route to Arcos and is well marked.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Guess Brierly is right when he writes the route is not marked. Good to know it's still straightforward.

 

[MichaelSG]

I'll be following your updates with interest. I will be walking my camino in April - my first night is booked in Matosinhos so on my first day I am planning to have a wonder (edit: I meant wander, but perhaps wonder is apt too!) in Porto, get my credencial and stamp, and then walk to Matosinhos to spend the night.
Buen Camino!

Although my wife & I started in Lisbon, we wanted a bit of a rest day in Porto. We stayed there two nights with our "rest" day just walking the 11km to Matosinhos and then taking the train back to town. The next morning, it was easy to take the train back to Matosinhos and start across the bridge and up toward Vila do Conde. The walk from the cathedral to Matosinhos is simple - you can either follow the river to the sea then up the coast or follow any tourist map (which we did) and walk more of a beeline through the neighborhoods. Either way is an enjoyable walk and you don't need to worry about finding yellow arrows. Bom Caminho!

And @CykaUJ , I'm really enjoying your blog and photos! (https://caminodeuchuujin.wordpress.com/ )

 

[CykaUJ]

Day 4 done and am now drying out my clothes and shoes after a good 4 hours of torrential rain. We all knew it was coming!
Blog post and pics up. (thanks for the compliment @MichaelSG !)

Not many notes for today.
-Now on the historic original Camino, it’s impossible to get lost. The waymarks are everywhere. The only place I questioned it was in Barcelino where the marks pointed to a a slip road along the motorway that seemed a bit weird. It was correct though, it takes you to a little underpass that is seemingly pedestrians only.
-The elevation starts to climb about 3,5km out of Arcos, and goes from about 55m to nearly 160km around Goios.
-At the moment the forest paths are muddy, but nothing overly difficult.

 

[CykaUJ]

Day 5 Barcelos to Ponte de Lima

Too tired to blog, will add notes tomorrow.

Goodnight...
Zzzzzzz

 

[CykaUJ]

Bit too tired to write the last couple days. The rain is my Achilles heel though, I was in floods of tears when I got to Tui tonight. One thing's for sure, I will never do another winter Camino.

Notes about Barcelos-Ponte do Lima-Agualonga-Tui
-The 35km between Barcelos and Ponte do Lima are quite pretty with rolling hills and two climbs that are not really that bad. There is a cafe called 'Viana' at the halfway point that was quite pleasant to spend an hour in.
-The Casa de Olivierinha guest house is very nice, with extremely gregarious hosts, who love to engage with their guests. Dinner was fantastic (18,50 Euro) and all made with fresh caught fish and vegetables from their garden. The house itself is about 1km off the Camino in Agualonga.
-I have found that most albergues and cafes are closed during the winter, and the ones that are open may not have stamps if you're chasing the compostella. Yesterday there was only one cafe listed in Bierley's that is right before the mountain ascent, and it was closed. There are no clean water fountains between Ponte do Lima and Agualonga/Rubiaes, and with the cafe shut, it's best to load up your bottles before you set out for the day, because it's imperative to stay hydrated.
-The descent is quite sharp as well, it's important to stretch well both in the morning and after walking.

 

[CykaUJ]

Day 8, Tui to Porrino. No blog post today, but wanted to post here about the flooding. I'll make a separate post in the Portugues thread, but the trail at the 106.888 mark is flooded. I've used a sharpie on the arrow there and wrote 'flooded' with today's date, because you don't immediately see the flooding. It's about 500 or so metres down from that marker and is completely impassable. I tried to measure the depth of it with my stick and it's at least 20cm deep, with thorn bushes and swampy leaves on either side. Hopefully it won't wash away immediately and will save someone from having to trek down there and back. Other areas are tricky, but not impassable like this one was. With all the rain that's falling right now though, it may end up going from tricky to impassable in the next few days.

Before that, at 109.278, there is a sign in several languages that indicates a detour due to river overflow, and it appears that this sign has been there for awhile. This section is where an association has re-routed the Camino into the forest and off the secondary asphalt road, although this is not mentioned in Brierley's.

None of the cafes between Tui and Porrino were open, not even the one that's mentioned in the book in the Porrino industrial area. I'm finding it really hard to get my two stamps a day and wondering if I'm going to be refused the compostella.

 

[peregrina2000]

Cyka, Thanks for all of your updates. Looking forward to hearing how these last days in Spain go for you. And don't worry about the two stamps a day. You have lots of pictures on your blog that will document your trip. And you will also be able to show your waterlogged pack, clothes, and body as proof that you've been out on the Camino for a lot more than 100 kms! Buen camino, Laurie

 

[CykaUJ]

Everything I have is damp, but my spirit is not. I've posted in another thread...

I am now in Pontevedra after starting out from Arcade this morning and managed to get 2-ish km in before coming to my first flooded pathway. I went back and took the train. Walked along the river there for all of 3 minutes before all the flooding there, then spent a few hours walking around Pontevedra darting in and out of places.
The guy in my hotel today has said it's best to arrange transport to somewhere called Alda or Alba, halfway to Caldas and pick up the Camino again from there because it's still pouring down here and people are sending reports back from Caldas that it's not just the Camino, but some of the secondary asphalt roads are flooded as well. He said the three pilgrims that stayed here last night gave up today and went home.

I'm slogging on though, and although I'm using a bit of public transport, I'm still putting in a lot of footwork. It's just more in the cities themselves chasing down architecture and looking at street art, which is something I'm a huge fan of.
The kind hotel manager has said that he will make some calls to people this evening to find out just how bad the trails are and I'll decide from there how I go tomorrow.
The adventure continues!

 

[CykaUJ]

New blog post up.
Tomorrow I reach Santiago de Compostella.

This has been an incredible adventure.

 

[CykaUJ]

This is it. The sun is out here in Padrón, but the temps are hovering around 3C.

I can't believe this is the last walk of this incredible journey. Thank you for being there along with me and encouraging me on.

 

[mspath]

Glad that you have sunshine for walking into Santiago! What a special time your camino has been; future rain and puddles will always recall these memories. Happy continuation. Looking forward to your further posts.

Ultreia!

MM

 

[donalomahony]

Really like your blog. Thank you!

 

[CykaUJ]

Really like your blog. Thank you!

thank you.

very very short blog post up, too tired and full of thoughts to write anything more.

 

[CykaUJ]

Just back from the pilgrim office, they were all too happy to give me the compostela and asked for more information on how it was and if i could remember which areas were flooded badly so they could pass the info on. He confirmed that there are very, very few pilgrims out on the CP this time of year.

I will put together a blog post in the next day or two, I have a lot going through my mind. I was unimpressed by the pilgrim mass, it was super cold in the cathedral and they only do the botafumeiro daily in the summer. In winter it's only on sundays. The visitors desk told me I can pay 400USD if I want to pay to see it. All of the beggars at each entrance also was a disappointment, but none so much as the guy dressed up as Saint James and some other gold gilded guy that you could pay a couple euro to take your pic with. That's what happens though when a non-religious person does the Camino though.
Magnificent piece of architecture otherwise though!!

 

[MichaelSG]

Congratulations!!

Just like you looked for the good and tried to ignore the bad during your walk, you have to do the same in Santiago. There are things that can be irritating everywhere but keep looking for the good just beyond. That's one of the lessons that the Caminho can teach.

 

[SaraB]

Congratulations Cyka!! It sounds like it was a real adventure. Well done.

 

[OzAnnie]

Congratulations Cyka. Great experience you've had.
Never say 'never' though. In time this will be an even sweeter memory than it is right now.
Annie

 

[CykaUJ]

And so, although I've left the trail, the Camino is now with me always in heart...and flesh.