Keikochan
Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 3 past (2014, 2018, 2019) and 1 planned in August
Hi, everyone!
I came back from my 5th Camino a week ago, and I’d like to share some of my experiences in Camino Portugues-Costa and Variante Espiritual. It’s going to be long. I should have posted them little by little along the way, but because of the iPhone display too small for my worsening eyesight and the keyboard that doesn’t work well, I gave it up.
Blue arrows: From Fatima (where I started to walk) to Ansiao, you have to go opposite of blue arrows to Fatima as there hardly is yellow arrow pointing to Santiago. Going opposite is quite difficult as the applis I used don’t cover this route. I’m not the only one who got lost and walked the “carreterra” with signs to Ansiao. After Ansiao, the situation is better.
Bombeiros voluntarios: I fell down and hit my face on the road 2km before Ansiao. The passers-by helped me up and took me to the roadside garage, whose owner immediately brought me a plastic bag full of ice to cool my face and insisted to call the ambulance. When they came, they checked my pulse, blood pressure, oxygen density, eyeball movement, etc. and asked me if I wanted to go to hospital. As I refrained from it, they took me to the hotel I had booked, summoned its manager before check-in time, and told him to give me more ice. All for free! They are bombeiros voluntarios de Portugal. On the whole, Portuguese people are really kind and helpful you when you are in trouble.
Avalanche of peregrinos: This summer, there were so many peregrinos on Costa that a hospitalera in the municipal albergue in Labruge, one day from Porto, expressed it “avalanche”. She had to address more than 60 peregrinos sometimes while it has 50-some beds. I hope it’s over by now, but it’s true that demand for bed on Costa is far bigger than its supply at any time. So it may not be a bad idea to book an albergue or hostel when you can, especially if you are a slow walker and want to enjoy the way without having to rush and compete for bed with younger /faster peregrinos.
Baggage transfer along Costa: After having a severe back-ache on the second day on Costa, I tried the baggage transfer for the first time in my 5 Caminos. Top Santiago is the company (+351 969 021 000, www.topsantiago.com). They charge 8 euros till 20:00 the night before and 10 euros for the last minute’s booking including the day of transfer before 8:00. Their reputation is quite good among the Portuguese and Spanish and I wasn’t disappointed.
Entering into Spain: I cross the border at Caminha by boat. The boat people came to pick those up at the municipal albergue who want to cross the river Minho, at 6:30 in the morning. You don’t have to book in advance, just wait for them at the entrance. They took us in group of 4~5 in two cars to the landing, which is just the beach with no sign. (If it were one, it couldn’t be seen in such a dark hour.) Put us in a motor-boat and crossed the river in a few minutes to the opposite landing which has nothing but sand and the wooden walk. Cost 6 euros in all. You pay it before getting into the boat.
Complimentario: About 3~4km before Pontevedra, there is an alternative route to it with the sign saying “complimentario” pointing to the left. When I walked Central several years ago, I took the official route, so I tried “complimentario” this time and found it far more comfortable and beautiful than the other. It goes along a brook in the forest and ends very close to the albergue municipal. My recommendation.
Variante Espiritual: It’s a route you really need a great spirit. The first day to Armenteira has a lot of steep ups and downs, especially in the town of Combarro, but worth challenging. The albergue is not in the Monastery but about 400m away from it. They held a benediction for peregrinos at the Monastery at 20:00. The second day to Villanova de Arousa is much easier, except the exit from Armenteira. We were suggested to wait till sunrise to start so that we could see a bit difficult steps along a brook.
The boat from Arousa: There seem to be 2 companies operating the boat to Pontecesure, close to Padron. The one I took is operated by La Barca del Peregrino (+344 607 911 523, www.labarcadelperegrino.com) and cost 25 euros. It was a very nice voyage for about 1.5 hours. I made booking the day before in the morning and my name was second from the last of 30 passengers. There were 2 voyages at 6:00 and 12:30, but the time is not fixed due to the tide. If the tide is very low, the boat cannot go into the river. The captain made announcement in Spanish and English and served juice and cake. Relaxing and delightful day just right before the final etapa into Santiago.
Thank you for reading this long post. I have many more things to write, but afraid it’s going to be too long. Hope my experience can be of some help to those for thinking about the same route.
I came back from my 5th Camino a week ago, and I’d like to share some of my experiences in Camino Portugues-Costa and Variante Espiritual. It’s going to be long. I should have posted them little by little along the way, but because of the iPhone display too small for my worsening eyesight and the keyboard that doesn’t work well, I gave it up.
Blue arrows: From Fatima (where I started to walk) to Ansiao, you have to go opposite of blue arrows to Fatima as there hardly is yellow arrow pointing to Santiago. Going opposite is quite difficult as the applis I used don’t cover this route. I’m not the only one who got lost and walked the “carreterra” with signs to Ansiao. After Ansiao, the situation is better.
Bombeiros voluntarios: I fell down and hit my face on the road 2km before Ansiao. The passers-by helped me up and took me to the roadside garage, whose owner immediately brought me a plastic bag full of ice to cool my face and insisted to call the ambulance. When they came, they checked my pulse, blood pressure, oxygen density, eyeball movement, etc. and asked me if I wanted to go to hospital. As I refrained from it, they took me to the hotel I had booked, summoned its manager before check-in time, and told him to give me more ice. All for free! They are bombeiros voluntarios de Portugal. On the whole, Portuguese people are really kind and helpful you when you are in trouble.
Avalanche of peregrinos: This summer, there were so many peregrinos on Costa that a hospitalera in the municipal albergue in Labruge, one day from Porto, expressed it “avalanche”. She had to address more than 60 peregrinos sometimes while it has 50-some beds. I hope it’s over by now, but it’s true that demand for bed on Costa is far bigger than its supply at any time. So it may not be a bad idea to book an albergue or hostel when you can, especially if you are a slow walker and want to enjoy the way without having to rush and compete for bed with younger /faster peregrinos.
Baggage transfer along Costa: After having a severe back-ache on the second day on Costa, I tried the baggage transfer for the first time in my 5 Caminos. Top Santiago is the company (+351 969 021 000, www.topsantiago.com). They charge 8 euros till 20:00 the night before and 10 euros for the last minute’s booking including the day of transfer before 8:00. Their reputation is quite good among the Portuguese and Spanish and I wasn’t disappointed.
Entering into Spain: I cross the border at Caminha by boat. The boat people came to pick those up at the municipal albergue who want to cross the river Minho, at 6:30 in the morning. You don’t have to book in advance, just wait for them at the entrance. They took us in group of 4~5 in two cars to the landing, which is just the beach with no sign. (If it were one, it couldn’t be seen in such a dark hour.) Put us in a motor-boat and crossed the river in a few minutes to the opposite landing which has nothing but sand and the wooden walk. Cost 6 euros in all. You pay it before getting into the boat.
Complimentario: About 3~4km before Pontevedra, there is an alternative route to it with the sign saying “complimentario” pointing to the left. When I walked Central several years ago, I took the official route, so I tried “complimentario” this time and found it far more comfortable and beautiful than the other. It goes along a brook in the forest and ends very close to the albergue municipal. My recommendation.
Variante Espiritual: It’s a route you really need a great spirit. The first day to Armenteira has a lot of steep ups and downs, especially in the town of Combarro, but worth challenging. The albergue is not in the Monastery but about 400m away from it. They held a benediction for peregrinos at the Monastery at 20:00. The second day to Villanova de Arousa is much easier, except the exit from Armenteira. We were suggested to wait till sunrise to start so that we could see a bit difficult steps along a brook.
The boat from Arousa: There seem to be 2 companies operating the boat to Pontecesure, close to Padron. The one I took is operated by La Barca del Peregrino (+344 607 911 523, www.labarcadelperegrino.com) and cost 25 euros. It was a very nice voyage for about 1.5 hours. I made booking the day before in the morning and my name was second from the last of 30 passengers. There were 2 voyages at 6:00 and 12:30, but the time is not fixed due to the tide. If the tide is very low, the boat cannot go into the river. The captain made announcement in Spanish and English and served juice and cake. Relaxing and delightful day just right before the final etapa into Santiago.
Thank you for reading this long post. I have many more things to write, but afraid it’s going to be too long. Hope my experience can be of some help to those for thinking about the same route.
