- Time of past OR future Camino
- Frances - 2009
Portuguese Interior (2014)
Hadrian's Wall (2017)
Porto to SdC ( Seaside) 2019
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amorfati1,During the recent caminho (May, lisbon to SdC) i never used water from public taps/fountains. Sometimes local friends/people advised even against tap water in some areas (in one case due to higher iron content of the water for e.g.) - I bought bottled water, drank lots of caffe', and vinho verde (when arrived @ destinationand never was dehydrated or ran out of water while walking.
Once a local man in Santarem advised against drinking from the fountain on the way up to the town of Santarem. (steep uphill walk) -
I don't like to gamble on water sources -
hope this answer was sufficiently useful.
Happy trails to you on your upcoming caminho!
Please advise me about fountains or water availability especially if you've recently walked from Lisbon to SdC (2014). On my Frances' journey fountains were quite frequent. I've read Brierly and he seems to say that water is less frequent. What's the latest? What are the alternatives to buying water all the time?
Thanks!
Flewitheagles,amorfati1,
Thanks for the quick response. Is the Vinho Verde a "tail kicker" like new wine in Germany?
I had trouble last Camino with electrolytes ... I love it but have to over-hydrate sometimes. I love the coffee, too, but it's the same issue. What about the Poweraid kinds of things?
Flewitheagles,
The last 2 Caminos I carried small dry packets of Gatorade and my wife used poweraide (they don't weigh much). You need to replace electrolytes on a regular basis especially as you sweat it will be obvious with the salt lines on your clothes. I come from a marathoning and cross country cycling background and assure you it can be one of the major needs of your body. Be careful if you are over hydrating as this can be as dangerous as not hydrating. We normally filled one bottle with the aide per day. You can also buy supplement chews and jelly beans but they weigh alot more.
The amount of water you need will depend a lot on the weather. Walking between Lisbon and Porto this year in May it was very hot and I needed to refil my two 750 ml bottles en route. I don't remember seeing any fountains with drinking water, but asked in bars for a refill or occasionally purchased water. One very hot day I ran out with no sign of a refill, but luckily, just as I was beginning to get worried I saw some women chatting in their garden asked them if they could help. I was treated to some ice cold water from their fridge, it was delicious, and a lovely pause to chat.
You need to take every opportunity to refill - there are long stretches without facilities.
Bom caminho
Flewitheagles,Now it is me who has a question to make: when you talk about supplement chews, are you talking about bars and that? I started to take with me Trail Mix, which I do at home, and fruit (mostly bananas). For the Trail Mix, I buy a mix of dried fruits (like hazelnuts, cashew, macadamia nuts, almonds, raisins and nuts), then I add some dehydrated apple, some cereals with fibers and then some M&M’s.
Do you think that this it’s enough?
For me, this is what I follow: before I start walking, I try to drink about 500ml of water (250 after waking up, and 250 in the 5 minutes before I start to walk). During the walk, I munch a little bit while I’m walking (I always have the Trail Mix bag in an accessible zone), and drink small portions of water. I try always to consume small portions of both Trail Mix and water, and never eat like 150g in a row, or drink 500ml in one stop.
Flewitheagles,
The bars are great for regular nutrition as your taking them it takes about 30-45 minutes for getting them to fuel your body. The bananas are especially good they provide quick fuel with some natural sugars and potassium which helps replenish some electrolytes. what you described looks great.
The supplements I described are quick fuel you will see them in any running or sports store Guu, cliff shots, cliff shot blocks, extreme sport beans.
These provide some quick carbs to fuel your body, electrolytes (Sodium and Potassium) and some vitamins. Many of these also add a shot of caffeine to give you a boost especially at the end of a day when your dragging and all fueled out.
Sorry Diogo92,This was Diogo92, not @flewitheagles
But thank you very much for your response, I've never had any kind of problems, but just checking it out
Thank you for asking this question. I've just bought my plane ticket for Lisbon, arriving in mid October - so the information in this thread is quite relevant for me. Much appreciation to all those who contributed!Please advise me about fountains or water availability especially if you've recently walked from Lisbon to SdC (2014). On my Frances' journey fountains were quite frequent. I've read Brierly and he seems to say that water is less frequent. What's the latest? What are the alternatives to buying water all the time?
Thanks!
Please advise me about fountains or water availability especially if you've recently walked from Lisbon to SdC (2014). On my Frances' journey fountains were quite frequent. I've read Brierly and he seems to say that water is less frequent. What's the latest? What are the alternatives to buying water all the time?
Thanks!
Mag, I'm going to do the Caminho De Fátima this October, and I'm still undecided if I'll take my two 0,5L foldable bottles, or my 1,5L water bladder. My concerns are from my home until Santarém (especially from Valada do Ribatejo until Santarém). What do you think about this?
Sorry for the delayed response @Diogo92. I found the amount of water I needed depended entirely upon the weather. When it was very hot I needed to refill my bottles regularly, but when I was walking in the rain I needed little water (although I probably should have taken more). Personally, I don't like the bladder system and I used two 750 cl bottles. I carried one hanging from my bum bag and the other lived in the side pocket of my pack. With a bladder one can't tell how much water has been used and how much remains and it is necessary to remove your backpack to refill.
We split the stage between Azambuja to Santarém and arranged for Mario to collect us from Morgado. It was very hot walking these days and it would have been difficult to walk the full distance in the heat of the afternoon. Mario stopped to offer water to several pilgrims after he picked us up. We returned to Morgado the next day to continue the walk to Santarém in the fresh morning air. In cooler weather it would have been ok to walk the full distance in one go. I would say to walk that full stage in hot weather one would need more than 1.5 litres of water and there are very few opportunities to fill up, and none on the second half of the stage.
For anyone interested in Mario's pick and drop service take a look at my blog post for this stage, or check out this thread regarding the possibility of shorter stages between Lisbon and Porto.
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