Padron to Teo 13kms
Total distance 258kms
Climb 260m
Total climb 3710m

We didn’t hear any trains last night so either there weren’t any or we were so tired we slept through them. Breakfast was super efficient this morning. No buffet, everything you were getting was on your table except for the juice and coffee. Not the most lavish breakfast, a yoghurt, piece of bread, ham, cheese, a croissant, butter and jam.

It is now 25kms to Santiago de Compostela and a lot of people do this in one day. We know our limitations so we are doing it in two days of 13km and 12 km respectively.  Some people at breakfast clubbed together and ordered a taxi to take them the first 6 or 7 km to reduce the distance.

We had another leisurely start and walked back into Padron to look at the convent and its fountain. It was quite a varied day of walking. Natural pathways in the shade through oak, pine and eucalyptus woodland, the inevitable stretches of main road, quiet farm roads and little villages, and plenty of places to stop for food and drink. In two places there were musicians on the path which was nice. One of the sounds that is so cool each day is the church bells ringing out the hour and half hour. Even when not near a church the sound carries along the valleys. It is not always ‘live’ bells, you often see large speakers up in the church steeples and the bells look as though they haven’t moved in centuries.

Since Vigo, where the number of pilgrims probably increased ten fold, we have spoken to fewer people. This might seem odd but initially the majority of walkers were from outside Portugal and Spain; North Americans, Canadians, Europeans, Australians, Koreans, South Americans, etc. We were all aliens and there was a sort of bond between us as we navigated our way through this new culture. Now the vast majority of walkers are Spanish, in their homeland, and we foreigners are in the minority. Previously most had some form of English and communication wasn’t difficult. Now it is not so easy to recognise the non-Spanish speakers. We each have a small NZ flag on the back of our packs so people do come up to us and ask about NZ or talk about when they travelled there.

Our accommodation tonight is only the second time we have been in a house out in the country rather than a multi-storied hotel in a town or city. The other was 7 Uvas in Nigran. There is no lift of course and we are on the upper floor. We are in a lovely setting surrounded by trees and gardens. It is actually two buildings and the Camino Way runs between them. In one building is the accommodation and in the other is the restaurant. It is so quiet and peaceful and it is a warm sunny afternoon. When we arrived there were two musicians playing and singing and that just added to the atmosphere, but they have packed up and gone now.

Tomorrow is our last day on The Camino Portuguese. Not really sure how we feel about it. In 2016 when we finished the Camino Frances after 800km and a month of walking there was a huge sense of accomplishment and thankfulness that our bodies had held together pretty well. This time is different. The distance is much shorter and the walking has been a lot easier, and it is never quite the same when you do something the second time around.