Yesterday Pisinee complained about the weight of her pack to the point that she was going to find a baggage service to transport her bag each night to the hotel. I figured it was too late in the game to set this up and probably prohibitively expensive so I thought it was a good idea for her to investigate. Surprisingly she was able to make this happen quite quickly and for only $8/day. She did encourage me to carry her 3lb laptop on top of the weight I already had in my pack. Who carries a laptop on a hike? Here she is starting her day enjoying her burdenless stroll
I was one of the few not using the bag service, so when we walked past people we looked like I was carrying al my shit as well as the luggage of an Instagram girlfriend, which wasn’t far from the truth. I took on the nickname of “Sherpa” for the remained of the trip.
Today we were doing about 15mi to Arcade. We got an early start and saw this spray painted all across the bridge underpasses
Seems like a good time to discuss its meaning. In our previous trip to Spain we visited the Catalonia and Basque autonomous regions of the country. They have much more regional loyalty than most countries in Europe. Well, the Galicia region is no different.
They went through the same cross pollination as the other regions with the Romans, Muslims, Vandals, and Cristians overlapping. A coastal region whose current claim to fame is the clothing brand Zara, whose founder is the richest man in Europe.
Back to our story. Along the way you get stamps for your book. People have capitalized on this and in addition to churches and hostels, there a card tables setup where some person will offer stamps in exchange for $2. He may play a bagpipe, provide some bananas, but the current hit is wax seals. We came across this one, but there were about 20 more to follow.
Coming across a bridge on our way into Arcade
Most restaurants were open for lunch until around 4pm then closed for 4 hours before reopening for dinner. I found a lunch spot that served this incredible seafood platter so we went to try it. The waiter brought over a live lobster and crab and asked us to choose. Pisinee turned and yelled, “Noooooo!” She had no problem scooping out the crabs innards 3o minutes later
The bill came and it was $175! Oh well, it was a nice meal. I think we were the only people staying in a shared hostel dorm eating a $200 lunch. After lunch I went for a swim in the estuary. I enjoy swimming in fresh water and even oceans but something about salty rivers was less than appealing. Even with the nude beach factor. Well-fed dog below
The next day was a 12mi walk to Pontevedra. All of the houses, and pretty much everything else, are made out of granite. There is no wood to speak of really.
Another night in the hostel
This one went pretty smooth. Better than the night before when I locked myself out of the room with only a towel on and had to go down to the reception at first floor and try to explain the situation. They didn’t seem to understand where the key was even though it seemed obvious to me that the key must have been in the room or why would I be there.
There was a triathalon going on in the city that weekend so we sat and watched. It was strange as all these people were sitting outside the ropes but no one came by. Then a guy came by on a bike, followed by a guy running, then a guy on a bike and one running beside him. This was a strange triathalon I thought. Are they running all the stages at once? It didn’t help that I was probably stoned. I think Pisinee likes it when I am stoned cause I am clueless walking around town and she and I can have chats about the most meaningless things and get lost together. Eventually I snapped out of it and took the reins and got us back on track.
Below was funny. We saw this African woman in a USA outfit and Pisinee said, “Oh she is an Olympian!” I said, "what?" I quickly realized what happened here. You see Pisinee likes to say things and then she holds on to that narrative as it becomes a lie, hoping it will be allowed to go through. She saw this woman with the outfit and mistook the word Olympics for Triathlon. So she doubled down when I asked what was her name, “Oh, I cant remember but I watched her run in the last Olympics, she is fast!” Then her story slowly crumbled as they lady started walking away with the aid of a cane.
We got a plate of salted sardines for dinner. Not bad, but we both agreed that either the mussels or the grilled squid were the best offering from the region.
The next day was 13 mi to Caldas de Reis.
We were able to avoid the dorm room hostel. Most of our stops were hostels but at least we were able to find private rooms. Some had bathrooms in the room and others had private bathrooms across the hall, which was a bit strange and felt very elitist as you used your key to open them and glared at the other people using the group bathroom, quickly locking your bathroom and shuffling back into the safety of your suite.
The next day we walked to the town of Padron.
This lodging was another hostel type with all private rooms. The doors were those sliding doors used in narrow hallways, but they were not as obvious because they did not slide on outside tracks but rather with an internal pocket. So when you unlocked the door you pushed in and then you tried pulling but it never occurs to you that you have to slide the door. Eventually we got it, but the whole rest of the night we heard people struggling in the hall for 20 minutes to open their door. Finally I would yell, “It Slides!” but that rarely landed with them and we would open our door to explain it. They still would not get it.
It was the final day of the hike now. About 14 miles into the town of Santiago de Compostela. It was rather easy 100kms to be honest. Unlike other hikes where I had a chance to appreciate nature, this path pretty much followed major roads with brief interludes through city parks. I was not overly impressed. Also, most of the people were not hikers, but rather religious pilgrims, so they did not really appreciate the environment and "code of the trail" type behavior. Meaning, trash was abundant and tissue everywhere from people pissing behind bushes. Also the number of people was very high. I think we saw about 200 people each day. Many singing religious verses, which was fine, just different from what I am used to. Just like all my other hikes, after Covid the numbers just ballooned. Many of the hostels close in the fall and take their vacation with just a few remaining open, but this year the numbers in fall were as large as the busy summer season, leaving people scrambling for places to sleep. I am not sure I would do the 100 day traditional hike across Northern Spain unless I could do it without reservations and just sleeping on a pad in the back of churches. That might make it more interesting.
We rolled into town with the masses and got pictures taken in front of the Cathedral
I mean we only did 100km, but some of these people just did 500 miles. That is quite an achievement worth a few nights of celebrating along with their fellow walkers.
We found the office and got in line to show our stamps and get the certificates
We walked around after dinner and even got to go into the church to see St James chilling out in his tomb/coffin/sarcophagus.
The next morning we caught a bus back to Porto in time to do a Port Wine tour
I really enjoy Porto. I think its layout along the river makes it quite unique. With Portugal’s favorable visa/citizenship options over the last decade I am sure it is filled with expats but it did not seem to far from what I remember a decade ago. We hope to return again in the future
Until Next Time, Darren
