4th day: From Fao (Ofir) to Viana do Castelo

Once again, I didn't sleep particularly well, which could be due to the full moon or the fact that my circulation is now running at full speed. I simply don't need much sleep.

I started at 9:30 am and had to cross the Rio Cávado first.

Once again, there were no clouds in the sky and the 22 degrees felt warmer.

At first, I walked along the beach again, but I also walked along a busy main road for a long time where I couldn't see the sea.

When I arrived in a small village at a chapel to get a stamp for the pilgrim's passport (which is needed in Santiago to receive the certificate), the beauty inside suddenly overwhelmed me and tears welled up in my eyes. It is said that this happens to all pilgrims at least once on their journey and I am not ashamed of my tears. It was probably a kind of sensory overload with everything I had experienced in the last few days.

As I continued, I realized that I had left my water behind. But at least I still had a small bottle in my backpack.

Since there was no possibility to buy anything, I tried to conserve my water.

Now I entered a forest area and there was a clear ascent (a total of 140m difference in altitude) to overcome.

The path was often blocked by boulders that had to be climbed over.

A quarry had collapsed and here too, one had to climb to cross the river.

When I reached a chapel, I filled my bottle with water from a spring, but I noticed that it contained chlorine.

I met Anna, a solo traveler from London, originally from Poland.

Since she was also happy to have some social contact, we walked the last 2.5 hours together and talked.

But because she was an experienced runner, she set a decent pace. I didn't even dare to ask for a break, as it would have been interpreted as weakness.

When we finally arrived in Viana do Castelo, everything hurt. This trip alone lasted 33km and eight hours.

But that wasn't enough. When I had to go shopping later, I was forced to walk another two kilometers. At Lidl, I was able to pay and withdraw money with my debit card without any problems.

Since I had agreed with Anna that we wanted to go out for fish, I had to walk another three kilometers into the city in the evening.

At the end of the day, I was exhausted and grateful to lie in my bed in the room at the Parque Hotel (36€).