Stage 5: Viana do Castelo - Caminha

What a day... unexpectedly, I have now returned to my original schedule.

My goal today was actually Vila Praia de Âncora, which is about 18 km from Viana do Castelo. Since I didn't know how my knee would hold up, I didn't want to run the nearly 30 km to Caminha like the others, especially not under the time pressure of getting accommodation on time.

So I took a bit longer this morning to care for my knee and 'only' set off around 8.

After leaving Viana do Castelo, I spent most of the time on cobblestones and uphill. I was very grateful for my trekking poles; without them, I probably wouldn't have made it even 10 km today.

At the first café, I met Bernat again (I mistakenly wrote Bernard yesterday😅) and later also Carolina. As every morning, there was first a fresh orange juice and a small breakfast.

I then continued through the beautifully situated neighborhoods above Areosa and Carreço, with the sea occasionally visible on my left down below.

The path eventually went a good stretch through the forest, which was a welcome change from the cobblestones. However, my left ankle suffered quite a bit today. During a short break, I decided to tape it to stabilize it a bit. Nevertheless, it still hurt quite a lot.

But I persevered - it was only 8 km left to the destination (or so I thought...). The poles were again my savior. My knee was doing quite well, by the way; the tape and the poles seemed to be a good combination.

After a short descent, I came across a beautiful little café 'Café de Cabanas', where I took a quick break in its idyllic garden to relax my feet and enjoy a lemonade (and take my first painkiller).

Meanwhile, I checked my app for accommodations in my destination city to see if I needed to pre-book something, only to receive a 'we are fully booked' from both available accommodations. Shit... The next town with available accommodations is Caminha, which is about 28 km away from the starting point. From the café at that time (around 12 pm), it was still about 16 km. So I quickly booked an accommodation to at least have a guaranteed bed.

At the café, I ran into Bernat again, with whom I then walked together for a while. However, since he was moving faster, we parted ways after a while.

A few kilometers later, I met Carolina, who was traveling with Natalia from the Czech Republic. We had the same goal, the same issues (ankle/knee), and therefore the same pace😅. We waddled and hobbled along, kilometer by kilometer, until we finally reached my original target, Vila Praia de Âncora. There, the path finally met the sea again. Quite hungry by now (it was around 3 pm), we sat down in a beach café, where we could enjoy a very delicious lunch.

Natalie said goodbye to us there; she wanted to walk a bit faster since she had to go a bit further. Carolina and I then tackled the last 9 kilometers together, which mostly ran along the coast again. She taught me a few Portuguese words/pronunciation, and I tried to teach her 'matchbox' 😅 We understood each other very well, and fortunately, we had a lot to laugh about, which made the really tough and seemingly never-ending last part of the route somehow manageable.

When I arrived at my (private) pilgrim hostel around 5:30 pm, I was warmly greeted by the Irish host, who, along with his wife ('The Lady in Red - like the song'), has converted the house into a hostel. He immediately invited me to the communal pilgrim dinner and gave me a tour. Here, you find everything one can only dream of after nearly 30 km on foot - hammocks, a cold saltwater footbath (a dream!), and even a massage offer. Carolina, by the way, had booked a different accommodation and is switching to the Camino Central tomorrow, so our paths will part from here.

However, I only had time for a quick footbath and a shower because dinner was already served. The table was set, and the girls from the Czech Republic, Italy, England, and Germany were deliciously cooked for by the 'house chef' 😁🥗🍝

With a glass of wine (or lemon water or non-alcoholic beer 😁), we shared stories from the last few days and revealed plans for the next days. After a while, though, we were all ready for bed, exhausted from the quite strenuous day (almost everyone had completed the same stage).

If someone had told me this morning that I would walk 28 km today, I wouldn't have believed it. It was very painful and required a lot of perseverance, but somehow I managed. I was on the road for nearly 10 hours in total. I don't need that every day.

Tomorrow morning at 7:30 am, the taxi will take me to the ferry to Spain, meaning today was already my last day in Portugal! I really enjoyed the country, or at least what I saw of it; it is definitely worth a visit again!

But now it's time to go to sleep and digest today. The next stages will definitely be shorter!

Good night! Boa Noite! 😴