CP Day 7 Vigo to Arcade - 24 kms

A shorter post today after yesterday's musings. It took us some hours to walk out of Vigo but starting from our hotel in Vigo Alta we were well away from any major roads. The scenery was unremarkable for the first few hours but calm and easy walking. Around 11 we moved into a peaceful forest and natural path and by noon had arrived in Redondela where the Coastal Way and Central Way meet.

We stopped for lunch virtually at the crossroads of the two paths - delicious bocadillos. In that short time more peregrinos walked past us - coming from the Central Way - than we had seen in our six days since leaving Porto Covo. When we continued on our way, a short time later, we noticed a small group had formed outside the municipal albergue waiting for the 1pm opening. So the number of walkers on this route is much greater, as expected, but doesn't seem to be overwhelming.

We, and others, walked on about 7 kms to the small town of Arcade where we slipped back in to pilgrim mode staying at an albergue - modern, clean and comfortable and 12 euros pp. I estimate there are about 20 peregrinos here. Excellent facilities and great hot water in the shower (important detail!). And a Camino first for me - far as I can recall - a communal shower, but happily in separate bathrooms for male and female. I was surprised initially by the large open rectangular shower area with three shower nozzles, one already in use by a young South African girl we'd chatted to a few hours earlier. And then I was surprised that I didn't feel particularly uncomfortable. I suspect it may be easier showering with strangers than friends. Or maybe that's just me.

Not a lot of distance to cover over the next four days - about 75 kms to Santiago. We're  not used to this cruisy pace but it's relaxing and probably a bonus with my dodgy shin! Tomorrow we are having a particularly short day - around 15 kms into Pontevedra to catch up with sister and brother in law Pam and Peter. They've been travelling for nearly 12 months now. They emailed just a few days ago asking our whereabouts. They were a day away from Santiago having walked via northern camino routes and thought we might be not too far away - and so we are! The serendipity of the Way?

The French tells me that the temperature will drop significantly overnight, with a high probability of rain - if it buckets down at least we won't be 'on the road' for too many hours. And when we arrive, we'll be checking into the Parador. Also not scheduled but ... pourquoi pas? Neither as expensive nor indulgent as you'd imagine ... really. More on that that tomorrow.

J x

CP Day 6 A Ramallosa to Vigo - 23.5 kms

A new day and a new landscape. For the first three + hours today we walked along a mostly rural path  in the hinterland following the coast north to Vigo. It was lovely. We saw three peregrinos this morning as we left the albergue - the last walkers we saw on the Way today.

Vigo is by far the largest town we've seen since Porto. As is often the case with large towns on the Caminos - and most places in the world - the approach through the outskirts before reaching the old town is a soulless urban sprawl - in this case around 7-8 kms. Yuk! Luckily for us our guide book showed a 'green' alternative which took us along a riverside path that avoided all but about 2 kms of the concrete jungle. Had it not been for this green alternative in our guide book, I would not have hesitated to find the nearest bus stop or hail a cab. It wasn't always this way. I used to be a proud and pure pilgrim when it came to walking every step of the Way.

I was thinking about this today as we walked, gratefully, along the river. From memory I retained my pilgrim's integrity for my first five Caminos, walking every step except in two extreme circumstances. The first was the second day of the Camino Finisterre when my German camino friend Nina and I walked for hours through unrelenting rain and a fierce electrical storm. We finally arrived at a small cafe, drenched and shivering. The cafe owner kindly arranged for a friend / relative to drive us to the nearest town. The second occasion was on the Camino Le Puy when I was walking with the Irish pilgrim, Sive. We became hopelessly lost for hours in a forest of two way GR signs. When we finally found our way out and to a road, out of the blue a car appeared and a delightful French couple offered to drive us to our destination. Initially we both felt a mixture of disappointment and pilgrim's guilt. But when we worked out that we'd walked many more kilometres extra than we'd skipped, the guilt soon fell away, though the disappointment remained. Other than those two occasions, it was always - every step, every step.

But by the time the French and I were walking my sixth (Domi's  fifth) camino - the Arles Way - we well and truly went to the dark side - reluctantly at first and later quite easily - jumping on public transport to avoid kilometres of hard road and ugliness, in and out of some of the largest towns - a bus into Montpelier, a train out of Toulouse. And then on the Camino del Norte, a bus through the outskirts of Bilbao. And most recently, the metro out of Porto.

Maybe it's an age thing or maybe I no longer feel need to prove anything to myself. Or maybe it's just that I don't want to walk on bitumen roads through urban sprawl - and that's ok. After all, the French and I (like many who walk The Way) are not actually pilgrims! We just like to walk and we like the traditions of the Camino and the kindness of the hospitaleros and locals and the sense of sharing something with other walkers even if your only interaction is hola, ola or bonjour, buen camino, bom caminho or bon chemin. And we like that we can walk with all that we need in our backpacks and make our plans as we go knowing there will be a small village or a large town within a day's walk. And we can find a bed in an albergue, a casa, a gite, a hotel, a hostel, a pensione or a Parador. Still, I would always rather walk than take a ride and was happy that I didn't have to make the choice today. I thought about all of this as we walked our green way through the outskirts of Vigo.

Vigo is the last town on the Coastal Way. Tomorrow we head east and inland to meet the Central Way at the town of Redondela, then pretty much due north to Santiago. We expect it will be quite a change after the relative solitude of the Camino Portuguese de Costa. The Central Way from Porto to Santiago is said to be the second most walked camino after the famous Camino Frances, so we expect to see many more walkers - and a higher percentage of the path on or adjacent to busy roads (the main reason we took the coastal option as far as we could). Still, we're looking forward to this next stage on the road to Santiago. The Way always surprises and these next few days are sure to be no exception.

J x

PS. Our surprise today was arriving at our hotel to find that our 39 euro room is a lovely apartment with a sunny terrace. It says a lot about daily life and priorities on the Camino - we took one look at the terrace and The French and I both had the same thought. This will be perfect for drying our washing.

PPS if anyone is reading this and wondering - I haven't suddenly become more patient with the tech issues which had me abandon writing all but a few sentences in my dairy. Blogger seems to be working better for time being - maybe google had a lot of complaints. So, carpe diem.