September 25/9/25; 26kms

Well, yet another long day and too hot today, reached 29. Phew! Was exhausted from yesterday and slept like a log. Didn’t hear Mr D coughing at all, and the alarm rudely woke me up. We got a quick breakfast in our lovely apartment. Left around 7.45am and started along the Sendal littoral route out to Esposende before changing to the official coastal route to our final destination Chafé.

Karen’s balls were feeling better today but not her left big toe that created much discomfort and pain throughout the day and involved two stops to readjust her bandages & wool on her foot. Also Karen had to go pee like every 5 minutes and Mr D was getting fed up with the constant ‘OMG! I need to go again! I’m busting to pee!’ So he told her politely to stop saying it out loud and just do it! I was getting the usual hikers rash on my lower legs and this became quite a problem later in the day. Mr D on the other hand just had a mild cold and without any training prior, seem to be walking the distances just fine, no pain, no rashes, no discomfort.

The walk into Esposende was fine, Mr D went ahead and this time stopped at the first cafe. Karen and I did a detour to a cute little pilgrim stop that you could get a stamp at, a toilet (for Karen!) and souvenirs. So got me a few more stuff to squeeze into my already heavy and full backpack. Mr D was complaining it was hot and it was only 9.40am! But yes, I knew today was going to be unbearable with the heat. So when we caught up, we were just happy to continue walking. Though we did stop at a supermarket/cafe for a coffee and Portuguese custard tarts. There, Mr D spoke with a young man pilgrim from Germany called Oscar. Later, Oscar caught up to us and walked a little with us.

We were following the narrow cobblestone laneways and getting glimpses of the ocean. The temperature was rising and getting uncomfortably warm. As Karen and I caught up with Mr. D, he was in a conversation with some pilgrims who were saying, ‘You must go to the bar you have just passed! OMG, it’s amazing! The best bar! You just can’t miss the experience!’ So, they sold it to us. Mr. D, who never backtracks, made an exception today to backtrack 90 metres. The bar was pretty cool, full of so many weird and wonderful things, with pictures of pilgrims on the walls. The older gentleman there didn’t really speak English but was so warm and welcoming to us. We had beers for 1.10 euros each! Then he brought over biscuits, honey, jam, and peanuts for us to enjoy. When Mr. D left before Karen and me, he invited us behind the bar and offered us some white port. Then he offered us red port! It was well worth the detour!

So now feeling very happy, we set off after Mr D. Soon the alcohol wore off and the heat started to wear me down. So was my sore battered feet and hot calves. The hikers rash was getting very angry, feeling itchy. My legs were feeling heavy of lactic acid buildup. They just couldn’t move nimble enough. It was getting to mid afternoon. I desperately wanted to rest. However Mr D was somewhere in front looking for a cafe. Very hard to find food places. There wasn’t anything! We moved into a shady woodland walk. Something different for a change. Though hard to navigate trunk roots, stones and all with tired and sore legs. Crossed the river and then had a steep uphill on cobblestones. Went up forever! By the time I reached the top I must have been beetroot red in the face. There was a cute albergue! Mr D was waiting inside. I poured cold water on my head, cooled down and we had a late simple albergue lunch 3.30pm. As there were no cafes. No restaurants. The owner asked if we wanted drinks. She accepted only alcohol requests and Mr D wanted a coke. She looked at him as if he was mad. We ordered wine. She was happy with us ladies. 😆 Mr D was happy to see a guitar there and played some tunes. Karen was impressed with said albergue thinking they would be terrible so didn’t want to stay in one. This one changed her mind.

So it was 4pm. Pilgrims probably felt sorry for us or quietly laughed at us as we left their cool, peaceful accommodation and returned into the heat to climb more steep hills. More woodland paths. Must have been 5kms but felt double that to Chafé. I was feeling worse and worse. Karen that had nagging foot problems all day was feeling light footed and great. Mr D was ambling along just fine, no cares in the world. We made it to this Bed and Breakfast we had booked. This one has rooms to accommodate several lots of pilgrims so wasn’t just us booked in. But Mr D and I have bedroom one with own private bathroom. Sweet! The first thing I did was throw off socks and shoes. My lower legs covered in a red angry rash. I was suffering so bad I just stayed in the bedroom while Mr D and Karen joined fellow pilgrims downstairs in the garden over a bottle of wine. It was after 5.30pm when we had got it. Incredible long day, longer than yesterday. I felt miserable as I heard them laughing and having fun. I could barely walk around the bedroom.

You have to take vasculitis seriously. So I had a cold shower and put an ice pack on the really red rash parts. I could move around gingerly but wasn’t about to walk around town. And I needed to elevate my legs as long as possible. Put on compression socks and took antihistamine for the itching. I could cry really, tomorrow is another 26km walk. The only relief is the temperature is meant to be cooler around 21 degrees. The heat is not helping my leg rashes at all. Especially walking all day in the heat. Worse case scenario I change into my Hoka sandals to let my skin breathe. Hopefully it will be better in the morning.

Dinner was pretty low key at a cafe across the road basically. Apparently not many options available in town. Two Singapore brothers had the smarts to buy some food and were cooking a feast in the accomodation kitchen. Our food was pretty simple and not exciting at all. I think my pizza was from a box and put in the microwave. Definitely the pizza in Paris was superior. No cocktails available. Dry white wine just had to do. Time to rest and prepare for another early start tomorrow. 🤞