Arcade to Pontevedra (3/10/25) – 14.7kms

As was the second night in Vigo, last night in our lovely apartment it was very humid inside and I woke up around 3am covered in sweat inside my silk liner as I wasn’t taking any more chances with bed bugs. No fan in this room so I opened up the window to let the cool air in and fell back asleep. We had decided on a late 9am start as we were having a short day’s walk. And the apartment had tea, coffee, cereal, bread, croissants, butter, jam, the works! So we had a leisurely morning get up. Wasn’t feeling much hunger for breakfast but as been over eating so much.

So we set off a little after 9am and Mr D didn’t stay long with us. Like only for 50 meters as Karen and I went to get stamps for our passports he kept going and we didn’t see him for the entire walk. Lots of pilgrims were setting off, like lots! We leave Arcade over a gorgeous stone bridge, reminding me of the bridges on the Camino Frances. There we took lots of photos and I had my gigantic ‘stick’ out which is my insta 360 camera on a special edition selfie stick that goes 300cms.

We didn’t realise there would be more hill climbs! More steep cobblestone paths, lots of walkers, lots of cyclists. We climbed and climbed, got another cool wax stamp on our passports. Made multiple toilet stops in the bushes, you could see the popular spots littered with used toilet paper everywhere. This whole section had no public toilets, no real villages to walk through and one coffee van stop for the pilgrims. We hit the bitumen pavement and the elevation was much better, more gentle inclines and descents. Yesterday Mr D had a terrible walking day, today was Karen’s turn. She had a great day yesterday with no foot complaints and no struggles after lunch that she normally gets. But today her left foot was hurting badly. She stopped a couple of times to readjust her toe condoms. But it didn’t help and the pain only got worse and made her walk horrible. I just trudged along same, same. My vasculitis was trying hard to return again. My bites had stopped itching. But I did wake up with a headache and after the hill climbs it had subsided away.

We got into Pontevedra at 1pm so wasn’t too bad. Mr D had been waiting an hour for us as we arrived at a restaurant for lunch. Karen was in a world of pain. We had Aperol Spritz but the people didn’t make it properly it was very bitter. Then we had a 3 course pilgrim menu which was only 2 course. The waiter wasn’t very efficient at his job and kept getting our orders wrong. After our lunch we had 1km to our accommodation. It’s an albergue but we have booked the lower apartment that has two rooms, bathroom, kitchen and living area for ourselves. Now I’m super paranoid about bed bugs. This is an ideal place for them even though you can pick them up anywhere. Mr D and I finally had time together to go for a wander and have a beer, get a bottle of vino. We are in the old part of town and it’s very pretty with its maze of cobblestone laneways. Karen was tucked up in bed, feeling cold, feeling miserable. A short day, but hard day for some. Oh we met the young China ladies from yesterday. They didn’t make it to Pontevedra yesterday as planned and stayed in Arcade too. It was a pretty strenuous section.
Now you will have to imagine the landscape. I’ve downsized photos to an ugly blurry quality picture and WordPress still says it is the incorrect size. So words will have to do. We have 3 days left to get to Santiago. I’m determined to push through however our friend Karen, hopefully will be ok to walk on tomorrow.

We see lots of pilgrims of all sorts, a lot carry tiny day backs so they are getting their luggage transported ahead. There are groups. Couples. Overweight and struggling ones. Pilgrims with obvious knee or ankle problems hobbling along. Ones that smell bad according to Karen 😄 And the walk today lovely besides the hills, besides the copious amounts of used toilet paper and rubbish on the ground. Besides parts that smelt like a sewage station and reeked to high heaven. The alternative walk around the long winding stream was beautiful and shady. Waiting until the restaurants open for dinner now even though I’m full! Better have tapas. Love Spanish tapas ☺️