Chafé to Vila Praia de Ancora – 28kms

Ahhhhhh, the alarm woke me up rudely 6am but took me half an hour to get moving. My calves, my right knee, my ankles, my vasculitis, my everything bloody hurt. And I was so tired. Moved like a zombie to the communal kitchen where I had a cup of tea and some cornflakes for breakfast. Exciting. Not really! We all actually didn’t get going until almost 8am when it was meant to be 7.30am. We were the first pilgrims out of the accommodation and down the cobblestone laneways. The early morning was crisp and cold. Didn’t last. I had decided to take another antihistamine tablet, more neurofen and wet my buff and wrap it on my left lower leg where the rash was really hot and red, itchy and worse than the right side. I felt ok.

We got to Viana do Castelo town after a short rocky down hill slope that had my right knee ringing out in dismay. I temporarily got side tracked by following an arrow to an albergue. Otherwise we re-grouped and sat at a cafe for coffee and Portuguese egg tart. From there we followed the Sendal Littoral route that hugs the coastline. This route lacks markers. There were no Camino signs to follow so pilgrims followed pilgrims blindly. I followed the Camino Ninja app but even then the route was different on there to actually out on the track! It had warm up too soon so the first 6kms along pavement was hot. I would re-wet the buff and replace it on my leg. There were water refill stations on this part for the first 2 kms anyway.

There’s nothing on this section. One restaurant that we thankfully stopped at and had a long 2 hour lunch. The food was great. The drinks only better. I tried their crème brûlée dessert that actually is completely different but very nice! Karen that was walking with a pronounced hikers hobble was talked into a chocolate mousse. All good! Two pilgrims that we met at the albergue yesterday caught up to us today. I couldn’t know their names only they are from Toronto in Canada. A lovely couple. We shared some laughs. Mr D still on a no alcohol binge had two Pepsi’s don’t know why! We had cocktail and wine. Karen and I were feeling very happy again! I almost left my camera behind.

Outside had a cool breeze when we eventually left the restaurant. It looked misted over but probably just sea salt spray. It didn’t last long and the sun came out again. We had to navigate some uphill cobblestone paths after lunch and then the Camino track disappeared as no markers, I ended up following these orange ribbons on trees that I believed had been put there for the pilgrims. It wasn’t even 30 minutes since leaving and Karen was following me, Mr D was following another pathway and had 5 pilgrims following him as he bush bashed back to the route. Karen had an urgent need for number two thinking it was the chocolate mousse. We were at a middle of nowhere pathway intersection with bushes and trees. I said to her she could just go here as there wasn’t anyone around. So she popped around the side and squatted down with her pants down to do her thing and next thing 3 cars drove pass. They hooted at her as all she could do was give a thumbs up.

We eventually found Mr D in the confusing maze of tracks and continued onwards even if it wasn’t the official route. Many pilgrims were confused just the same and going down different pathways. Poor Karen thought she had to go again but was a false alarm, was only a fart. 😆 Actually she started feeling ill and vomited so maybe it was one of her mussels at lunch that had gone rotten? As we moved closer on this long day of walking to our destination and hadn’t seen many pilgrims, suddenly I turned back to check on Mr D and Karen to see a bloody highway of pilgrims following behind them. Where the hell had they come from?! We allowed all 60 to pass through 😆. Never a good thing to be on a single person track with people hot on your heels.

Vila Praia De Ancora, a rather pretty seaside village loomed into view as we navigated the wooden boardwalks into town. Quite a number of missing wooden planks. You had to watch your feet always as it was easy for a foot to fall into a hole in the boardwalk. Some planks are loose at one end so spring upwards as you step onto it. All in all, maintenance is desperately required. My rash was starting to flare up after 28kms today. We always have trouble finding the accommodation. My initial map was correct but we followed Karen another 200 meters up the street and back again before the man let us in at the right place. A swanky upstairs apartment with a lift! No stairs required. He was very friendly, said he would send us information on catching a boat tomorrow into Spain but didn’t. We have a lovely apartment to ourselves to enjoy for all of 5 minutes again as it was after 5.30pm when we got in.

Still had to throw off socks and shoes straight away, wet my buff and cool my rashes down, elevating my feet as did Karen. Mr D moaned about us delaying his drinking time as he hadn’t had any alcohol all day. Eventually we went to look for dinner. I was the one with the hikers hobble this time. We enjoyed traditional Portuguese Francesinha sandwiches for our last night in Portugal and boy were they huge and incredibly delicious as well as incredibly unhealthy. Artery clogging food. Lots more booze too helped. Lovely evening. Shame again our day is too long and we have no time to enjoy exploring the village where we are at. My vasculitis actually looked better after lunch but now hot and red again. Karen’s balls are hurting again. Mr D, well he is just bloody fine! His mild cold is improving. His minor foot ailment seems manageable enough. He is just winging it and it is working well in his favour. So tomorrow we go into Espana! 😊

Tomorrow is a shorter day! After lunch I couldn’t bear the 10 kilometres more but I did manage. Mr D all day was ready to catch a taxi. Not that he needs to! I was seriously thinking of that or a train. But no, we all managed fine. Karen is feeling better. Now I just have to get rid of this vasculitis. Today, my backpack felt good. It wasn’t lighter. I have just got use to it now and the weight. It doesn’t feel painful on my hips anymore. Maybe my hips have gone numb? But feels comfortable and light if you could believe that!