Day 6 & 7 Camino Portuguese to Santiago 20 & 21 Septemebr 2025

 

 

 

September 20 ,2025 

Day 6 Tomaar to Alvaiazere 33kmThere were a few hairy moments. I basically couldn't find cafes as I mentioned earlier. Finally got one in about the 18 kilometer mark. Had to deviate off the course and walk back up the hill. Continued Just before that,  I took one of the Camino courses (there were two alternatives) . I went through a forested area that looked like it wasn't well walked. That was a bit uh hairy, but got through. It was obviously getting warmer. But about 9ks from the end, met up with Chiara, whom I had walked with between  Goleja and Tomar.  We thought that there would be about 6ks out from our destination, but there wasn't any. I just continued walking and she had a rest.  I managed to get my accommodation, had a good lunch of  soup and apparently looked like a set menu so I got a fish which was good. First big meal. Got some shopping done and didn't have dinner. Went to bed about 9. Got up at about 3am. Tried to sleep a little bit more but got out of the door about 5:40. It's pitch black. and quiet. But hopefully I can get 10ks done before it gets warmer. Have a coffee break and then get another 10ks done and then the final 10 to 12ks into a place called Rabacal which I'm hoping that I will have a bed in a single room if not a bunk bed and then after that it's on to Coinbra which is one of the bigger towns on the route and there's lots of accommodation so that will be good and then after that it's just another three nights to Porto so making reasonable progress. No illnesses or injuries . I am  feeling tired at the end of the walk and just wanting to relax or try to do some meditation today just to try and quieten the mind a little bit. But otherwise it's been great last two or three days. Haven't really seen too many pilgrims and haven't had too many conversations. So, the only communications obviously have been the social media platforms, family and friends. Other than that, it's been really peaceful and uneventful, which is absolutely great. People have been friendly by and large. Language has always been a difficulty. I wish I knew a little bit more Portuguese, but otherwise it's been good. 

 

 Day 7 Walk

 

 

Day 7 September 21 2025 

Today is day eight but just a summary of day seven. I walked to Rabacal  turned out to be about 33 kilometers. The morning started really well as I've described previously. Ended up having a cafe break about 11ks into the walk. next to a church. Sat in the church for 5 minutes contemplating and  meditate for 5 minutes wonderful peaceful and actually the whole walk was quite a nice walk on day seven Sunday as it didn't get hot and there were cafes along the way so I had enough fluids in me and food and generally most of the individuals that I had met earlier during the Camino were along in this section. We ended up Uh we ended up at the Abergue in Rabacal. I got there about just past 2. It was super busy so it took a while. Didn't manage to get lunch. which was soup and chips, vegetable soup was really good. Then managed to get my washing done. Managed to have a little bit of a rest and shower. There were no individual rooms, so I had a bunk bed which was going to be interesting. Basically then in the evening the group gathered, had a long chat with Chiara She's from Italy. She's into Tao, but not Taoism. Not quite sure what that is, but it's more like a philosophy. And we had a great discussion on Buddhism.  Then there is Edward. He's from Kazakhstan, but lives in Germany. Some sort of electrical engineer on ships or he works for a company that builds these  power generators on ships and he was also into the spirituality and talked about Kailash which was a sacred mountain in Tibet. So quite an interesting eclectic discussion that evening. Then there was Emmanuel from Italy young man He's going out to Australia on a working visa next year. He has obviously walked the Camino  Frances and is now walking  the Portuguese.  he seemed pretty laidback and relaxed. Again, interesting discussions around religion. Then there is Barry. He's from Holland, civil servant in the Hague and he had some mental health issues and uses meditation to help him and was just walking for that purpose. So it was a really nice sociable group. There were the two Aussies that I met in Golega and they were still behind but may see them down the track. Other than that, it's been a Really pleasant 8th day starting out from Rabbakal heading to Coimbra. I booked the hotel which is good costs about 55 Euros but it's peaceful and quiet and hopefully I'll have a good break and it's 4 days to Porto which I should get through on Friday. Hope to then have a day break on Saturday  before then starting the last final leg to Santiago. Edward was talking about taking the litoral  or central route rather than the coastal route simply because the coast is just a lot of hotels and modern buildings rather than the more tradition culture of Portugal. So, I'll consider that after I leave Porto to see whether I head inland and I'll just see and that may work better in terms of distances between towns and accommodation. But aside from that,  it's been so far uneventful and pleasant, peaceful, all I can hope for in a walk. No injuries which is the most important thing. The left leg is a little bit more tired because of the ligaments being weak but nothing significant. Um hopefully I'll make good progress today and find a cafe in a couple of kilometers and have a break. 

 

 

Day 5 Camino Santiago 19 September 2025

 

 

Day 5 19 September 2025 This is a basic summary. I started out from Golega to Tomaar  . Finished it in about 32 kilometers, 33 km.  I started a little bit late about 6:30 and it's quite a pleasant walk through the town and then the fields eventually coming to little small settlements along the way. There were abandoned estates. Walk by five cats sitting peacefully. They looked well fed, but there was no one in the area. So, I'm not sure whether they basically brought food, but it was very  eerily quiet in these abandoned estates that once were probably significant  farm households. Basically passed some small towns. I had a break at about 10 11ks in to the walk at a cafe and had coffee and the biggest meringue ever and continued walking. to a small settlement called GU famous for the architecture of the church which looked very postmodernist and then from there it was fairly grudging walk into Tomaar through the side of a national highway with the cars speeding by. It was obviously warm by then. Ran into Edward from Germany when I stopped at the last cafe, 7ks from Toma, I had Coke, ran into five Italians walking, very jovial. One of them,  Joseph was very talkative and had done quite a few Caminos, but in stages. They were walking to Porto and and they'll come back next year to walk the second leg from Porto to Santiago.  I passed them as they were basically waiting for their friends. That was probably just a boring walk from the suburbs of Tomaar into Tomaar. Toma is a fairly oldish city. I understand from the middle ages. It was a Templar settlement.  I stayed in a place called Residential Lutz. Pretty basic hotel, but right in  next to this town square and everything was convenient. I think I only had about 2 L of fluid. It was unfortunately too hot. On the fifth day. Um 31ks. Lunch was a toasted tomato and cheese sandwich. Managed to get an ice cream as well. And for dinner, I had a vegetarian curry with naan, which was pretty good. Again, can't eat the whole meal, but at least I've got uh food in as I was rapidly losing weight not being able to eat a lot of food. The hotel didn't have any air conditioning, but it was pretty comfortable. Managed to get some hours of sleep. Got up at 5 and basically set off by about 5:40. There was no one about in the streets and hopefully I'll get to a coffee shop soon. soon enough to have a cafe coffee and something to eat on starting on day six which is to a town called Alz which is again about 31 32 kilometers and hopefully um I'll be able to get there early enough before it gets too warm. Although So today, Saturday the 20th of September, it's not expected to be uh terribly warm.

 

 

Day 8 & 9 Camino Portuguese

 

 

Day 8 September 22 2025

This is a summary of day eight as I walked from Rabakal to Coinbra . A beautiful city and took about 31 kilometers with no major issues other than the first 15 kilometers there were and noticed the fig trees and the olive trees but I didn't eat any of the fruit.There were quite a few towns along the way. Most of it was tarmac. There was obviously some trail. Again pretty beautiful scenery. I walked for most of it with a Dutch guy called Barry who was having shin pain. When we eventually got to the cafe at the 15k mark, gave him some neurofen that settled the pain down a bit. The rest of the walk was pretty good. It obviously got very busy towards Coimbra. Bigger roads, more traffic, but coming into the city and the river was spectacular. I made the mistake of walking up the hill to the Coimbra University's library which I accidentally had put into my Google Maps instead of the hotel. The Library is famous because JK Rowling taught English in Portugal and the library apparently mirrors the magical library in Hogwarts So I ended up doing an extra 1 and a half kilometers uphill. The hotel I booked was called Zero Box which basically had no windows. It had no TVs. It was just a really nice quiet room with private facilities. And I managed to get a good rest. The whole group on the WhatsApp that had been walking through the whole period up to Coimbra got together at a restaurant called Passport  at 7 and we had cocktails. As I didn't drink, I had a mocktail which was nice, but it was getting late so I didn't stay for dinner. Had a vegetarian burger meal from Burger King and went to bed at by 10:00. Had a really good night's sleep. Got up  once only and then got up again at 5:30am , got ready and left by about just past 6. So it was an easy quiet walk out of Coimbra along the river and then cutting inland. Didn't see anyone except another pilgrim which I followed for most of it. I got lost at some point at a cross junction and so he got ahead. But eventually I found the route and tried to find a cafe. So took a detour, but that cafe was closed. But eventually at about the 10 km mark, I found a cafe and ran into the Dutch couple Sonia and Michel, which was nice. They were basically finishing up and leaving. I had a nice break here with some chocolates, grapes, Pepsi, water, and coffee. So, at least now I've got enough route to get me through for the next 10 or 15ks. But hopefully it'll be another cafe in about 8 or 9ks from here. I'm planning to take this fairly easy as I don't really have to get to the next point by 2:00 pm and that is a town called Anadia which is about 34 kilometers in so at the moment it's only about 8:30 in the morning.

 

 

 

Day 9 23 September 2025 

A summary of day nine which is the 23rd of September. I reached  Anadia. It was about 33 kilometers. So wasn't as long as  I was expecting. Fairly busy roads. Did get hot towards the end. as expected, but at least there were a couple of cafes, stopped at two. Um, got to the hotel, had no issues, had dinner, which was pizza. I had a long chat with Sonia and Michelle, Dutch couple,  and talked about life in general. They're heading the same way and doing very  well. So,  we're the three that started from Lisbon and saw them first just after Villa franca De Xira ,that are still together. I also ran into Edward whose foot was swollen so he slowed down and stopped a town back from Anadia. Other than that, don't know anyone else on the route at the present moment. I did have a chat with Paul on WhatsApp, and depending on whether I finish early, I'll see if I can get out over to Portsmouth for a visit, but the feeling  is it's down to Lisbon as soon as I finish to spend a few days there. I'll just see how it goes. Butt otherwise, it was a fairly good leg of around 33 kms and I'll be in Porto on Friday. So there's three more walks and about 90 kilometers to go or just under 100kms to get to Porto which is over the halfway mark by then. Other than that I'm trying to take this easy today. Not getting any injuries.  Today's start was at 6:30 am. I didn't sleep as well because the phone rang at about 2:00. So, I didn't get to bed till about 4 am. But I still got enough sleep. I hope to get to the cafe and have coffee and something to eat in an hour or two. The walk was pretty quiet. The sad thing is I saw a dead cat on the road and another cat seated by it side and it moved away as I approached. Just reflection of life still goes on no matter what. But  generally the weather's been okay. There is an expectation on Sunday of a storm, so hopefully that doesn't happen because that's when I start my walk out of Porto . But we'll see how it goes.