Day 5: Facha to Labruja

Monday 23 September

Everyone in the albergue was up and out before sunrise. The young ones seem to like their 30 km walks - I don’t know how they do it every day - but P and I were planning around 18 km to Labruja. (Confession: I did the full 18 km in my walking sandals and socks. I have become one of ‘them’ :))

The Camino route goes through the town of Ponte De Lima, where a huge market was coming to life on the banks of the Lima river. We bought pastries for breakfast, fruit to snack on, and wished we had space - and a fridge - for the meats and cheeses on display. I also bought a fold-up umbrella, hoping it would make walking in the rain - forecast for the next day - easier.

A few hours later, after a gradual climb through Labruja’s narrow cobbled streets, we spotted our albergue on the hillside. Again, no one was around, but there was a note that we could help ourselves to the fresh lemonade in the fridge, shower, relax. Our host, Cecilia, would check us in around 5 pm. Dinner would be at 6. This was a nice surprise, as we knew the restaurant in town was closed on Mondays, and the remains of our morning market haul just wasn’t going to be enough to sustain us.

She prepared a delicious chicken, rice and veg bake for the two of us and the only other guests that night, Canadian sisters Evangeline and Gwen, who had started walking in Lisbon at the beginning of September. A shot of liqueur poured by Cecilia’s hilarious hubby was the perfect nightcap before our planned 6:30 start for the walk to Tui, just across the Spanish border.Read more