David Friedlieb

A long day at 24km in warm dry conditions.

We left our hotel after a hearty buffet breakfast. It was a delicious 14 Celsius as we proceeded up beside the beaches.

Soon the mouth of the
Minho River came into view . It forms the border with Spain. A big mountain looms over the inlet from the Spanish side. A big old fort, presumably Spanish sits on an island right at the mouth of the river.

We walked about 10k to Caminha, situated a bit upstream on the Portuguese side. There was a very pleasant section through tall forest as we approached the south bank of the Minho.

At the bank a water taxi service was available to take pilgrims directly across into Spain if they are walking the coastal route to Santiago.

We farewelled some Irish blokes we’d met here and headed inland into Caminha proper for a juice and coffee. It was a long walk around the riverbank to get there.

After our coffee we continued another 14km upstream on the south bank of the Minho. It was a pretty long hot trudge in 24C temps and not a lot of shade. In much of it were on an “ecopista” bike/foot path right beside the river. Fairly scenic at times.

We found a restaurant open just uphill from the Esqueiro train stop and had some lunch.

Finally reached our digs 2km beyond the town of Vila Nova de Cerveira about 6pm. It’s the Initel hotel.

Washing, buffet dinner and off to bed. Next few days are shorter. Tomorrow we cross the river near Valença into Spain.Les mer