Day 3: Vila Chā 26km

It was a wild night in Porto for the festival. There was a lot of loud music, the sky was filled with Chinese lanterns, and the loudest fireworks I've ever heard were going off all night. We thought we would probably never get to sleep, but somehow we did.

We had planned to leave at 0700, but by the time we checked out, it was 0720. The city looked like a bomb had gone off, but there was an army of council workers clearing it all up. It looked worse than the aftermath of a Rangers match (win or lose).

Within a few minutes, we were at the river. I was using the Gronze App but would only be checking it occasionally. As I said to an older American lady, we met on the way to the river: if you keep the river and the sea to your left, you're going the right way. The App showed that a bridge we would need to cross was closed for refurbishment. However, there was a courtesy bus that would take us the long way round.

When we got there, it wasn't clear where to get the bus, but an older Portuguese man recognised us as two hapless foreign pilgrims, and guessed our predicament. He was the first person I had met in Portugal who didn't speak English. Fortunately, Portuguese is similar to Spanish, and I understood his instructions. The camino is full of the kindness of strangers and often gives you the opportunity to be the person being kind. Within the first 10km, we had the opportunity to help an Irish lady with some important App information and another group of ladies who were trying (without success) to work out how to use their walking poles correctly. There were about fifteen pilgrims on the courtesy bus, which tool us the long way around the bridge closure, and so although it was the end of the season, it was already the busiest camino I have been on.

We began to notice that all the cafés, bars, and shops were closed, it turned out that it was a public holiday in Porto due to the fact that everyone was partying into the wee small hours. So, we decided to stop at the first one that was open, and it turned out to be metres from where we got off the bus.

More than half the walk today was on boardwalk, which allowed for a good pace of 4.5km per hour, which was good as 26km was a lot for the first day. The truth was dawning on me already that I was not as fit as I could be, but then reader, neither are you, so don't judge me too harshly.

As we arrived at Vila Chā we met an elderly lady from Glasgow who was delighted to hear Scottish voices, we chatted for a few minutes, she was looking for somewhere open to buy water, fortunately we had passed a bar that was open just along the road.

We had to get moving, though. We were hoping to stay in the municipal albergue, and you can't reserve a bed in them, it is first come, first served. When we arrived, there were just four other pilgrims, so we were sure to get beds. It turned out to be one of the nicest albergues I have ever stayed in. The beds were clean and comfy and the showers and toilets were very good. It had a good drying area outside in the courtyard. It turned out to be a good choice. The albergue filled up with other pilgrims over the next few hours.

After a fabulous and inexpensive steak dinner, it was time to get ready for bed. The camino waits for no one.Read more