Camino Portuguese Part II - Day One

May 30 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

Ponte de Lima to Labruja
~9.75 km/6 miles

Since I took the bus to Ponte de Lima instead of walking I was able to split my planned 27.6 km day into two walking days. Today's walk was very short.

I had booked a guest house in Labruja and though I wanted to get a fairly early start to beat the heat I was worried that I would get there too early. But I sent the owner a WhatsApp message around 9 am asking if I could leave my backpack until my room was ready. She responded promptly that I was welcome to come in whenever I got there, and that my room was already ready.

There was quite a bit of elevation gain over the 9.75 km, so I was happy that I was walking before the day heated up.

It was a really nice walk through a lush green valley.

When I arrived at the guesthouse there were signs directing me to the back door, which was open. No one was home, so I didn't know which room was mine, so I sent the owner another message, and she told me that I could choose any of the three guest rooms. So I picked the room with the prettiest bed. 😊

After a shower and washing my clothes I decided to set out for the only place to eat in the area - a small store/café which was about 20 minutes away.

On the way there I had to cross a small stream on a suspension bridge, and I noticed some trails down by the stream. After my lunch of a ham and cheese sandwich, chips, and a Coke I decided to explore the trails on my way back. I discovered that there was a small "Ecovia" along the stream, and like the Route of Stone and Water there were old watermills on either side.

It was getting pretty hot again, so I was glad that I was able to explore the area without my backpack.

It seemed that I might be the only guest at the house that day until about 5 pm, when Julie, a young German woman arrived. I was happy to have the company! Our hostess made us a dinner of steak, fried egg, plain spaghetti noodles, and salad. I smooshed my egg into my pasta and topped it with parmesan cheese, which tasted quite good.Read more