The next several entries are going to be about Sarah and I walking the Camino Portugues, one of many pilgrimage walks (or bicycle or, more traditionally, horse rides) to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.
The pilgrimage is a big deal for Catholics, purportedly taking them to the resting place of St. James the apostle. But it's open to everyone, including those making the pilgrimage in a more general sense, seeking a spiritual experience in the walk itself, or even just looking for a cultural or athletic experience.
Our route, the Camino Portugues, is actually a few roughly parallel caminos connecting (usually) Oporto in northern Portugal to Santiago (though some pilgrims start further south in Lisbon). It's about 260km, and we planned to complete it in about twelve days.
For the Camino I'm going to switch back to the format I used when walking Te Araroa, i.e. a short entry for each day of the walk. Beginning with day zero:
A bus ride from Salamanca to Porto. Took two hours longer than expected because I hadn't quite got the gain an hour/lose an hour thing correct when we crossed the border into Portugal.
Misty, rocky hills looked mysterious and grand in Portugal. Rain started a few hours out of Porto, but we managed to get only damp on the 20 minute walk from bus station to hostel (mostly as we tried to find the location and how to get in to the brand new, unsigned place).
We made a late dinner then got to sleep as quickly as possible so we could get on the road early the next day.
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