Greg's Wanderings

Tag: Valenca

  • Day 21 – Valenca to Tui

    Day 21 – Valenca to Tui

    Oct 1

    My leg pain for worse overnight which sealed the deal on staying in the area.  I packed up my things and walked into Spain.  

    My hotel is a bit off the Camino, but is comfortable and cheap.  I plan to stay for at least two nights to give my leg a break.  

    When I took my shoes off at the end of yesterday’s walk, I discovered that the backing behind my heal had disintegrated. Time for new shoes.  Fortunately, Tui is one of the most popular starting points for the Camino and there are plenty of gear shops.   

    I ate lunch at my hotel and then walked back down the hill to the business district.  I bought a pair of Hoka trail runners and stopped by a pharmacy for some anti-inflammatory cream.  

    I had planned to grab an Uber from the short ride back up the hill, but discovered Uber doesn’t offer service here. I ordered a cab online, but after waiting nearly 30 minutes while it said it was  processing my request, I finally started walking back up the hill to the hotel.  When the hotel was in site, I finally got a phone call that a driver has been dispatched – I canceled the request. 

    I had stopped at a grocery store while in town and bought food for dinner.  I spent the rest of the day & night in bed Auth my leg elevated. 

    View of Tui from the Valenca side of the bridge.
    My left foot is in Spain, where it is 10:45 AM. My right foot is in Portugal where it is 9:45 AM.
    Welcome to Spain!
    My hotel room while I rest my leg
    Time for new shoes.
    Fortunately, there is a restaurant at the hotel
    The view as I walked to my hotel.
  • Day 20 – Labruja to Valenca

    Day 20 – Labruja to Valenca

    Sept 30

    Today’s walk started with a climb up and over Alto da Portela Grande de Labruja.  Even the name seemed intimidating.  It is the highest point on the entire Portuguese Camino. And a quick look at  the Route in Profile feature on the Buen Camino app reinforced this concern.  

    How to psych yourself out about an upcoming hill.

    And then I realized that in the photo above, the vertical scale was for 400 meters while the horizontal was 25 meters.  This discrepancy made the hill seem 60 times as steep as it actually was.  A little quick math and I realized the average grade over the first 3 kilometers would be about 6%.  

    I’m not saying there were not some steep stretches, but nothing to freak out about.  

    Photo gallery of the  climb 

    The hill started on cobblestone
    Then more of a dirt road
    The District of Labruja wished us well as we left
    Logging operations seemed to be removing the invasive and highly combustible eucalyptus to mitigate the wildfire risk for the native pines
    The trail became more of a rock gully
    A monument about halfway up. Lots of people left their own rocks here
    Onward and upward
    The view back down
    I left my own rock on a post at the top.
    An interesting piece of art at the summit

    Once on the other side and mostly to level ground, I came across a man who had turned his backyard into a bar for pilgrims.  I stopped and had a latte and an omlette (€6). 

    I was grateful for the stop, as services were again in short supply.  I did pass on one Cafe that I came upon a little too soon after my omlette.  Too bad because the next option was at the 16k mark.   At a taverna, I had a prosciutto sandwich and a coke (€3.60).

    I walk faster than most people and was the second to leave the hostile today. As a result, there have been few familiar faces on the trail.  Nuom & Ana reached the first bar just as I was leaving and Nina just passed the taverna as I sit here resting my feet and enjoying my cold coke.  

    After lunch, I wanted to split the remaining distance and take a break at about 20k.  As I topped a hill on a cobblestone track there was a food truck at the 19.95 mark.  The truck was run by a Belarusian woman selling homemade peroges.  She was quite the salesperson.  I bought a peroge for later and a beer for now.  

    I stopped to take a photo for two young women and I must have dropped my hat when I did.  I didn’t notice for another kilometer and by then there was no way I was going back for it.  I sent a message to one of my friends who was behind me and she looked, but did not find.  

    We are staying tonight inside the ancient fortress walls of Valenca. The Hostel Bulwark is really nice.  I’m staying in a 5 bunk/10 bed pod.  Dave & Tory are here too, along with some friends Heather & Frank who are starting from here.  Nuom is also in our pod along with a new lady, Stephanie from Nova Scotia, my upper bunkmate is Micky from Ireland.

    Also here are Ana, Ruth & Taya; and from my pre-Porto Camino family, Barney & Jenn.  

    Barney, who has been riding his bike is giving it to Ruth so that she can continue on  despite her injured knee. 

    Speaking of injuries, I can really begin to feel the  toll this is taking on my body.  My feet, heals, shins, knees and hips are all hurting.  Last night I mapped out my remaining days to Santiago and booked a hotel for my arrival.  Now I’m second-guessing myself and thinking I may need to take another rest day soon.  

    My omlette reward for crossing the mountain
    The foundation of this footbridge dates back to Roman times, but the upper parts are much newer: 12th century.
    This metal steel frame made this view picture perfect
    A cobblestone- free trail section
    Chestnuts are all over the ground.
    A Belarusian woman was selling homemade peroges from this truck
    Advertising for the hostel where I spent the night.
    Selfie by a Camino shell. Shortly after taking this, I discovered I had lost hat
    So close to Spain
    Entry into the fortress city of Valenca
    Another view of the fortress walls
    View of our bunk room.
    My replacement hat