I just want to walk. That’s the feeling with which I start today. I don’t want to look at the weather forecast to see if it will rain or not. I don’t want to check my guidebook once again to see what to expect for the next stage. I don’t want to check the app on my phone to see where I can sleep tonight. It all does not really change anything and all of these routines sometimes get a bit in the way of walking. And today I am a bit tired of them. So today I will just walk.

Another routine which is inevitable during this trip is the one in which I prepare my backpack. It’s becoming pretty automatic but it always prevents me from leaving rapidly. Today I have all my stuff spread out onto the hostel bed. in the botton of the backpack goes my sleeping bag. Tonight I did not use it so that’s one task less. Then I add my sports shoes which are in a cheap packing cube. After that I fold my clothes and put them into the vacuum bags which once I’ve forced the air out of them become pretty compact. Then above goes the rest of my stuff: bag with socks and underwear, utilities bag, toiletry stuff, synthetic towel. Today it takes me about 15 minutes to be ready to go. Then i brush my teeth, fill my water bottles and search my shoes which are in a separate space so the dirt on them does not enter the sleeping quarters. I zip up my jacket, press the button which opens the sliding door and out I go.

After having some breakfast at a nearby cafe, during which I remove myself from the WhatsApp group that I was added to the day before, I still need to buy some lunch and then I am really ready to go. I enter a local supermarket and to my suprise they have a very strange assortment of products. Then i see some stairs leading to a lower level where I find most of the things I need.  “Strange that a supermarket has a lower floor” I think to myself. Still missing is some bread. Off to a bigger outlet of the same supermarket. Same experience all over again. I only see home appliances and clothes but there must be more because there is a woman at the checkout paging for bread. Again some stairs to a lower level where I find some spelt bread. I pay for the bread and leave the store from the exit on the lower level. “Is the Camino already trying to tell me something” I think to myself, surprised by the repeated experience of having to go down to a lower level to find what I am looking for. Should j go deeper somehow? I play a little bit with the idea in my head while I walk across the river to the north side of town.

I feel that walking is automatic today. Normally I will have to remind myself not to speed but today my tread feels just right. Exactly the way it should be. It’s a nice feeling. As I walk out of the city a cat jumps up onto a small wall. She is enthusiastic and very friendly although. All cats I have seen thus far in Spain have fled away when I walked up to them, but this one is very interested. We talk a bit and I shoot some pictures and happy with this succesfull cat encounter I go on my way again. I don’t want to use my phone too much today. Normally I would check regularly how far I’ve walked already but today I feel like I can trust my intuition. Walking the Camino is pretty easy anyway because it’s really well marked so in theory you could do without a phone or map.

Intuition is what I will need when I come to a junction in the route. It’s either right to stay on the regular route or left to follow what is called the Spiritual way. I feel some decision stress. I’ve been thinking about this option during the past week already. My rational tells me that it’s wise to continue on the regular route to not push myself and avoid any more pain symptoms. I had already conformed myself with the idea. But as said, today I feel different. I don’t feel like having my rational me making the decision and I ask my emotional me what to do. The decision is quick to my surprise. I worry about some difficulties which the spiritual option might present (big climb, boat service which might not be running) but set them aside quickly. I feel like walking and feel that this Spiritual way is a better fit to be doing so. So left it is.

I am very happy with the decision. It feels just right and it even makes me emotional. I feel like I am listening to a voice which normally is not so protagonist and I feel like I am taking care of myself listening to it now. The surroundings immediately seem to change after having turned left. I am going uphill and houses look a bit older here. It feels a bit magical now but probably that has more to do with my inner state than with the surroundings because the landscape is not that different what I have been seeing in the past days. I feel present, even some tears come up, happy to be able to walk like this. The feeling lasts for the better part of an hour. It almost feels like my real Camino has only started just now.  Is this what the lower levels in the supermarkets thus morning were pointing at? Who knows.

After about an hour I arrive at a beautifull  monastery in the town of Poio which is being decorated for Christmas. After collecting a stamp at the town hall in front of the monastery I think about going in but still feel like walking so I continue doing so. The way leads me through the rest of the town and towards the waterfront where I can now see Vigo again. I want to keep my walking momentum and don’t stop for coffee. After some more minutes I arrive at a beach. Adjacent to it lies a beautiful looking old little village. It’s very picturesque and also pretty touristic. I am throw of route by some commercial arrows which seem to be meant to lure pilgrims into spending money inside the village. I walk around a bit and sit down on the local square to prepare my lunch. In the meantime I respond some messages on my phone. Suzanne, a friend, has been writing me continuously today as if she were accompanying me on my walk. She sends me pictures of her walk up the stairs and her coffee stop in her kitchen. It’s nice to play a bit like this.

But I have to get back to walking. So after finishing my lunch with a healthy smoothy I find my way back the the route again. The imb that I worried about earlier seems to start right inside the town. Streets go up quite steeply and before I know it I’ve gained quite some altitude. I will be reaching an altitude of 450 meters which will be the highest point of the whole journey. My walking rhythm is still quite automatic although I am putting in way much effort now. Every now and then I stop to have a look at bay. I can now see Pontevedra, where I started this morning, in the distance. All of the ascent up to here has been on asphalt roads. The road leads further up the hill into a more forest like area up to a viewing point looking out over the Ria de Pontevedra.

From there on the Camino continues it’s on friendlier dirt roads in between what seem to be big plantations of trees. Every once in a while there is a 10 meter gap in between the trees running all the way down the hill. I wonder if those are there as some forest fire protection measure. The walking is not as automatic anymore. I really have to do an effort right now and really feel the soles of my feet. Sometimes some small pain rises up, makes me worry for a bit to then disappear again. At one point I see 2 dog foot prints and my mind starts thinking about wolves and bears. I get a bit scared and notice that I pick up speed. I intentionally slow down again to keep calm and let those thought go by as well.

I’ve reached the top of the hill and my destination cannot be far away now. The way through the forest goes downhill now, but not to sleepy, which causes my automatic stride to return to return again. It takes me about 40 minutes to reach the village of Armenteira which would be a logical stop. After a short coffee stop in the local bar I walk to the hostel which in on the edge of the village next to a school. It does not look like a hostel but more like some local office. On the door it says that the hostel is around the back on a floor on a lower level. I walk around the small building and discover the lower level and see that the hostel is closed. You can call a phone number to get in, but in stead I consider my options.

It’s time to plan a bit now. I still feel like walking for a bit more so I look for other accommodation further on the route and I call ahead to reserve a room. During another call I also find out that the boat service which is part of this route is not running due to the boat being in maintenance. The man on the other side of the phone is really friendly and I discuss alternative options with him which leads to some kind of a plan for the next day.

I have to walk some six more kilometres to get to the hotel I booked. A bit down the road I get onto a path called the Senda da Agua y da Pedra, meaning as much as the Water and Stone Path. It’s a beautiful downhill path besides the small Rio Armenteira. Perfect to end my day and somewhat somewhat similar to the magical path I followed at the end of yesterday’s walk. This one might be even more magical. The trees are covered with moss providing a very green image. There are a lot of ruins of old water mills along the stream which add to the mystique. A very nice which runs all the way up to a highway intersection.

I think I am at my destination already, kind of happy that the walk is over because I am a bit tired. But then i see that the hotel is still about a kilometer further. Walking mode goes back on. In spite of the tiredness I can still feel some eagerness to walk. The path continues with more modest scenery on the other side of the highway. I continue walking besides the stream. The illumination besides the path has turned on now. It has been a long day and I can really feel the tiredness now. I guess I’ve gone deep enough for today.