I won’t be boring you with more numbers today. Ok, just with one then, today I passed the 100 km mark. Quite the achievement and seemingly something very important, but in fact just another moment in quite a fluent fourth day on the Camino.

It’s seven o clock on the morning when the speakers on the church opposite the hostel drill out their announcement tune followed by the 7 rings indicating the time. I am already awake but still it’s not the most relaxing way to start your day. I turn around another time in my warm sleeping bag while the other pilgrims in the room already start moving and preparing their stuff for the day to come. After half an hour I also start moving. Pilgrim life means going to bed quite early and also getting up early.

Today I have breakfast at the hostel. I took some bread from the restaurant where I had dinner yesterday and together which some cheese which I still have in my backpack it makes for a good enough sandwich to start the day. I combine it with a free orange from the hostel and I also try to get a coffee with milk from the coffee machine in the hostel kitchen. I insert 60 eurocents and press the corresponding button but the machine only spits out some hot milk. No coffee to start the day. I take some hot chocolate in stead. A bit of a disappointment as I was glad to see that there was a coffee machine the night before.

I am not so keen on leaving the hostel grounds just yet. It’s still raining outside but according to the weather forecast it should clear up and we might even see some sun today. I don’t want to postpone my departure too long either. When the clock strikes nine I put on my walking shoes and close the hostel door behind me. I’ve chosen not to wear my rain trousers which seems to be a good choice as it’s just drizzling and in such conditions the ultra light speed hiking trousers, which are turning out to be quite a good purchase, perform quite well I have discovered.

I feel my calves somewhat due to some of the climbing I did yesterday. I also feel a bit of pain in my knees which I am more or less getting used to. I shared the night at the hostel amongst others with Serge, a self declared monk who spends his days walking the different versions of the Camino and picking up lots of litter along the way. Every now and then he performs his miracles whenever a fellow pilgrim is in need of one. Yesterday he performed one on my knees when I mentioned that I knees were hurting a little bit after the long day of walking. He put his hands on them and started to pray. Afterwards I felt some relief but know I can feel my knees again. I assume it’s due to the humidity and the fact that I’ve just started walking and my knees probably are still a little bit stiff.

I start out on another road without sidewalks but soon the Camino deviates to smaller town streets and rural ways. After a bit I walk past a coffee shop and I think about getting that coffee that I didn’t have at breakfast. I decide to walk on. I’ve only walked for 40 minutes and it’s a bit early to already be doing my first pit stop. Surely there will be another opportunity in a short while. When I walk in between some meadows I hear a sound coming from a nearby village. It’s a radio that’s playing quite loudly. “Tonight is gonna be a good night. Tonight is gonna be a good good night”. I like the sound of that message and take it to be some positive announcement for things to come.

This is the first day that I am walking on some muddy paths where I really have to watch my step to avoid getting my feet wet or my shoes really dirty. I don’t mind. It’s fun to do and luckily the obstacles are not all that many. When I arrive at a medieval bridge I notice that is had started to rain a bit harder. The light drizzle now has changed into a more intense when. Enough motivation tu put on my rain trousers again. When I look at the bridge and the large quantity of water which flows beneath it I still am thinking about the coffee I did not have yet.

A bit later when I am walking again I find that I am walking quite fast. A bit too fast to my liking. Why I am in a hurry? Is it because of the next coffee stop which I am keen to arrive at or is it the rain which is driving me forward? I intentionally slow down but repeatedly have to remember myself to do so. It’s a coming and going of thoughts and sensations. At some moments I am fed up with the rain but I notice that those feelings disappear with the same speed as they come up. The same goes for small pains. Every now and then some a new one arises somewhere and then it also disappears again. The only thing which seems to be persistent today is the drive to get to a place where I can get a coffee.

It takes me 3 hours to find a place where I can drink some coffee. After several failed intents I finally find a place which according to Google Maps is not too much of a deviation from the route and which is also open on Sunday. Café Nelita is the name of the place. When I enter I see the local alcoholic sitting at the bar. There are also a lot of mother’s and children inside which makes it rather noisy. The setting makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable after having spent all morning on my own. I quickly order a sandwich and a coffee with milk and take a seat outside on the small terrace in front of the café. It’s quite a relief to have reached my objective and it’s nice to be able to relax a bit. After a second coffee I pay and also take another piece of bread with me to have a second lunch later on.

From there it’s mostly downhill which makes it a relatively easy walk. Meanwhile the weather forecast is not delivering but I had already given up on that anyway. I put my rain gear on and off various times during the afternoon. Sometimes I stick my head out to cool off a little bit. And then I cover my head again when I’ve had enough of the rain running down my face. It all just comes and goes.

At 3 o clock I spot some nice simple place on the side of the road to eat my second lunch. It’s a small shop which is closed but which has it’s canopy still out and which makes for a nice place to shelter from the rain. I prepare a sandwich with the bread from Café Nelita and the remainder of the cheese which still in my bag. When eating the sandwich I am struck by a feeling of happiness. Somehow this simple situation of sitting in a simple place preparing a simple sandwich is greatly satisfying to me. The situation is just perfect. Then I think of my companion Angie with whom I shared a lot of situations similar to these and I start to cry. Meanwhile I see the small mountains peeping through the clouds and the thought passes of how a pity it is that I’ve walked here without having been able to see those mountains. But no, things are perfect just as they are. What a moment.

After another 45 minutes I walk into Ponte de Lima. The clouds which have been hanging low all day now seem to be at the level of the river. In combination with the long medieval bridge across the river it gives a very mystical outlook. I shoot one more picture and then hurry across the bridge to get to the hostel. The rain is more intense than it has been all day and I am keen on finally being able to dry up.