After two relatively short days I feel a bit of a need to put in a longer one. It’s 31 kilometers from A Guarda to Baiona, more than any stage I’ve walked up to know. But the weather forecast does not look all that promising. And I also have to see how the body responds. I will see how far I can get today.

I wake up after a good night’s rest. While I still lie in bed I peek outside. I see the raindrops trickling down the window and it’s still dark outside. Also my head is still aching a little bit. Shall I get up already? There is not much choice as I have to leave the hostel by eight so I get up and start with my morning routine. Half an hour later I am out on the street. Getting up has done me good because the last signs of my headache seem to have disappeared. I walk some 800 metres and have breakfast at the cafetaria Alameda some 800 metres down the road from the hostel.

My original plan was to wait out the worst rain during a couple of hours and get started a little bit later but I feel that I want to get going and decide to take off. After a stop for some bread at the supermarket I walk out of the town towards the coastline. The hills near the coast are wrapped in fog and remind me a little bit of landscapes which I have seen in Brasil. Together with the big waves it makes it once again a magical setting to be walking in.

The first part of today’s route takes me over the rocks along the coast. I am somewhat surprised to see a local going for a walk in this weather conditions. But too be honest, it isn’t all that bad. The rain is not as intense as it was a couple of days ago. The raindrops roll of my rain jacket without making it soaking wet. If conditions stay like this then it’s won’t be a problem to continue walking.

After a couple of kilometres on the ocean side walking trail I arrive at the main road which stretches out all along the coast. On the left side there is a yellow cycling way which I have already read about in my guidebook. I will on this yellow path during a big part of today’s walk and it allows me to make quick progress. Because of the plants between the road and the ocean I don’t always have a good view of the big waves which keep coming in, sometimes causing big explosions of water when they crash onto the rocks.

Every once in a while there is a small detour on the yellow cycling way, usually accompanied by some viewing point or parking are. I take a short break at one of those places to fill my small water bottle back up. I had not been using this small water bottle up to now but yesterday I found it again stowed deeply inside my backpack and I started using it again. It’s small and flexible and stashes nicely into the hip pockets of my backpack making it a good solution for drinking water on the go avoiding having to take my backpack off every time I want to drink some water. This should also ensure a more continuous hydration throughout the day which in turn might help me in avoiding my headache.

When I finish my water refill procedure and am almost ready to go again out of nothing appears another walk. Dressed in shorts, sports shoes and with a relatively small backpack he is somewhat of an appearance. This is David from Ireland. I wouldn’t know his name untill a couple of hours later. There are more important questions to ask when you’re a pilgrim like: “Where did you start?” or “Where are you from?”. We continue walking together along the same yellow cycling way while we start to walk. Dave tells me that he injured his foot while walking on the wooden walkways along the Portuguese coast and that he slipped again this morning. He is limping a little bit but still he is walking fast and I have to make an effort to keep up with him. I don’t mind though as it is also nice to be walking with someone for a while.

We share 8 kilometres and a coffee together as we talk about our lives, our adventure up to now and walking in general. Meanwhile weather conditions improve bit by bit gradually allowing us to see more of the landscape. Every now and then we are being guided off of the yellow cycling lane to follow somewhat more natural walking paths in between the small houses and tiny meadows which can also be found along this coast, only to be guided back to the main road again a couple of hundred metres onwards. At some point I tell him that I wi let him go because he is walking a bit too fast for my liking and I don’t want to burn all of my energy too quickly. With a bit of luck I can do over 30 kilometres today but I won’t get there by walking too fast. Dave tells me that he also wants to go slower and that he thought he was holding me up. So we share a couple of more kilometres together until he decides to have lunch in a restaurant.

I continue walking some more kilometres untill I arrive at a nice looking spot to have my lunch which I have with me. It’s a place with big rocks where the rocks are crashing into. In the distance I can see a typical Spanish windmill now accompanied by blue skies. I finally take of my rain gear and enjoy my lunch. When I look at the tracking app on my phone I see that I’ve already walked 19 kilometres. That’s quite a bit already but I can also feel it already. This time it’s my left leg that is protesting. It feels like I’ve walked too fast this morning. But I hope the lunch break will ease the pain a bit. Meanwhile the view of the waves crashing onto the rocks is spectacular and mesmerizing.

Starting back up after lunch is a bit tough. The break has not really alleviated the strain on my leg and i am not making as much progress as before. I decide to break the remainder of the distance up into three stages meaning that I will have a short break every 4 kilometres. The asphalt of the cycling seems harder than before and the detours via the dirt paths closer to the water are now more welcome then ever even if it means walking in opposite direction for a bit. On one of those detours I walk past a factory. Apparently the working day is already over because all the employees are leaving. I take advantage of the situation and ask one of them to fill up my water bottle which was empty for a while already. One of the employees offers me a ride to Baione, my final destination. No way José, I am walking all the way. Once I have my water I thank them and they wish me a Buen Camino.

Then it’s onto the main road again. This time I have to walk a bit back to get to a crossing which takes me to the other side. Towards me is walking Dave who is on the phone now and has ignored all the pretty detours along the way and continued limping along on the asphalt. We continue together again and cross the main road up to a path which leads us up a small mountain. It does not look very high but after some 26 kilometres it’s still quite an effort. Both for me as well as Dave it takes the attention of the pain we are feeling and we make it across the mini mountain pass quite easily. No complaints heard. Not much later our ways separate again because Dave has a Teams meeting at 5 o’clock. He sits down by the side of the road and we agree to meet up at the hostel later on.

The remainder of the way involves another small hill that I get up without too many problems. I can see the town of Baiona below me now beautifully situated on an ocean inlet. Getting down the hill is somewhat more of a problem. I am also limping a little bit now but the end is in sight. I am happy to have been able such a big distance today (31km), probably partially thanks to David, the Irish Goliath who busied the word ‘fuck’ quite a bit along the way but always doing so in appropriate manner. I end the walk with a well deserved coffee stop before heading off to the hostel newrby. World Cup is on again, Portugal is playing this time which is not really relevant anymore since I am already in a different country.