Day 3 - Portomarin to Palais de Rei

Itinerary

Walk to Palais de Rei – 24 km [15 Miles]

After your night in Portomarin, your Camino will cross the river Miño (Galicia’s longest river) and rise uphill steadily towards the Serra de Ligonde. You will pass nice hamlets such as Gonzar and Ventas de Narón. Stop to visit the Romanesque Church of Santa María in Castromaior and the Romanesque church in Eirexe.

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Day 3 Journal Entry ~ Josh Adkins

Today was another excellent day on the Camino! We started at 730 with a devotional from Steve. He talked about the origins of the word ‘meander’ and how Big James, the disciple to whom we are pilgrimaging, had a meandering path in his own life.

We walked 16 miles today! In some ways it was more challenging than yesterday due to the elevation change. We gained a half-mile of elevation and Hap said 9 of the 16 miles were uphill.

We stopped for coffee and water after about 2 hours and then had to tackle a HUGE hill. This hill is the hardest one we will face according to Javier. At the top we walked off the path a little bit to explore the ruins of an ancient city that pre-dates the Romans. Mandy especially enjoyed this little detour.

Shortly thereafter Javier took us to a great place for “egg omelettes”, or what we might call Egg Casserole in the states.

Properly fueled up, we kept walking. The path took us thru many farms and small villages. The landscape and smell (manure) was actually very reminiscent of where we live in East Tennessee and North Georgia.

Javier guided us to a great place for lunch. We shared Tuna empanadas and nachos, and Steve and I drank our new favorite beverage: fresh squeezed OJ with ice.

We got back on the path around 2, and made it to our destination around 3. Javier said we are his only group to ever make it all the way by 3pm. So we’ve got that going for us.

Our hotel tonight is a 10 minute drive out of town. We were driven by taxis to Parada das Bestas, a bed and breakfast with buildings over 300 years old! Luckily this place has a pool. We all got in to beat the heat and soak our sore muscles.

As I mentioned earlier, in some ways today was more challenging and in some ways it was less. We are learning our own best practices to manage thru the physical challenge. Lying with our feet elevated against a wall has been key, and we are figuring out how to streamline what we bring in our day packs and how to take care of our feet and shoes.

Tomorrow we walk a mere 9 miles, which is no joke but might feel light compared to the 15 miles/day average we have been on. We should arrive at our next stop (Melide) by 130 or 2, and Javier is taking us for a lunch of grilled octopus once we get there.

We are tired and sore, but should have the chance to get really good rest tonight.

Thanks for reading and Buen Camino!

-Josh Adkins