Camino Day 8 – Baiona to Vigo, Vigo to Redondela

Walked: 16.39km (135.42km) | 3h20m (28h39m)

Followed: 26.7km|48.7km (1h20m)

We couldn’t hang about today as we had two stages to cover so we were up before sunrise. We have a commitment to stay with a friend after completing the walk hence the need to squeeze two stages into one day. So Jane had found out that we could do the first stage, Baiona to Vigo, by catching the 2b bus on the seafront. This would allow us to enjoy the coastal views and a stretch of wetland, before hitting the city.

Before we set off we had breakfast in our room.

There was a bar behind the bus stop selling 1906 beer. I think they probably have the best marketing slogan in the world: Beers for a huge minority.

What luck: there was a researcher at the bus stop, gathering customer feedback on the bus routes in Galicia. He recorded an interview with Jane, and I was able to give him my transport system rant that featured in a previous post. Today was setting itself up to be a good one!

We chose the slow bus (the 2b) to Vigo as this followed the Camino a lot of the way. The journey took one hour and covered 26.7km – equivalent to a long day’s walking.

Readers will know that we spent a day in Vigo on our way down to Porto on the train (see Santiago de Compostela to Porto via Vigo). Today we stayed on the 2b bus until the terminal. This gave us a different perspective on Vigo: the highrise suburbs – surprisingly large – and the uptown area, rather than the historic centre.

We didn’t hang about in Vigo this time. After a quick coffee – where we spotted a very loaded-up pilgrim with two large rucksacks one front and one back – we used Apple Maps to get us to the Camino route. This took us along streets lined with tangerine trees and through the dock area, which was extensive and quite busy. We wondered whether it would still be busy in a few weeks, if the current Iran situation continues.

Our route lead us up through some less salubrious streets – Vigo is very hilly – and we had to get the other side of this motorway before scenery improved.

And then we had to do some serious climbing.

Jane did her usual gathering of pathside herbs – it has usually been wild fennel, but today it was nasturtium leaves and wild sage, which we had in our salad later. There were almost no services, but several people had opened their house or garden to ‘pilgrims only’ and we got our passports stamped and bought two bananas from a lady in her garage, who only accepted donations. There were no prices on anything.

Soon we were on the much anticipated forested part of the trail with its waterfalls and streams. This spot had a picnic place, and we enjoyed a homemade salad (with added wild herbs), nuts, dates and fruit.

There were great views over the Ría de Vigo (this image doesn’t do it justice).

We spotted one or two (unnecessary?) bits of art along the way… Jane liked this one:

After lunch we caught up with the double-rucksack man we had spotted earlier. Adrian, a New Zealander, has been on the road for several months (hence the baggage!) but bowls along at an impressive pace. He congratulated us on keeping up with him – although we were carrying virtually nothing! The luggage collection service we are using which takes our main bag from night stop to night stop has worked a treat! We only carry ‘day bags’ and as Jane couldn’t find what she wanted, she has been building the ideal day bag as we go along by adding re-used pockets, bits of Velcro and elastic (from her knee supports) to an ultralight bag she bought for £5.99.

Custom internal pockets have also been added. Will it hold out for the last 100km?

We stayed with Adrian until Redondela, putting the world to rights, until the steep descent down to another beautifully clear river – zoom in to see the fish. This is what rivers are supposed to look like!

Here’s another picture I took of the river this evening with Jane on the bridge.

And here are some more fish (zoom in). Oh how I wish our rivers were like this.

We have now walked 135km and we are within 100km of Santiago with four walking days left. Will we make it?

This time tomorrow we will have better idea. Tomorrow’s going to be our toughest day yet. It’s 20km to Pontevedra with some serious climbs and will take between 5.5 and 7hrs. We’re going to give it our best shot.

So far, we’ve been spoilt by boardwalk and easy paths. Jane wears knee supports every day – but so far, that’s been mainly to prevent sunburn on the back of the knees – a frequently observed rookie Pilgrim error!