A shorter day was on the cards so we had a lie in, leaving the albergue at 0800h. It had rained heavily with strong gusts of winds throughout the night, luckily it had cleared mostly by dawn.
We made our way into Portomarin crossing over the river Mino where the foundations of a Roman bridge can be seen in the water below.
After climbing the steps from the centre of a roundabout up into the town, we stopped for breakfast.
Fuelled up we continued on down the hill to the river. The path follows the bank before cutting inland and upwards. Three pilgrims missed the turning, and after some shouts of “Peregrinos!”, I was able to point them in the right direction.
The climb was quite drawn out, but the path went through a woodland; no sound but for the wind and birds singing. The tranquility took our minds off the ascent.
Unfortunately the path met the main road, which ‘The Way’ follows mostly for the remainder of the day.
At midday we stopped in Gonzar for lunch of eggs and chips. Carbs and protein, a typical dish on the Camino. Here we met our Taiwanese friend from the previous night, however she is staying at the albergue here.
From Gonzar another hill had to be tackled, this one I remembered from the last time. However I missed the earthworks to an Iron Age fort that eventually the Romans took over; I walked right past it in 2021.
That was the last of the hills today and a gentle stroll into Ventas de Naron. It was 17.6km today, bit further than anticipated, and we managed to avoid the rain showers (mostly).
We had the pilgrims menu and a few beers to ease our aching muscles. It’s our first night in a true albergue, so will be a new experience for my group.
Stu's Camino 