Day 19 – Ponte de Lima to Rubiaes – 26-May-2018
Another morning of rain greeted us, which provided some worries for us walkers. A fair amount of rain had fallen overnight – the trail today, according to our guide book, was going to be the toughest so far with a good 500 metre climb as well as fairly treacherous rocky paths. Just add water and you have a recipe for Camino disasters.
The albergue we stayed in offered us breakfast, so we took advantage of this. I was reflecting whilst having breakfast and how we take for granted certain things – a simple thing like having a cup of coffee; this morning we were able to have coffee with breakfast, normally a simple thing, but much appreciated today, as we would normally rush out and walk for an hour or two before being able to have a coffee.
Our shoes, which were soaked in yesterday’s rain, were relatively dry – an old trick of stuffing newspaper in them to draw out the moisture, had worked well.
Today, it was Jose and I walking to Rubiaes, as Eloisa was visiting friends in Viana Do Conde, on the coast, and Michael had decided to take some personal time to work some things out on his own.
By the time we left the albergue, the rain had stopped and there was even a hint of sunshine – something which pleased us considerably. The walk out of Ponte De Lima was easy and pleasant, as we walked through some of the old town again. It was good to see this in sunlight – last night, even though it was only drizzly, it was overcast and grey and not the best light for viewing such things.
Walking over the last few days has become a pleasure again – good tracks, very little in the way of actual roads and no traffic. The rain from yesterday had washed everything clean. The bush and forests we’re a lush verdant green. The tracks, even though still wet, were beginning to dry out and the sleepy mountain villages we walked through were showing some signs of awakening. It really was very pleasant to walk this morning.
We continued onwards and upwards until we reached the higher reaches of the hills that we needed to scale. At this point the trail became quite treacherous – steep, rocky, loose stones, slippery, and that was the good bits. We were however grateful that there was no rain, and that the limited sunshine had dried out the track to an extent.
The walk back down the mountain was not quite as tricky, but still required some degree of focus to avoid slipping and falling. We reached Rubiaes at around 12:30 – a walk of around 19kms and went to our albergue, but guess what, it was not open, so we found a local restaurant and had a hearty lunch.
The rest of the afternoon followed the usual pattern – check in, shower, rest, beer, Camino conversations etc.
To say that the town of Rubiaes is small is an understatement – very little here of note, so no exploring to be had today. About the only point of interest was the 12th century Romanesque Church which we passed on the way into the town.
May 27, 2018 @ 7:12 am
Glad to hear that the walking environment has become more enjoyable 😊
Not too far to go now – Bom Caminho!
May 27, 2018 @ 7:35 am
Well done guys, great that you’re persevering! God must be walking with you every step.
May 28, 2018 @ 1:20 am
Hello, Hello..Loving the blog and especially the pics(some more foodie pics please). Rubiaes looks lush and beautiful. Keep on walking and enjoy the journey cause “life is like a camera”.
May 28, 2018 @ 8:14 pm
Hi Jennifer.
Thank you for your comments and your interest. I must confess that I did make a bit of an effort early on with the foodie pics, but my focus has fallen short on that since then. I will make a special effort to include more, just for you.
Cheers
Lawrence
May 30, 2018 @ 11:12 am
Hi Jen
I posted a foodie pic on the blog for you yesterday. See if you can find it.
May 28, 2018 @ 12:32 pm
Just been catching up on your very interesting journey. Some great photos! Take care.
May 28, 2018 @ 8:10 pm
Hi Cristina and Elio. Thank you for your interest in our trip. Like a lot of these things there are many highs but also some lows. We are about 4 days walk from Santiago De Compostela – due to reach there on Friday if all goes well. Take care always and stay safe.
Lawrence
May 28, 2018 @ 4:07 pm
Hey Guys, Nice Blog!! You put so much into telling the stories and the pictures are beautiful too!
I didn’t make it all the way to Redonela today, I’m staying in Mos.
Hope to see you soon!
Burden Camino!
May 28, 2018 @ 8:07 pm
Hi Brenna. We kept looking out for you on the Camino today, but didn’t spot you. Thank you for your comments and the enjoyable dinner we had last night. Hopefully we can catch up again soon and share a few more stories.
Cheers
Lawrence