After a week of walking the Camino Portuguese – mixing the Coastal and the Litoral routes – we crossed the border into Spain. That’s a bit of a milestone in our journey. 

Though rain was forecasted, the sun shone as we followed the beautiful coastline toward Caminha. We were moving at a leisurely pace so missed the morning train we were hoping to catch from Caminha to Valença. That left us with time to enjoy lunch and meet Allan, a fellow pilgrim from Melbourne, Australia. Allan said knee trouble had slowed him down, but he plans to catch up with his son eventually.

After a 20 minute train trip, we arrived in Valença which is on the central route. We wished we had time to explore the impressive Valença do Minho Fortress but, instead, we carried on to the international bridge, crossing over into Tui, Spain. 

We met a couple of pilgrims on the bridge who had just arrived in Tui and were wondering about the benefits of using hiking poles. They weren’t convinced about the benefits. On hind site, I should have said they are most helpful on more difficult Caminos, less so on the Camino Portuguese. Poles might even be a hindrance when it comes to walking on the boardwalks which are common on the Camino Portuguese. Poles can get caught between boards if you’re not careful.

We met Teresa and her driver when we were entering Tui. Teresa will be driven to Sarria which is on the Camino Frances. From there she will walk the last 100 km to Santiago to get a “taste” of the Camino, with hopes of one day tackling the entire route. Our final leg took us along the tranquil river and then to our stop for the night, Albergue Villa San Clemente in Tui.