Camino Portugues – My Second Pilgrimage

A few years ago, I did the Camino de Santiago, the French route.  It was 36 days of continuous walking, with a magical rhythm to my days – walk, eat, sleep, and take care of the basics of life – getting food, water and any other necessities for walking.  It was a time of focus, on the moment, the day.  Walking was a meditation, (and still is).  And, no matter what I did or what the weather, I did not consider not walking each day.  The desire to keep walking took over me completely.  After my camino ended, I was not ready to stop walking.  It took me 2 months to let go of that need to walk miles each day.

Cathedral in Santiago, Camino Frances

I didn’t think that I would ever do another camino, but 3 years later it called to me again.  I didn’t want to do the same route.  I had wanted to do my first camino solo, but a friend wanted to join me, and I acquiesced.  Although the experience was what it was, with it’s positives and negatives, I had regretted not doing it alone.  So, this time, it was to be a solo journey.
I chose the Portugal route, mostly because it had terrain that I could manage since I had not trained for a multi-day hike, and I didn’t have time to do so as I wanted to go immediately.  And, the route went along the coast at certain points.  The ocean always calls me.

There are two starting options, one in Lisbon and one in Porto.  I chose Lisbon  because I wanted the longer walk.  Yet, the infrastructure from Lisbon to Porto is quite weak, which I had not realized.  The guide book that I had bought went right into my backpack until I got to Lisbon where I then discovered the challenge that I had to face. I should have done more research.

The lack of infrastructure meant that I was required to walk many more miles than I had planned and I was not physically prepared for it.  As well,  I had to spend more money on accommodations because hostels weren’t always available along the route.  There were parts of the route that were quite dangerous in regards to traffic, not having adequate walking paths.  Since this part of the route is not popular, I was often walking alone (although this is what I wanted, I didn’t quite mean this alone).

This was so different from my first camino where there were hundreds of others walking daily – and that brought about an ease to keep on walking energetically, even when you were walking alone on the trail, there were always many pilgrims to meet at the day’s end.  The French route was not any of this initial experience, from Lisbon to Porto….My first week was spent in comparison. I was more emotionally challenged than physically at this point – it was a struggle to get going each day.  But, as soon as I let go of comparing I began to enjoy this camino, and the desire to walk kicked in, and the struggle disappeared.

Much of the route from Lisbon to Porto was inland, beautiful, but inland.  When the coastal route arrived I was ecstatic!  Yet, when it veered inland a day later, I was depressed.  I decided to leave the traditional route and stayed along the coast.  Unbeknownst to me, this was an alternative path, often marked with green arrows to follow versus the traditional yellow arrows of the camino. Yet, with this decision, I missed the portion of the route that is most popular, from Porto to Santiago…which may have given me a more familiar experience.  But, the coast pulled me….and I’m glad it did.

As I moved up the coast of Portugal, then crossed into Spain by ferry,  I met five other women who also resonated with the coast…and we formed a deeply bonded group.  We stayed along this path until we could no longer do so, and headed inland towards Santiago.

Santiago for me was not my destination, as it doesn’t hold much meaning for me. The town of Finisterre (Fisterra) is, for me,  a more spiritual place and that was my destination, my stopping point.  This is a small coastal town that welcomes the pilgrims after their long journeys, until they return home.

There is a 00 kilometer marker that marks the end of the journey…or the beginning of it.  After a weeks time, I pulled myself away from this coastal town that has great energy – the town where we all experience and celebrate our common desire to walk a pilgrimage, and our accomplishment.  I said good-bye to my friends…and yet, I know we are forever connected.

The blessings of this walk:  I was able to walk alone. Eventually, I met up with other pilgrims, and made connections.  These wonderful people joined me, yet let me walk alone when needed.  And, the coastline was absolutely magnificent, magical, and breathtaking.  In the end, I came to honor and be grateful for both my camino experiences.  I was glad that I had the Camino Frances experience first though.

I departed this camino thinking that I would probably not do another camino again, yet, even after a few short months the Northern Camino route is calling.  This time I’d have to train…Bom Caminho…Buen Camino.