Santarem – Golega

30 March 2018

34.4km

During the night I woke up and could hear the rain falling … would this be the start of our rainy days on the Camino?

At 06:00 the next morning, however, there were only a few clouds in the sky. Fortunately our clothes had dried completely during the night and we were ready to start walking at our usual time of 7:00.

Walking through the streets of Santarem

Tiled street name on a wall in Santarem

The owner of the restaurant where we ate the night before told us about the magnificent viewpoint at “Portas do Sol” (Gates of the Sun) from where we could see the Tagus River and suggested that we visit this site before leaving. It was a beautiful place with lovely gardens and the view was indeed breathtaking. We took a few photos before starting our journey for the day.

The entrance to “Portas do Sol”

Stunning view of the Rio Tejo

After enjoying the lovely views, we headed down a steep descent on woodland paths to leave Santarem behind. At the railway we missed the medieval bridge we had to cross, but luckily realised it about 300m later and turned around to follow the right way.

Try and stay on your feet on this steep downhill with wet rocks

Leaving Santarem behind

Rain:

When we got to the country road, the rain started pouring out of nowhere – one moment there were no clouds and the next it was pouring! And that was the story of our day – from sunshine to light rain to intense showers and then sunshine again!

Rain clouds gathered in the distance

We decided not to take the path that ran through the crop fields as it was a muddy affair! Instead, we took the road where there was less chance of getting mud up to your knees! But this meant we had to walk on a small shoulder along the road where we had to be very careful of the Portuguese drivers – a difficult choice to make!

Soaking wet next to the road on our way to Vale da Figueira

Time to dry out in Vale da Figueira:

As we entered Vale da Figueira, the rain subsided and the sun came out for half an hour. This was definitely an indication that we should stop at one of the cafés to have large mugs of hot coffee (for the cold) orange juice (for energy), as well as some pastries (for good measure).

Time to dry off in the sun with coffee and pastries – I have to admit, I don’t look impressed

After some refreshments we were ready to continue. The sun was shining (well, at least for the moment) and we enjoyed a lovely walk through cork trees. We didn’t understand the reason for the numbered trees, but it was amazing to see how the cork was removed from the trees. What we did know is that Portugal is one of the world leaders in cork production and we assume that these trees must be of utmost importance to them.

Cork trees marked with numbers

Here comes the rain (again):

The road changed between country lanes and farm tracks. Roads without any traffic or people … we didn’t see any other pilgrims all day and were kind of all alone on this stage. The weather constantly changed from sunny weather to heavy rain showers. We later decided to put our warm jackets in our backpacks and just kept our rain jackets on.

Farm tracks are always nice to walk, but with constant rain they tend to become a mud bath

With the heavy rain, the farm tracks – in certain sections – became almost impossible to walk. Berto avoided getting caught in the mud puddles because he could take longer strides than me … but I wasn’t so lucky! Time and time again I ended up in the mud!

Mud walking

We crossed a bridge where the Alviela River flows (a tributary of the Tagus River). It literally flowed like it was in flood – in a short time we experienced quite a bit of rain!

The Alviela River in flood due to the constant heavy rain we have had since this morning

When we reached the option route, the rain stopped. We chose to continue on the farm tracks because we didn’t want to walk along the main road. The contrasting colours of the dark sky and green crop fields were incredibly beautiful and we were able to take some photos. But as the heavy rain started to fall again, there was no time for more photos and we just had to put our heads down and walk through the rain.

Beautiful colours of dark rain clouds and green crop fields

In (serious) need of Pastel de Nata:

For the next few kilometers we endured some serious mud walking! I was really looking forward to a hot shower and dry clothes! When we walked into the village of Azinhaga, I was just fed up with the rain. But Berto knew there was one thing that would keep me going … pastel de nata!

We walked into a bar where we ordered nice steaming hot coffee and also enjoyed pastel de nata – indeed, now I was ready to go again!

Pastel de nata is the best medicine for a wet pilgrim

The worst road ever walked:

Just after Azinhaga there was another option to walk on more farm tracks to avoid walking along the busy main road (N-365). But after so much mud walking we decided to take the (more dangerous) option of walking along the main road without any shoulder! And then it started raining again – heavy rain – and I can honestly say it was SCARY! It almost felt like the Portuguese drivers wanted to see how close and fast they could pass you!

NOTE: We would not advise any pilgrim to take this route off the busy main road – no matter how muddy the option route is! There is no shoulder to walk on and the fast cars make it a very dangerous walk (especially in rainy conditions).

Berto is soaking wet – not even his so called “gore tex” boots could withstand the intense rain – not to mention the dangerous walk along the main road!

Arriving in Golega:

It was already 17:00 when we arrived in Golega. We felt lucky to be alive!

Accommodation – Golega:

Inn Golega

The first accommodation we saw was Inn Golega and we decided to sleep here. Elsa, the friendly owner, welcomed us and took us to a wonderful heated room. There was also enough hot water for a shower – pure bliss. She made coffee and showed us the washing machine and dryer we could use for our clothes. What a wonderful reception after such a difficult day of hiking.

A heated room with big bath towels (5-star for any pilgrim)

The rain stopped while our clothes were in the dryer and we decided to walk to a nearby bar for a hot dinner. We were probably the only foreigners there and the locals looked quite curiously in our direction! I could tell the waitress was finding it stressful to serve us, but in the end she did a great job and we enjoyed a bottle of red wine and a large plate of lamb chops and chips before heading back to our room.

What is that itchy/painful feeling:

Before we went to bed, I got a good look at my feet. More blisters appeared, but I also discovered a “funny” itchy (but also painful) ankle. I wasn’t sure what the reason was and thought I could hopefully walk it away in the next day.

What a wet and stressful day … and tomorrow another 30km awaits us!

Click here for Day 5 …