Camino Portuguese 16: Povoa de Varzim to Marinhas

Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Camino Portuguese: Day 16 – Povoa de Varzim to Marinhas

It was a return to the early morning alarms today and I was up at 05:30 so I could prepare for the day. I had slept alright during the night, though I did wake up several times and I was extremely tired this morning. I went to the kitchen and refilled my water bottle before leaving. Today was supposed to be another hot one, so I wanted to be sure to stay hydrated.

I left the hotel at 06:15 and set off on the day’s walk. It was already slightly warm as I began the day, so I soon took off my coat. This did not bode well for the rest of the day! I continued to walk along the boardwalk for a little while this morning. I was thoroughly enjoying these early morning strolls along the beach, especially in the time before the sun had fully risen. It’s entirely peaceful and relaxing to just walk and hear the waves crashing. Dotted along the coastline were several stone towers. I only saw a few pilgrims this morning – the number of them was definitely thinning out as people stopped at different places after leaving Porto.

I had found a café where I planned to break, but I arrived so quickly that I decided to press on and find another place further ahead. The Camino then veered away from the beach and began winding through some nearby farms, though it was still on an elevated wooden boardwalk. By this point the sun was blaring down on me and the heat was draining me. After another 90 minutes of walking I finally reached another little town where I was determined to find a café. I managed to find one near the beach and I was so glad of the opportunity to sit down for a little while as I enjoyed my coffee.

Over the past few hours, I had covered 15km of the days 25km distance, so I was making very good time. I needed to either slow down my pace or take some more breaks so I wouldn’t arrive at the hotel too early this afternoon. The Camino route soon abandoned the boardwalk and I was now walking along the pavement through another town. There was very little tree coverage anywhere, so I was getting blasted by the sun. Eventually the road led to a small bridge. At the end of the bridge, I nearly witnessed a car accident! A car had stopped at a crosswalk for a pedestrian, but the car behind them must not have been paying attention. I heard their tires squeal and the car veer to the side to avoid hitting anything. It was crazy!

A short distance away from the bridge was a small place for a pit stop. There were vending machines selling drinks and snacks – including some hydration drinks, which I purchased. Next to that was a small souvenir shop that was full of Camino-related trinkets. During my previous rest stop, Thinh had asked if I was sending any postcards during this trip and I had replied that I hadn’t yet seen any. What good coincidence that this shop did indeed have some postcards! I bought one to send to Thinh, along with a magnet for myself and a keychain as a gift for Thinh. I wrote out his postcard and, as the shop also sold stamps, put it directly into the mail. Fingers crossed that it reaches him!

The Camino now stuck the road for the rest of the morning, which was a bit disappointing. The sidewalk was mostly the uneven cobblestones that have been plaguing my feet over the past two weeks. There were a few trees lining the street as I walked, and I did everything I could to walk in their shade to get any modicum of relief from the sun. I took a slight detour from the Camino to stop off at another café, mostly to pass the time. I had a Coke and a pasta del nata and relaxed for about 15 minutes. Walking further along the streets, I then came to a small supermarket that was also selling some food. Not having eaten anything yet today, I got a deli sandwich along with two Powerade drinks for lunch.

The last stretch of the route today followed along a major highway, which I was fully accustomed to by this point. My hotel for the night was just slightly off of the main Camino route. When I arrived, I was surprised to see that it was in the parking lot of a gas station (the station’s convenience store was adjoined to the hotel!). I arrived slightly too early for check-in, so I sat down at the store and talked with some other pilgrims who were waiting.

I was staying in a dorm room this evening, though it did not have bunk beds. Instead, the room had five single beds spaciously placed in the room. It was actually very nice! I picked out a bed, unloaded my bags and then went for a shower. I spent the afternoon relaxing at the hotel. There was nowhere nearby to walk to – the nearest restaurant was nearly 2km away! The hotel has a small cafeteria where I ordered my dinner (a very yummy toasted sandwich).

I managed to finally find some people to talk to this evening! There were two Canadians (a brother and sister), along with another woman from Canada, with whom I spent the longest amount time talking. They had all started in Porto and so were still ‘new’ pilgrims. The brother and sister had not been taking any breaks during the days, which surprised me! The other woman was taking a very… relaxed approach to the Camino. In the past three days, she’s walked a collective two hours and taken Ubers the rest of the time… so, disappointing. There was a small group of Irish people at the hotel tonight, but they mostly kept to themselves and drank all night. There was a man from Germany staying in my dorm room, but he was rather anti-social, so I didn’t get to chat with him. I was happy to finally get some socializing time on this Camino, but I didn’t really hit it off with any of them in the same way that I did the people I met on the Camino Frances.

It was very warm in the dorm room when I went to bed this evening. There were only five of us in the room, but I knew that it would get stuffy. There was an air-con unit in the room, but I knew the Europeans would refuse to turn it on during the night. When I fell asleep, I had discarded the blanket on the bed and it was still quite hot. It would be a long night…

Distance Walked: 28.00 km
Steps Walked: 37,031

Total Distance: 460.26 km
Total Steps: 612,493