Camino Portuguese 22: Vigo to Redondela

23.06.2025 - 23.06.2025
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Monday, June 23, 2025

Camino Portuguese: Day 22 – Vigo to Redondela

Today I had another very short day of walking, so I set my alarm for 06:30, giving me a bit more time to sleep. It was a somewhat restless night in the hostel because the bed wasn’t very comfortable and someone was snoring in the room. By the time I got up, several other pilgrims were in the small kitchen having their breakfast, though none of them were social whatsoever. I got my bags together and set off for the day.

I went to a nearby café to have some coffee, along with a slice of Santiago Cake, before truly starting my walk. It took quite a while to get out of Vigo this morning, walking through some very busy streets. I came across a café that advertised a Camino stamp, so I went inside to have some orange juice and get the stamp. From now on I need to get two stamps per day in order to get the certificate at the end of the Camino. One of them is easy because I can get it at the hostel each day, while the second one can be stamped at various cafes along the Camino.

Shortly after leaving the café I ran into Carl, Mel, and another friend of theirs! It was entirely by chance and quite unexpected. They had taken a rest day in Porto, so I had not planned on running into them again during the Camino. However, they had been walking longer days than me and had finally caught up to me. I was delighted to see them again and I soon joined them for the day’s walk. The day instantly improved as we chatted during the hike out of Vigo – this is what I’d been hoping for all throughout the Camino!

As we reached the outskirts of town, we had to hike up a very long, and very steep hill. It was a brutal slog uphill and I was drenched in sweat by the time I reached the top. The hill was, by far, the worst incline that I’d had in quite some time. Mercifully the path leveled out for the most part one we reached the top. Having Carl and Mel there as support and to chat with helped make it more tolerable though.

The path entered a wooded area, proving us ample shade to keep us cool after the earlier strenuous section. We came upon a small stand along the side of the path that was selling various fruits and juices, as well as stamping pilgrim passports. Two more of Carl’s friends were already there and they introduced me around (the two women were from Texas). I got my passport stamped and bought an orange juice – the stand had a “pay what you want” policy, but everyone (including me) paid them fairly.

I thoroughly enjoyed the time with Carl and Mel. I spent time walking with them both, chatting and having a good time. They were walking further than me today and would be walking a different variant of the Camino to reach Santiago, so I wouldn’t have the chance to walk with them again. By happy coincidence though, we would all be reaching Santiago on Friday, so we planned to meet for dinner that evening.

We knew that the path later in the morning would soon have a long descent and, just before it began, we came upon another small stand selling various Camino knick-knacks. The woman running it kindly stamped all of our passports, even though we didn’t buy anything from her. The long descent was rough on my knees, but we all knew that there was a café waiting for us at the bottom of the hill.

The café was the first one that we had come to since leaving Vigo that morning, so we were all very keen to have a coffee break. It was a very nice place with an outdoor terrace overlooking a nearby church. I had a coffee, an ice cream, and a hydration drink. I struck up a conversation with another pilgrim who was there, a woman from South Africa.

After a 20-minute break, we continued on to Redondela itself. I had a short 1.7km left to reach my hostel, while Carl and Mel were walking an additional 10km today. Once we reached the main road through town, it was time for us to part ways… for now. I wished them well on their walk and said I was looking forward to our dinner this Friday evening. It was a bit too early for check-in, so I went to another café to have a Coke and do some work while I waited. There was a very drunk man at the café talking loudly to anyone who would listen, so I was glad that my wait there was short.

My hostel for the night was quite nice. Instead of bunk beds, the dorm room has numerous twin beds with dividers separating them. My bed was closest to the door and seemed to have a bit more privacy than the others, for which I was grateful. I quickly jumped in the shower to freshen up before the other pilgrims drained the hot water. There was an older couple staying at the hostel from California, and we spent some time talking before they took a nap.

I went out to dinner around 19:30 and, after stopping at the ATM, I found a small restaurant along the street. I had a pasta carbonara that was mediocre, but I was able to drink two Radlers during the meal, so that helped improve things. Redondela was not making a good impression on me and I was glad to be leaving in the morning.