Camino Portuguese 24: Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Camino Portuguese: Day 24 – Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis

I managed to sleep better in the hostel last night than I had at previous hostels, though there were several people snoring. I was awake before my alarm sounded and I was among the first pilgrims to get going this morning. After quietly gathering my belongings, I set off onto the Camino.

Today I had to cover roughly 30km before 13:00 because I had a bus to catch. No, I was not taking a bus to skip walking! Instead, I was using the bus to help me shorten my walk tomorrow. The schedule I had put together had me walking 37km tomorrow, which is far too long, especially for this late in the Camino. To shorten the walk, I was going to cover part of it today by walking about 8km further than my stopping point today. I would then take a bus back to today's town, and then take the bus vack to the same location tomorrow morning. Thus, I would still be walking the exact same distance, but splitting the distance better between the two days!

I set off at a brisk pace this morning, and I somehow managed to maintain it for the majority of the day. The weather was cooler today and overcast. It began to slightly rain as I was leaving the city, but thankfully it stopped before I needed to get out my poncho. Getting out of Pontevedra was quick and soon I was back in nature. The dirt paths winding through the trees and farms made it truly feel like the Camino. I continued listening to podcasts during my walk. Both Dateline and Behind the Bastards have been my go-to throughout the Camino, filling the gaps where socializing with other pilgrims would have been. I've never been one to zone out to music for an extended period of time, which is why I never spent much time walking listening to music.

After walking for about two hours, I reached a small village that had one cafe for pilgrims that was open. I had my usual coffee and got my pilgrim passport stamped. The rest stop was very brief though, about 15 minutes, and then i was back on the Camino. I didn't have a lot of wiggle room on today's schedule - if I missed the bus at 13:20, i would have to wait three hours for the next bus!

The walk was much of the same as I headed towards Caldas de Reis. Dirt and gravel paths through wooded areas. I saw very few pilgrims this morning, and those that I did see, I hurried past due to my rapid pace. Shortly before reaching Caldas, I stumbled upon another pilgrim cafe that I was tempted to visit. It looked very welcoming and similar to ones I'd seen on the Camino Frances. However, I didn't have the time, so I continued to the city.

When I reached Caldas, my ultimate destination for today, I found a cafe, ordered a Coke and took another short rest. An older man named Jesus approached me as I was sitting there and asked if he could speak with me. He spoke better English than I did Spanish, but we did use Google Translate to help us communicate. He is a resident of Caldas and likes to speak with the pilgrims that pass through town. He asked me about mt journey, if I'd learned anything or had an awakening, etc. Jesus was very kind, and I thoroughly enjoyed our short conversation this morning.

By the time I set off walking, it was 11:00 and I had only 8km left to go today! Leaving the city was easy, though I nearly missed the turn off from the main road onto the dirt path. The sun had finally come out, but it didn't stay out for long before more cloud coverage arrived. The route was relatively flat right up until the end, when there was a slight incline to return to the main road. I then deviated from the Camibo and walked 500m up the road to reach a café/bar. The bartender spoke excellent English, and I ordered a Radler to help cool me down.

I had made excellent time walking today and I arrived at the bar an hour before the bus was due to arrive! I therefore had some time to just relax and enjoy my beer. At 13:00 I crossed the street to wait for the bus. One bus drove past me and i was initially worried that it was mine and they just hadn't stopped. My bus arrived a few minutes later and I was relieved that my plan had worked out perfectly! The ride back to Caldas took only five minutes.

Once back in town, I walked over to my hostel for the night. I was staying in a four-bed dorm room, rather than the massive dorm rooms. The bunk beds were comfortable, though the room was stuffy. I was sharing it with three other Europeans who refused to turn on the air-con, which did not bode well for this evening.

I planned to get some work done in the afternoon, but my computer refused to turn on! When I initially started it up, I got some random boot screen, which eventually went black and then the laptop made loud beeping sounds. After that the computer would not work whatsoever. I explained the situation to work, and they began the process of buying a replacement to FedEx to me in Sweden for when I arrive there next week.

I met John for dinner tonight as he was staying at a hostel nearby. We went to a local cafe, where I had patatas bravas and falafel croquettes, along with more Radlers. He and I hung out for a couple of hours before calling it a night. He was continuing on to the same town as me tomorrow (only 6km from Santiago), so we made plans to meet for dinner again tomorrow.

I then returned to the hostel to relax and head to bed. Tomorrow will be my final long day of walking on this Camino - the end is so close that I can taste it! Unfortunately, I was not able to get to sleep until nearly midnight due to a very loud and disruptive group staying at the hostel. A large group of Spaniards spent the evening in the common rooms, drinking and talking loudly. My dorm room was just off of the common room (as were several other dorm rooms), and so the noise of the group prevented many pilgrims from going to bed. Several people came out from their rooms to ask the Spaniards to quiet down, but they continued to be noisy and inconsiderate for hours.

Distance Walked: 28.78 km
Steps Walked: 37,800

Total Distance: 643.44 km
Total Steps: 856,016