Camino Portuguese 02: Azambuja to Santarem

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Camino Portuguese: Day 03 – Azambuja to Santarem

Another long day of walking lay before me when I woke up this morning. My alarm sounded at 05:00 and I hurriedly got my bags ready. Thinh and I had a short video call as I got ready to leave, which was nice. I felt bad because I couldn’t spend a long time chatting with him this morning, but he is always so understanding and supportive. I miss him more and more each day.

At 05:15 I met Alan on the hotel patio so we could head out. I left my heavy backpack outside the door to my room with a hand-written label on it for the transfer company. I was looking forward to walking today without the weight of the bag on my back! Before we left town, we stopped at a nearby 24/7 vending machine shop, where I bought a cup of coffee so I’d have some energy for the walk.

The morning was cool, but slightly warmer than yesterday. We had to once again cross the train tracks to get back onto the Camino route. After walking along a road for a short distance, the yellow arrows directed us onto a dirt and gravel path through some farmland. The sunrise this morning was very pretty, with the sun shining through the clouds. I was walking at a faster pace that previous days now that I wasn’t weighed down by my bag – shipping it was the best decision.

Alan and I stopped for a coffee at a small café about two hours into the walk – we’d made good time and covered roughly 11km by that point! The café didn’t have any food options, which was disappointing. I was rather hungry and in need of something to give me some energy. We spent about 15 minutes at the café before setting out on the path again.

Today’s route was going to be around 32km in total and thus we wanted to cover as much ground as possible before the sun got too high and it got too hot. I checked the Buen Camino app to see where the next place to stop for coffee (and hopefully food) would be – and I noticed that there was a note along the route stating that there was a 16km stretch with zero places to rest, eat, drink, etc! This long section lasted all the way to our destination for the day, Santarem, so I knew we needed to have a short break before that began.

After walking through some more farmlands, we came to a small village that had one café that was open. I think Alan would have been happy to continue walking, but I said that I wanted to have a short rest. I bought a cold drink and some water to refill my water bottle. There were two German woman there as well who were walking the Camino – the first new pilgrims we’d met! It was nice getting to chat with them during the break.

When Alan and I set out to begin the extremely long 16km section, we walked through the outskirts of the village. There were several charming buildings dotted here and there that I enjoyed seeing. Alan began walking at a very brisk pace, but I didn’t push myself to keep up with him. He was soon quite far ahead of me and I was able to put in my headphones and listen to podcasts as I walked. To be honest, I was glad of the solitude. Alan is a bit of a know-it-all and opinionated – he kept made snide remarks about how people shouldn’t pre-book their lodgings on the Camino, which were clearly a criticism of how I like to do my Camino. I’d told him several times that I prefer to pre-book my rooms because it allows me to relax during the walk, rather than stressing about having to find one when I get to the next town. Everyone has their own way of doing the Camino, but it was very clear that Alan thinks everyone should be doing it his way. I was glad that this was our last day walking together – tomorrow he would head off towards Fatima and I would head towards Porto.

The walk continued for a long time along the dirt path, which was strewn with large rocks. It became somewhat painful to walk on them and so I zigzagged across the road to avoid as many of them as possible. The sun was out from the clouds now as well, making it hotter and hotter the longer I walked. A little further along, we bumped into the Dutch lady we had met yesterday at the hotel. She had planned to walk the Fatima route, but had a foot injury which prevented her from making the long daily walks. Instead she took buses or trains to different areas and did short walks once she arrived. When we met up with her, she was walking back to the train station so she could head to Santarem.

Alan soon sipped well ahead of me – so far that I eventually couldn’t see him anymore. I continued listening to my podcast to help pass the time. As the walk dragged on, my feet became more and more sore. I could not fathom making this walk with my heavy backpack and this just reinforced how right I was to ship it today. The scenery along the walk was beautiful as the route wound through many different farms.

Eventually I could see a small town on the top of a hill in the distance and I knew that was Santarem. It was a relief to finally see my destination, but it was also cruel because I has so much further to walk! The heat, long walk without a break, and lack of food today was getting to me by this time – I was getting irritated and anxious to arrive in town.

As I got closer to town, the dirt road gave way to a proper street, which I was glad of since I didn’t have to walk on so many large rocks. After circling around the tiny airport, the road began leading up the hill to the town itself. It was a tortuous end to the long day: not only had I walked for several hours without any possibility of a proper break, but I now needed to climb up and up to reach the town.

Alan was waiting for me under some trees as I got to the top of the hill and we walked into town together. I told him that I wanted to find somewhere to eat and sit down for a bit. He was insistent on heading to the hostel though – but he didn’t know which one I was staying at tonight. After passing by several restaurants that were closed, I gave up and walked to the hostel with Alan. Once again, he used my advanced planning to find a place to stay for the night and booked a room in the dorm. I had originally booked a bed in the dorm as well, but I was able to pay to upgrade it to a private room instead. My backpack was there waiting for me in reception when we arrived too – I think Alan was surprised that it had actually made it safely.

The hotel had a restaurant on the ground floor and I considered eating there before starting work this afternoon, but the prices were outrageous, so I skipped eating. I relaxed in my room for the afternoon before heading out for dinner after work.

When I left for dinner, I ran into Alan who wanted to join me for dinner. We hoped to eat at an Indian restaurant this evening, but discovered that it was closed. By chance, the Dutch woman we’d run into was staying at the same hotel as us and she ended up joining us for dinner as well. The three of us went to the nearby shopping mall so we could eat at the small food court. I bought a sandwich to keep for the morning, and then had a KFC for dinner. Alan invited another pilgrim to join us at our table. She was a nice young woman from Lithuania and this was her first Camino. Alan droned on and on about the Camino, showing off how much he supposedly knows, etc. I had enough of his condescending conversations, so I excused myself so I could return to the hotel.

It was an early bed time for me this evening. I wanted to get up and out the door very early the following morning.

Distance Walked: 34.86 km
Steps Walked: 46,130

Total Distance: 93.45 km
Total Steps: 123,291