Today’s distance 35 km
Elevation gain 473 m
Elevation loss 638 m
Total distance from Almería 1,285 km

I haven’t got too much to say about today. It rained. On and off all day. Mostly on. The walking was most pleasant. Mostly on hard surfaces with soft tracks in between. Some heavily flooded paths. Some mud, but not too much. Mostly, we were kept off busy roads in favour of country lanes. In pleasant weather it would have been a lovely day. In bad weather it was still enjoyable.

Due to the rain I took very few photos and made very few notes.

We walked to Ponte de Lima and then jumped onto a bus to Viana do Castelo so that we can walk along the Portuguese coastal route tomorrow. The town was pretty much closed on a Monday afternoon/evening. Very few shops or bars open. It’s a large seaside town with grand buildings, but wasn’t showing itself at its best on a drizzly day. We are staying at ‘HI Hostel Viana do Castelo – Pousada de Juventude’ 11.90€ for a shared room. Normal price is 14€, but there is a discount for pilgrims.

I forgot to turn off the Wikiloc recording until we had been on the bus for a while, so today’s distance is estimated

A small herd of cows were tethered from their horns to their front leg on a very short rope. They could not lift their heads from a grazing position.