Day 14: Caldas de Reis to Padron (19.3km)


June 4, 2019
254km completed – 25km to go         Route Map

We had to put on our rain gear before leaving, as the rain was much heavier than yesterday. Ann and Liz need coffee first thing in the morning, so they went to the bar next door. We set off in the rain going mostly uphill through country lanes and minor roads. At one stage we had to dodge a waterfall coming off a motorway high above us. After 5.5km we found a bar where we could have our breakfast. Liz and Ann had caught up with us and they were ready for more coffee. We sat in a snug-like room whose walls were covered with once-white sheets and a large Irish flag. Everything was covered in writing put there by earlier peregrinos. Under the white sheets were other white sheets which had no room for any more writing. According to my 2011 blog we had breakfast here before.

We are passed by the horsemen again
By now the rain had stopped and much of the remaining 14k was downhill. As I said earlier, we frequently met members of the Irish group. They had to be bussed to their starting point and so started later than us, but always caught up with us. Along the route today, a number of them were in a cafe which Liz visited. She reported that one had been injured and, from the look of her, quite badly, with blood on her face. We later learned that she had been stung on the hand by a hornet, tried to suck the venom out and had a bad reaction. An ambulance brought her to hospital and she made a god recovery. 

 At one point we stopped for a rest at a wooden bridge with seats. Attached to the bridge was a poignant notice, giving details of how Albert Eng Moh Cheah died before he could achieve his ambition of walking the Camino (see image below).

My recollection of entering Padron in 2011 was that we crossed a bridge, turned left past the market, walked between trees alongside the river for about 100 metre and then turned left across river again and we were at the albergue. Perhaps my memory is defective or perhaps they've changed the route but when we crossed the bridge we followed the arrows to the right. There was no sign of a market on the left and we had a lot of walking to do before we came back to the river and more walking to do before we reached the market. From then on it was as I remembered.

The church close to the albergue in Padron
This was to be our last night in an albergue and for the first time the story of the elderly aunt and uncle did not work. All 25 lower bunks were already taken, as were the majority of the upper bunks. There were enough left for us and we mastered the art of climbing down in the dark without any mishaps. We also had to master the art of going up and down stairs in the dark as the dormitory was on the first floor and the toilets on the ground floor.

Another church along the Camino

An unusual view for me of Pauline, Liz and Ann. Normally I was the slowest.

Albert Eng Moh Cheah RIP

A typical Galician graveyard

Before entering Padron we had to give way to this train




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