Rates / Day 1

church in Maia

The alarm goes off at 6:00 AM... not a very pleasant time to get up in my opinion. I get up almost immediately anyway. I fill up my camelbak and get dressed. Breakfast today consists of 2 power bars I brought from home. I put on my boots and pack and leave just before 7 to walk back to the metro stop.

I decided to cheat a little because I don't want to walk all the way through town and get the metro to Forum Maia. From there I find my way towards the first yellow arrow easily. It is a few minutes to 8 when I arrive at a small church with blue tiles which marks my personal starting point of the way.

Following the yellow arrows I soon find myself walking along the roadside through the industrial district of Maia. The cars and trucks rush past me without even pretending to slow down. This makes walking very uncomfortable. I walk as far left as possible, causing my left foot to slip off the road from time to time. And as if that wasn't scary enough, there are walls on either side of the street to make it almost impossible to jump aside when trucks pass by. I meet no other pilgrims on the way... I can't possibly be the only one!

After what feels like an eternity I reach Vilarinho around 11 AM. According to my hiking guide this marks the end of the first stage. But as there is no official albergue I decide to walk to Rates. But first I need food!

I find a small bar where I have a toast. After half an hour I decide to resume hiking. Just then I see a couple of pilgrims sitting down in the park oposit the bar. Eager to meet someone I walk over and greet them friendly, realising they're German speaking. They introduce themselves as Wolfgang and Gisela, a retired couple from Germany. Together we sit in the shade of the trees and enjoy the break. They too are headed for Rates and we decide to walk on together.

The route continues to follow the country road for a few more km before it finally changes its direction and leads us through small villages and even a small forrest. Just a couple of km before our first albergue we take a short detour to a small church and pass by a true oasis.

We pick fresh oranges from the tree - it's not stealing, is it? I decide that it's not and enjoy my orange and safe one for later.

After that it's only a short walk until we reach our destination. The albergue in Rates is simple but clean. We sign the guestbook and pick our beds in the same room. 

I discover a huge blister on my left foot just below my big toe. Darn! I walked 400 blisterfree km in these boots - and now I get one?! A refreshing shower will make me feel much better.

Afterwards we go to the small market to collect our stamp (a very beautiful one by the way, in black and red). We also buy supplies for the next day.

Later we have dinner with our roommates: Thomas & Sandra, who met on the Camino Francés last year, another Thomas and two Italians. We all have the menue del peregrino - as it turned out this night it was spare ribbs and rice. Yummy! The apple for dessert was a bit disappointing though.

After a fun evening we walk back to the albergue together, we don't want to get locked out. It closes at 10:00 PM sharp.

Despite the horrendous walk through the industrial district and the blister on my left foot, I am quite happy with this first day. My pack isn't too heavy and I'm in better shape than I thought. Also, the first impressions I got of my fellow pilgrims are good. Hopefully this will be a quiet night. Just in case I keep my earplugs within reach.

albergue in Rates

Distance covered: ~25 km