Blistered Feet and Scenic Delights: Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis to Padron Pilgrimage

This section took two days and 41 km. Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis is actually longer than Caldas de Reis to Padron, but has almost no inclines and declines, so it felt shorter.

I started out with cloudy skies, and it stayed that way for almost all of the day from Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis, where I stopped for the first day.

Even with my pharmacy supplies, it was tough going for my blistered feet. With the added bandaging, there just wasn’t enough room in the toe area of my shoe, so 5 km in, I switched off my shoes for sandals. Bliss.

I was a walking cliche of socks and sandals, but my feet hurt way less, so sandals it is for the rest of the walk.

Here is where I made the shoe exchange.

Once my feet were better, I really enjoyed the overcast walk through forests, across railway tracks, and through towns.

I stopped every four to five km at cafes or just on a rock for at least 5-10 minutes to give my legs a break and adjust my socks.

I crossed the railway several times on this walk.

Pilgrims park with statues and picnic tables for those that need a rest.

Even with the breaks, my left thigh was not happy, and the last 5km, I needed several little breaks. Remember, I was doing this with no preparation. It actually would not be a bad walk if I was prepared.

There are many fountains and water wells on the way.

The second day of this section was sunshine all day. It would have been too hot, except most of the walk was in forests. It was the first time I wore my sun hat.

Every town has some murals on buildings.

By this point, I was almost used to having sore feet and could ignore them for most of the walk. There was a bit of incline on this section for the first 5km, and then it was a forest walk, which was really enjoyable.

Some groups coming through are pretty noisy, but luckily, they usually go past pretty quickly so they don’t wreck my grove. I did come across a mom and her little boy hiking. He was about 4, and I asked how far he walked each day, and she said 10km. Wow. He’s the youngest I’ve seen walking, but there have been plenty of younger adults to seniors out here every day.

Not sure what he’s supposed to be looking at.

In certain places, people have left offerings? A lot of shoes that I guess didn’t work anymore are common.

I don’t think I mentioned that I needed to collect stamps on the way. If I want the certificate at the end, I need at least 2 stamps a day in my little passport booklet that I received at my first hotel. Almost all the hotels and restaurants along the way have stamps. Sometimes they are out in the open, and sometimes you need to ask for them.

I averaged about 5 stamps a section.