“I’ve already completed a number of the different Camino trails and I just love the whole experience. The Camino Portugues was next on my list and the very different way which Walk the Walk do it really appealed to me. Taking on the first half of the challenge on a bike and the second half on foot made it really special and I’d 100 per cent recommend it to anyone!
I loved the yin and yang – firstly, the challenge takes you through two countries. You start off in Portugal and you and up in Spain. The first three days are spent cycling, followed by three days on foot.
In Portugal you spend a lot of time cycling along the coast, which is magnificent. There’s a section of the Portuguese coastline where you’re cycling along wooden boards across marshes. You look out to sea across the sand to the crashing waves, as the sun shines and sparkles off the sea. You feel like you don’t want to be anywhere else.
Once you’re in Spain, the Camino trail takes you away from the coast. You walk through forests and hills and the countryside is totally different! The challenge and the contrast between the different sections of the Camino Portugues is just brilliant.
The differences between the two countries are fascinating too. I’d never been to Portugal before and had always thought of Portugal and Spain as being fairly similar, but they’re not! They differ in so many ways – the culture, the history, the buildings and of course the people. Large parts of the city of Porto, where we started our Camino Portugues, were rather quirky and totally untouched by tourism, which I really liked.
With so many contrasts along the way, the Camino Portugues is so different to any other challenge which Walk the Walk does, but you still have the incredible “Camino” element which unifies the whole journey. The camaraderie along all the Camino trails is also unlike anything I’ve ever experienced – you can meet people along the route and instantly become friends! It’s wonderful how you can walk side by side with someone you’ve never met before for just a few minutes and confess everything to them about your life, simply because of your united goal to complete that stretch of the Camino. I love it!
That honesty and the shared common goal of getting to Santiago is very hard to put into words, unless you’ve experienced it. It’s not spiritual as such, but more of a spiritual mental journey of strength and resilience. On the Camino, you can have time to yourself – so often in life, you get up, you’re doing things, you’ve got thousands of things to think about. But when on the Camino, all you have to think about is how far you’re going to walk or cycle that day and when the next rest stop will be. You can just enjoy nature and the company around you.
Add to this the amazing camaraderie of completing part of the Camino with a Walk the Walk group and the whole experience is just so inspiring. I love the fact that everyone comes together so brilliantly on a Walk the Walk challenge – this time, I knew a couple of the other people taking part and there were another couple who I didn’t know. But it doesn’t matter! Strangers are just friends you haven’t met before, and they soon become very good friends. Literally, by the time you get off a plane to start a Walk the Walk challenge, or you’ve completed the first couple of miles, you’re as thick as thieves!
If you’re thinking about signing up for this challenge and you’re concerned about the cycling element – don’t worry at all. The Camino Portugues is definitely do-able for someone who hasn’t done much cycling recently and who doesn’t feel that they are a particularly proficient cyclist! Like for any Walk the Walk event, a training plan is provided and if you follow it, you will succeed. The whole team is there to help you achieve your goals. We all work together and look after each other. Don’t be scared, you’re not alone, and you are never alone on these fantastic challenges”.
Thank you for sharing your story Andy
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