Pontevedra – Santa Maria de Armenteira Monastery (20 km)

Today's 20 km stage was a mountain one. I left at 7 in the morning and got to the top past 1 pm, with many climbs and some quite steep ones along the way.

The first part of the way was along the Ria de Pontevedra and through a few villages. Before heading into the mountain I stopped for a coffee to get energy for the climb. The climb went through the forest with a few viewpoints over the Ria.

I had no room booked and here, although there's a pilgrim hostel, it's private and took reservations, but by the time I found out it was too late, the hostel was full.

So, when I got to the top of the mountain, near the Monastery, I started looking for somewhere to stay and that's when I saw a phone number saying they rented rooms.

I called the number and the lady was renting a prefab house right next to the Monastery; she came to show us the house and we decided to stay, me, João, Natalie and, in the meantime, Mira, from Denmark, also stayed with us.

Once settled in we went to Bar O Comércio, where all the pilgrims stop in these parts as there aren't many other options, and so we stayed here for lunch.

The challenge Natalie set yesterday had already begun so I ordered fish and an alcohol-free beer for lunch.

After lunch we went to visit the Monastery and walk around the village. On the way round I came across the river and we went to wet our feet, well, that was the initial idea, but the messing about meant we all ended up soaked. Luckily none of the phones were ruined, only my stamp passport lost a page, which I later stuck back with sticky tape.

In the evening we went back to Bar O Comércio for dinner and this time I ordered a salad with calamari and an alcohol-free beer, which I didn't know was so common and came in several brands, including Super Bock.

Natalie also managed to meet the challenge and didn't smoke today.

After dinner we went back to the house and the four of us kept ourselves entertained with a few games until it was time to rest.