Today, we left Portugal and crossed into Spain. It was a relatively short day, both in miles and hiking time.

Settling into Our Routine

We just completed Day 5, and we’re getting into our El Camino routine:

• ⏰ Wake up about an hour before breakfast
• 🎒 Pack our day packs with food, water, hiking poles, hats and rain gear
• 🧳 Re-pack our big luggage to be transferred to the next hotel
• 🍳☕️ Eat a big breakfast, and have some coffee
• 🏨 Check out and get our pilgrim stamp
• 🥾 Hike a few hours
• 🥪☕️ Find a cafe for a snack and some more coffee
• 🏃‍➡️🏃‍♀️‍➡️ Hike a few more hours
• 🍫☕️ More snacks and more coffee
• 🏁 Finish the hike
• 🏩 Check into the hotel
• 🚿 Shower and 👣👣 put our feet up
• 🍕 Go to dinner
• 🏪 Find a store for water and snacks
• 🛌💤 Call it a night
• 🫩🥱 Wake up and repeat

Leaving Vila Praia de Âncora

After breakfast, we checked out and hit the trail!

Coastline Cruising

We spent most of the morning along the coastline. It was a beautiful day, with great weather and a nice ocean breeze.

We had a chance to meet a mom and her daughter from Albuquerque, NM.

Coming into Caminha

After hiking the coast for a few hours, we came to a fork in the path: go left to stay on the coastline or go right to walk through the city.

We decided to go straight!

We had read about a national forest at this section of the hike. It was incredibly beautiful and quiet.

While walking along this peaceful, quiet trail, we heard the loudest woodpecker. It sounded like a machine gun.

We then walked out of the forest and arrived at the mouth of the Minho River that separates Portugal and Spain.

Once we got into Caminha, Portugal, we caught a ferry across the Mina River to A Guarda, Spain. (And when I say “ferry”, I mean a guy in a small fishing boat with 6 life jackets.)

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

Since we have our longest day tomorrow (18 miles), we decided to have a big lunch and skip dinner so we can start at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. We found a pizzeria that was awesome!

Strava Stats