Day 10 - Vigo to Pontesampaio

We took the low road today coming out of Vigo. It is not the recommended route but is nevertheless shown in Brierley's guidebook. The way markers on route are not complete so we had to use a combination of 1. kind of follow the general direction, 2. try to follow what is in the guidebook and 3. mix in with Google maps instructions. I think we did quite well catching the way markers once in a while and never completely lost. We were looking for the location in Brierley's book where you take a turn and then go through a railway underpass to rejoin the main route. The turn was not quite where it is on the map but the arrow is decent size. It was also helpful to have a local confirming we are on the right way. 

We took the low road trying to avoid going up to Vigo Alto and then up over the hill, thus hopefully avoiding the biggest ascend. It turns out that the slope going back up from the low road to the main route is no slouch. I make comparison with Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand. The difference is that you can see the entire Baldwin Street from below and here, it hits you again and again and you can't prepare for it. I still don't know whether we made a good choice going low because we still had a significant climb up the hill and we don't know what the alternative is like.

We have chatted with mom in Hong Kong a few times now using Whatsapp video call. It is so easy nowadays. Just use the phone and call. I believe most people now have some sort of data plan on their phone and not limited to WiFi at albergues. A local SIM card would work anywhere in the EU. We see a lot of Europeans along the way and it is even easier for them since they must already have data plans with roaming in the EU.

In our first camino on Camino Frances 8 years ago, not many pilgrims booked their beds ahead of time. I think the pandemic has forced a lot of the operators to work with reservations. Now that the infrastructure is in place, booking a bed seems to be normal. We still prefer to stay in municipal albergues where booking is not available. We try to book the others whenever we can since we have a larger group of four people. So far we had no problem getting beds either way.