Having checked in at Camping As Cancelas (a whole experience in itself which took 15 minutes, much paperwork and much unnecessary explanation all of which must have cost them most if not all of the princely sum of 11 euros they eventually charged us….to be fair they were super helpful and friendly) we decide we should make use of the facilities. This meant chucking every single item of stinky clothing into the lavendria and getting all our stuff clean. Whilst that is happening we pitch the tent and indulge in a couple of ice cold and very well deserved beers.

Our plan, such as it is, is to hang the washing out as soon as possible and then grab the bus (part of the 15 minute induction was an explanation on how the bus works, where to get off and , most importantly, how to get back again ….so apologies again if I seem ungrateful as that was in fact super helpful!) down to the centre of Santiago de Compostela…..so that’s what we do.

We are so glad we did ….neither of us are religious (Marc might actually be actively non religious but let’s maybe stay clear of that topic) but it is genuinely a lovely, uplifting and emotional experience. There are dozens and dozens of people here, a lot of whom smell way worse than us, who have, like us, really pushed themselves further than they ever thought they could and they have endured and they have overcome …..we stick around for about 15 minutes in silence just taking in the atmosphere and enjoying the shared experience.

Whilst we would have loved to stay longer this is not the end of the adventure for TMAAT and indeed it’s not even the half way point. We drag ourselves away and return to the practical tasks we need to tick off …ice cream, supermarket, dinner, bus and bed.

The prospects of a decent nights sleep seemed high, especially given I was literally out like a light as my head hit the pillow. I hadn’t reckoned with the Spanish bin men however who determined that 130 in the morning was the optimum time to collect then again at 330 and then again at 530…..I would dearly love to tell you that I am mistaken or exaggerating ….unfortunately it is neither!

We are now well settled into our morning routine, silently moving around each other in the early morning light as we take the tent down, make brekky, pack everything up again and head off….as usual that means our first pedal is just after 7am.

The Garmin has been amazingly accurate and reliable so far (how did people do this kind of thing before satnav….I realise of course the answer is “maps Nick, ever heard of them?” but the sheer number of maps you would need, not to mention the weight of them actually boggles my mind. Today the Garmin, not unreasonably, thinks we might like to bounce around on the cobbles and woodland trails that all the pilgrims use to enter the city. It is quite pretty and there are lots of people chatting as they walk along and there is even a piano recital going on in the middle of the woods, but the progress is so slow it is absolutely not for us and within ten minutes we turn back onto the N550 and head south.

The N550 is the same road that faithfully served us yesterday all the way to Santiago and it does the same again today with another 45 miles out towards Pontevedra and on to Redondela.

Our progress is good albeit a bit uninspiring scenery wise …it’s just a main road with lots of noisy and somewhat stinky traffic. It’s is also getting increasingly hot and we are both v v v tired ….overall I think we can comfortably say this is not our best day. We are both keen to get it out of the way, get back to the sea and have a bit of reset.

We arrive in the city of Vigo around 3pm and it really is a city and it takes all our wits to safely and successfully navigate our way through.

We pause to pick up supplies in Baiona and then roll out the final 6 miles to our campsite for the night. Fortunately we are rewarded with the most spectacular views and a beautifully flat (and very yellow) cycle path, the EuroVelo 1 Atlantic Way which we will (or at least should) be sticking with for most of the rest of our journey. All our days are tough but the last three as we have cut across from one coast to another have been properly challenging….but we have overcome!!!