Tahikiwi
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Dec23
I am a solo female traveller. I do not want to frighten anyone by sharing my experience but I am sharing so others following me can make plans and decisions.
Over the bridge in Ponte de Lima I thought the arrows took me to walk along a small river edge. I walked along here for about 10 minutes before it became flooded. I jumped across the river into a field area that had a lot of scrub and what seems to be a path. I couldn’t get through the scrub and as I turned around to backtrack I saw a man I had passed as I had come over the bridge. He had followed me, he had his penis out of his pants and when he noticed I had seen him he started masturbating. I phoned 112 immediately and started running to get away from him. It was an extremely frightening experience because I was isolated and alone. I ran to the nearest road, about 400mtrs away. The police came and I lodged a report.
That evening the host of the Albergue I stayed in said it had happened “many” times before and that she had had a number of upset and frightened pilgrims with the same story.
I have marked on the map where I first saw the man and the X is where it happened. As you can see the path is not by the river but the arrows were.
I refuse to allow this experience to damage my Camino and I have chosen not to give it any energy. I did however feel a responsibility to warn others. Stay safe.
P.s police were fantastic, don’t hesitate to call if you need to
Over the bridge in Ponte de Lima I thought the arrows took me to walk along a small river edge. I walked along here for about 10 minutes before it became flooded. I jumped across the river into a field area that had a lot of scrub and what seems to be a path. I couldn’t get through the scrub and as I turned around to backtrack I saw a man I had passed as I had come over the bridge. He had followed me, he had his penis out of his pants and when he noticed I had seen him he started masturbating. I phoned 112 immediately and started running to get away from him. It was an extremely frightening experience because I was isolated and alone. I ran to the nearest road, about 400mtrs away. The police came and I lodged a report.
That evening the host of the Albergue I stayed in said it had happened “many” times before and that she had had a number of upset and frightened pilgrims with the same story.
I have marked on the map where I first saw the man and the X is where it happened. As you can see the path is not by the river but the arrows were.
I refuse to allow this experience to damage my Camino and I have chosen not to give it any energy. I did however feel a responsibility to warn others. Stay safe.
P.s police were fantastic, don’t hesitate to call if you need to