blog portugal & spain april may 2007

7/31/2019 Blog Portugal & Spain April May 2007

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Portugal & Spain Trek April & May 2007

As Im sure you know by now (in fact you are probably fed up with hearingit) Kim and I are trying to walk across all the European countries. I only

have myself to blame for this crazy objective. When we lived in the UK,

each weekend I announced lets go for a walk. Like all Derbyshire lads do!

Kim became enamored by the idea of setting off over hill and dale with

naught but sturdy boots, a map, thermos and of course the inevitable water

proofs. I was more enamored by the fact that all the walking routes seemed

to mysteriously pass a pub at a strategic point. Again growing up in

Derbyshire that kind of navigation becomes second nature.

This was all very well until Kim learned about the network of long distance

footpaths that exist over Europe.

See the European Ramblers website for details.

http://www.era-ewv-ferp.com/index.php?page_id=29

We practiced by doing the GR (Grande Randonn) 5 from Rotterdam to

Nice and after that she cooked up the crossing country idea.

I must admit to having a bit of a map / navigation fetish so despite the idea

being a bit daft, it does have its attractions for map lovers.Perhaps even more attractive than the maps though is the fact that walking

all day means you can eat and drink as much as you like without putting on

weight. The drawback is that when you get back home and stop the eating

takes about two weeks to slow down so thats when the weight gain starts.

Anyway, enough of the background. Some years ago we had linked Nice to

Pau and then from Pau to Santiago de Compostela via the ancient pilgrimage

route of St James. (Chemin de St Jacques, or the Camino de St Jacques)

http://www.gr-infos.com/st-jacques-de-compostelle.htm

We had to walk Portugal and we still had to walk from Santiago to the sea.

(There is a pilgrimage extension from Santiago to Fisterra)
http://www.era-ewv-ferp.com/index.php?page_id=29http://www.gr-infos.com/st-jacques-de-compostelle.htmhttp://www.era-ewv-ferp.com/index.php?page_id=29http://www.gr-infos.com/st-jacques-de-compostelle.htm


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So we decided to walk from Sagres (the southern tip of Portugal) to Santiago

and if we had the time to do the last section from Santiago to Fisterra.

Supposedly the western most bit of Spain.

The more (dare I say) developed countries of Europe are usually well

mapped down to a fine scale. The best walking scale is 1:25,000 (4cm to the

km) but if you walk in a straight line all day you will consume 2 maps a day!

So I usually use 1:50,000 which is a good compromise between detail and

cost.

Having researched the Portugal map scene at my favorite map shop,

(Stanfords London) http://www.stanfords.co.uk/

I found that Portugal was not very well mapped. It seems that there are twosets of 1:50,000 scale maps the civilian and the Military series and that the

civilian maps were so out of date they werent worth it. The military series

were more recent and were supposed to be the best bet.

I managed to get in touch directly with Tenente Coronel Antonio Pereira at

the Instituto Geografico and after signing a letter saying I wasnt going to

use the maps to invade Portugal I ordered all the 30 sheets we needed.

Normally I buy maps along the way but we were told that it would be very

difficult to find them in any shops in Portugal.

I checked the maps when I got them and they seemed OK some were

updated in the mid 90s and had missing motorways but apart from that they

seemed fine. The first days walking showed us this was not the case!

Getting to Sagres was quite trek we had to Fly from Geneva to Luton to Faro

then take a shuttle to Sagres, but all went smoothly and we arrived at

16:00hrs on the 8th of April.

Sagres was not much to look at I wouldnt go out of you way to plan a visit.

We set off in fine weather at about 10:00 am and aiming for Carrapateira agentle 24km (about 15miles, 1km = 0.6 miles) trot for the first day.

Within 5km of Sagres we found that the maps were unreliable, the general

topography appeared to be OK, hills were where they should be, but the

trails were not! There were trails which werent on the map and trail on the

map that werent on the ground.
http://www.stanfords.co.uk/http://www.stanfords.co.uk/


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We dont like to walk on the road and I do everything possible to stay off it

but the map problem lead us to try to follow trails that were within sight of

the road so we could get to the road if the trail ran out.

We managed to cover about 20km using this technique but as we neared

Carrapateira I was tempted to follow a trail through waist high scrub that

supposedly lead directly to our target.

We got within about 4km of Carrapateira (and within sight of it) when the

trail just stopped!

Instead of back tracking we took some likely looking fire breaks and

plunged into the unknown. After battling through the undergrowth for a

couple of hours we made it back to the road and on to Carrapateira.

It was becoming clear that the military maps far from being accurate were in

fact designed to confuse the enemy!

We had covered 30km in stead of 24km and it was getting late.

The town wasnt big enough to have a Hotel but someone told us that one of

the restaurants had rooms. On the way a stout local lady hijacked us and

asked if we wanted accommodation. She had a whole apartment for

30 Euros so we jumped at the chance.

After our scare on day one we stuck close to or on the minor roads risking

life and limb sharing the route with the local motorists.

Actually the driving was not as bad as we had been lead to believe. The

locals for the most part drove quite slowly but they were swervingly

surprised to see pedestrians on the road. It was becoming clear that the

Portuguese didnt see walking as an enjoyable pastime.

We were never far from the sea and the country side was for the most part

very attractive.


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The southwestern coast is not very touristy and we were in the wilderness

for much of the day. Fortunately the locals are making entrepreneurial

attempts to open small restaurants and snack bars so we didnt go short of

food.

All these establishments appear to have been recently renovated and most

important for Kim they had clean toilets.


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The renovated bar / restaurant theme continued through out Portugal and we

speculated that the coffee companies paid for the renovation as long as their

coffee was served and their advertising well displayed.

We ploughed on up the coast without much to report other than excellent

clam stew and a few days of rain.

The town that deserves special mention was Porto Covo, a quaint little

seaside town with a small estuary and fishing harbour. Porto Covo is making

quite an effort to attract tourists and we found reasonable accommodation

and an early pizza.


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The Portuguese like the Spanish eat late in the evening around 9:00 o clock

but unlike the Spanish they seemed quite happy to serve two hungry walkers

at 6:00 we were often eating while the kitchen staff had their meal on the

next table.

The coast to the north of Porto Covo is beautiful and there was even a

coastal trail that went for 5Km before coming to an abrupt end, forcing us

back to the road again.

Further north towards Sines the quaintness fades as you catch site of the oil

refinery.

Things were going too well of course and disaster was looming, it came in

the form of another map related trauma.

On day 7 between Vila Nova de Santo Andre and Carvalhal. The mapclearly showed a lake that didnt join the sea, doubting the map I asked two

people in the hotel if it was possible to walk up the coast between with the

lake to our east. I dont know why I believed anyone who looked at a map

like it had been written in ancient Hebrew.

Sure enough after 5km of (rather pleasant) beach walking we came to a

100mt wide river where the lake did in fact empty into the sea!


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After looking for a boat and debating whether to wade it, we opted for the

10km detour back the way we came.

You can imagine that when a good days walk is 30km, a 10km detour

makes quite an impression on progress. I had had enough and was planning

all sorts of escape routes. I suggested buying bicycles and cycling to

Santiago. At least it could be counted as under our own power.

After a lot of argument Kim provisionally agreed to walk to Setubal (just

south of Lisbon) and catch the train to Porto. We knew that there was a

pilgrimage route from Porto to Santiago so we were reasonably confident

that we could make that section. We would come back to do the section

Setubal to Porto another day.


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South of Lisbon near Carvalhal the storks had arrived from Africa and were

busy building theirs nests on the telegraph poles.

We decided to spend a day or two in Lisbon, sightseeing washing clothes

and checking for map shops.

Lisbon is well worth a visit; I had been disappointed about 15 years agowhen I was there for a day but the EC investment money has started to take

effect and you could easily spend two or three pleasant days there.


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Some of the time in Lisbon was spent looking for better maps and trying to

find out if there was a Lisbon to Santiago pilgrim route. The conclusion was

that we had the best maps available and the Portuguese were not too fond of

walking. This reminded us of a comment someone made earlier. Having

shown their surprise at our country on foot quest they said that we

wouldnt see too many Portuguese walking. In fact If the Portuguese coulddrive their cars into the restaurant they would do. Hmmm theres an idea

what about a drive in food chain in Portugal?

We found that there was (allegedly) a clearly marked pilgrimage route from

Porto to Santiago, so we came to the difficult decision to take the train to

Porto, walk to Santiago and hopefully on to Fisterra. The section between

Lisbon and Porto would have to wait, probably for bicycles.

The train service between the major cities was efficient and reasonablypriced. We arrived in Porto on a grey overcast afternoon. The weather did

nothing to help our impression that the whole place was a bit gloomy. The

old town sits on the banks of the river Douro deep in a valley that adds to the

overall feeling of claustrophobia.


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I may be giving Porto a bad rap because we were still miffed at having given

up on our original objective, but we both couldnt wait to get up the next

morning and find the cathedral where the pilgrimage started.

When we followed the pilgrimage route in Spain I found it a little boring,

because the trail is so well marked, there is virtually no navigation other than

the odd rerouting or deviations after a wrong turn. The only reason we were

using the Camino from Porto was due to the quality of the maps.

We checked in to the cathedral and found the pilgrims desk where we picked

up our pilgrim passports and got the first stamp to show we had indeed

started in Porto.

The pilgrim passport is a marvelous document which you carry on your tripand get stamps at various places (churches, bars, cafes, hotels) to show you

have followed the route. When you arrive in Santiago you present your

passport and get a Go to heaven voucher which forgives all previous sins

and all future sins for a year. There is no guarantee of course that you

actually walked the route, but an omniscient deity will no doubt see that sort

of cheating and have St Peter turn you back at the gates.

We picked up the yellow arrows indicating the route right outside the

cathedral but my no navigation mood quickly lifted when we found that

the Camino was blocked due to a collapsed stairway within 100mts of the

start.

There was no sign of a marked deviation so it was back to the map again.

Fortunately we had the Porto town map as well as the famous military maps

and a list of all the towns and villages that the Camino passed through on the

way to Spain. The route inevitably goes to the church in each village so we

plotted a route based on a mixture of yellow arrows, bad maps and local

advice.


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The coast north of Porto is more developed than we had seen the south and

there were a few towns that warranted further investigation. The most

notable was Viana d Castello. Perched on the northern bank of the estuary of

the river Lima the old town is worth a detour to spend a day.


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The next morning still in the rain we crossed the river Mhino on a bridge

designed by Mr Eiffel (of tower fame) and still in serviceable condition;

into the Spanish town of Porio. Again well worth a visit.

We had run out of maps when we crossed the border so we were pleased to

see that the Spanish had clearly marked the Camino, not only with arrows

but with splendid mile stones (more correctly kilometre stones) that bore the

shell of St Jacques and a note of how far you were from Santiago.

The route to Santiago was drab Galacia (this region of Spain) was living up

to its reputation for wet weather.

We were beginning to see other pilgrims on route too, but in keeping with

the Portuguese aversion to walking they were all on bicycles.

We arrived in Santago de Compostela about mid day on the 29th of April.

Just like the last time we were here the place was swarming with pilgrims

and tourists alike. Santiago is in the middle of nowhere but a bright bit of

medieval marketing (in 813a.d.) on behalf of the Bishop Teodomiro put the

place firmly on the map, check this link for details.

http://www.red2000.com/spain/santiago/history.html
http://www.red2000.com/spain/santiago/history.htmlhttp://www.red2000.com/spain/santiago/history.html


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We were in plenty of time to have a shot at our new objective, Santiago to

Fisterra so we stayed 2 nights in Santiago and set off to Fisterra well fed and

rested.

The Galicia countryside is beautiful but the villages leave something to be

desired. Much of the high ground has been taken over by eucalyptus trees

some planted some self set. There must have been a serious fire last year

because acres and acres of the trees were scorched, we never did find out if

it was deliberate or accidental.

One of the unique features of the Galician farms is the stone maize stores, all

of which are hoisted off the ground and surrounded by a stone skirt to keep

the rats out.

We were clearly back on a well trodden Camino because we were passing

and being passes by fellow pilgrims. Eventually you find someone who is

traveling at the same speed as you. Its bad Camino etiquette to walk with

other pilgrims, because your speed is always slightly different, but its de

rigueur to meet up at night to exchange tales of pilgrims progress.


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Our companions on the 4 short days to Fisterra where Marvin (USA) and

Thomas and Gertrude (Austria). (Sorry Marvin we didnt take your photo)

Hello to you all and thanks for making three rainy days so enjoyable.

The final day (Cee to Cabo Fisterra) was clear and bright so we had a

pleasant 12km trot to the end of the earth


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Having walked to Cabo Fisterra we decided to walk back to the Town of

Fisterra to make up for the 5Km cheating we did with Heinrich. So I hope St

Peter was watching.

There two daily buses from Fisterra back to Santiago but the afternoon trip

tends to be full of smelly pilgrims. Which reminds me of why incense isused in Churches. It masks the smell of the pilgrims feet.

We still havnt decided how to attack the Lisbon to Porto section so any

suggestions would be welcome. (Postscript; in April May 2012 we

completed the Setubal to Porto section with updated civilian maps.)


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