May 15, 2018

A cool clear crisp morning greeted us today, as we left for Rabaçal, some 32kms down the road. The temperature was quite cool, but there was a promise of a beautiful day in the air. We had decided to get our bags carried today, as it was a long distance, and also I haven’t been in such terrific health (just a cold and cough). This proved to be a wise decision, as todays’ journey would take us to the highest point os this camino, a mere 450 meters, but still a reasonable climb, especially for someone in my state of current health). 

The walking conditions today were as close to idyllic as you could get; good bush track, fantastic countryside, quaint villages and farmlets dotted the landscape, although like yesterday, there were                

Many residences that have been abandoned, which is a real shame as they looked they would have been something in better days.

And like yesterday we passed so many towns and villages that seemed to be in a comatose state. 

Today, it was only Jose and myself walking the whole way, as Michael had problems with his feet and took the opportunity to walk about half way, opting for a taxi ride with Francesca and Eloisa, who also had some issues with knees and feet. The camino can be quite taxing on the human body, and can throw up all sorts of curve balls at unexpected times.

Our initial stage was through some mountain villages which afforded some stunning views of the surrounding valleys. The views were enhanced by a layer of fog that was sitting below our altitude, so it gave the impression that that there was nothing below (see photos). Walking though this area was a sheer delight, albeit the extra strain on the legs to get you to the top.

As we progressed through the day, the countryside remained beautiful and a pleasure to walk through. However the temperature was certainly climbing the longer the day went on. It’s funny how the camino can play these mind games with you. Often you’ll see a town far off in the distance and you convince yourself that it has to be your destination town, and so you set yourself mentally to get to this place. As has happened so many times, you eventually get there and you find that’s it’s not the place you’d hoped it would be. So, you set yourself mentally again, muster up the strength to continue and off you go. This happened again today, with the issue of concern being that there was not a lot of shade on offer during the last stage, so we eventually got a bit of a baking, even though we had a good layer of sunscreen on.

We reached the albergue at around 2:00pm; Michael and the others had just arrived as well, so we all settled in, showered and had a light lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent washing, resting and shopping etc..

The town itself is very small (1000 people), so there isn’t a lot here to check out. For us, it’s more of a stop over point. We’re currently assessing our option for tomorrow, as our next stopping point is Coimbra, which is an important historical town, and we want to have a a good slice of time to have a look around.