In and Out and In and Up in Portugal

 

In Trujillo I walked from the parking by the old bull ring in to the historic centre with its huge main square dominated by both the church and, high above, the castle or alcazaba The Iglesia San Martin was stunning both inside and out as was the castle which also boasted remarkable views around the largely flat surrounding countryside. Pigeons were taking prime nesting spots in the old walls and a warm breeze blew on yet another cloudless day.

 In Caceres I recognised the aire tucked away near the older centre and walked up to the maze of streets that surround the numerous traditional buildings before spending a quiet night alongside a few other vans. The following morning I walked round to the nearest laundrette but had to wait a while as a lady had requisitioned all the machines for a vast pile of linen. Once mine was done I returned to the van to put it all away and then walked back in to the centre once more. A small restaurant with a sunny terrace provided me with an excellent menu del dia which I enjoyed at leisure before a second quiet night.

As I'd not been able to grab a large machine yesterday I took a second load round only to find the same lady with a similar huge load in progress, however she let me use one of the machines but seemed reluctant to give up the dryer.

A large Carrefour supermarket gave me the chance to stock up with plenty of good food and other items before I headed towards the Portuguese border hoping that there would be no Covid hassle. En route I filled up with diesel as it is considerably cheaper than Portugal at around £1.20 a litre and used a car wash to clean 8 weeks of dust off the van and bikes.

There was nobody at the border and within minutes I was taking the familiar and exceedingly narrow short cut through Gallegos to Santo Antonio Das Areias where Camping Asseiceira looked as welcoming as ever.

It is three years since I have been here and it was wonderful to see Gary looking well and the site still immaculate and unspoilt. I noticed new walking path signs in the area and that more old houses had been restored which Gary said was down to a push to encourage tourism and tempt younger people back to the area.

Over the next few days we caught up on news, visited his project to convert a former olive oil factory in to a new home and I was introduced to a long term resident who deals in cryptocurrency and an English guy who has been staying a while. Otherwise a few vans turned up for various nights but it was quiet - very few English winter visitors have made the trip but he had had a lot of Portuguese 'staycationers' over the previous summers, which I guess may bode well for enticing people to consider relocating to the emptier rural parts of the country.

I enjoyed various bike rides on the network of quiet lanes and rural tracks returning to the old station at Beira where a new business hub has been built as part of the repopulation drive.

Whilst giving my old bike a good clean and service I noticed that the front brake lever was hardly working so headed off to Portalegre in search of a replacement. However I was tempted by the availability of new bikes in the shop and took a couple out for a test spin. Realising how decrepit the old Cube felt I decided to forget repairs and asked the guy to prepare a Scott Scale carbon fibre hardtail with a 1x12 set up, 29'' tubeless wheels and hybrid SPD pedals Thus an hour later and a few bob lighter I left with a new machine to enjoy - an early birthday present or a late one given that over the last two years I had found it impossible to source the right bike in the UK

Back at the site I transferred various accessories and mounts across which did away with the shiny new look - thus I hope reducing the possibility of theft - and then stripped the old Cube of anything useful including the almost new tyre (which will fit Mandy's bike), the newish caliper and rear brake lever, all those small bolts and screws that are easily lost and then put the various bits of metal in the recycling bins and the frame in  another. It has been a well used bike across many countries and covered thousands of miles - many in tough conditions but like my old T4 van had just about reached the end of its useful life. Fond memories have just made me look that old girl up - still on the road, 353,000 miles on the clock, passing its MOTs regularly but only 8,000 miles in the four years since I sold her on - what a contrast to the stellar mileage I put on - 240,000 in 12 years! Do the math - it's a factor of 10.....

 

 

 

Anyway I tested the new wheels on a ride out to Castello De Vide passing an old friends former smallholding and heading out to the Povoa reservoir where numerous storks were nesting. The aire has been refurbished but remains closed for now and unusually there were no vans dotted around the shoreline, either a sign that the local police are moving people on or that visitors have yet to return in the usual numbers and possibly a combination of both.

As well as new footpath signs there are a bewildering number of mountain bike routes signed but basically they all follow the tangle of tracks and trails and for me it was reassuring to know that the vast majority are open for use enabling me to link various options up using the Satmap GPS to create some memorable rides. 

Back on site Gary and I tested and charged a pair of AGM leisure batteries that Russ had left following an upgrade and we decided they were in better condition than Gary's existing LB in his van so we will replace that one in due course.

In the background I have been monitoring the situation regarding a sea crossing to Morocco as by late March my post Brexit 90 day limit is up but to date the ports are still closed so I may have to return to the UK within a month. As Mandy is able to join me next week  we will probably spend a week at Marvao, two weeks looping up through Spain and then cross France quickly for a short ferry hop home.

The possible plan to get a ferry to Italy, cross Greece quickly and then spend three months in Turkey is somewhat hampered by the delays obtaining the 3 different PCR tests required despite my fully vaccinated status so I think I will be more than grateful for this winter trip and look forward to longer ones in the near future as Covid recedes and measures ease later in the year.

Thus after ten days at Marvao I decided on a short trip away heading via the Douro to the Sierra D'Estrella, Portugal's highest mountain range.

A quiet aire on the southern fringe of the park saw me adjacent to a Dutch family whose two toddlers seemed to be enjoying the adventure - the sight of them playing with buckets and spades on a pile of gravel reminded me of a photo I took on my first visit to Morocco of two small kids doing exactly the same and looking just as content - do we sometimes provide too much in the way of devices and gadgets to our youngsters...

Round at Loriga the village had installed a new aire which was really only accessible for smaller vans so I had it to myself. A group of local men were attacking a huge pile of tree trunks with a chain saw and tractor powered log splitter but called a halt soon after I arrived to enjoy beer, bread and cooked chicken in the warm sun.

 

I set off to explore the village passing a classic old Beetle before spotting a sign for a marked route up in to the surrounding mountains that reached an RAF memorial. I set off and climbed steeply on a track that then ended and became a footpath across the boulder strewn mountainside. It was hard work but I was determined to get there as had the local villagers who in 1944 had struggled up there to the scene of a crashed British Maritime Reconnaissance plane, a Lockheed Hudson, that had been en route from Gibraltar to London. The six airmen perished and their graves are still carefully maintained in the local cemetery - although bizarrely according to local archives three were destroyed by a 'mental patient' in 1972  and had to be replaced. The site is marked by a simple cross and no wreckage remains - local tungsten miners and charcoal burners had carried the remaining metal away to be repurposed in an area where even outside of war times were hard and materials in short supply.

My intention the next day was to visit the highest village in Portugal, Sabugueiro but judging by the numbers of cars heading that way it was a popular Sunday afternoon out. Thus I dropped down a side road and parked up in a small village lower down where a walk along a water channel took me in to the hills before leaving the waterway and contouring round the slopes before returning through pine woodland. The intriguing processionary caterpillars had hatched and I came across many of the ponderous lines of these creatures following  their leader across the ground.

 

 

Towards dusk I reached Sabugueiro which was now deserted and settled in for a quiet night by a chapel in a small square. Unfortunately the bin lorry came round at 5 the next morning which gave me the idea to get going and watch the sunrise from Torre, Portugal's highest mountain. It was a good drive on empty roads as the skies lightened and in temperatures around zero I was rewarded with a spectacular photo opportunity. After breakfast I began the long twisting descent through the Estrella National Park and by late morning was crossing back in to Spain. I stopped at Ciudad Rodrigo to walk the city walls with their superb views - outside a fair was setting up whilst within in the main square a remarkable transformation was taking place ; vast amounts of timber were being used to erect tiered seating and sturdy walls to turn the square in to a bull ring for the following weekend's carnival.

 

 It was a huge amount of work and I guess the place will be packed out. I'd only parked at the aire but as I arrived I met a couple from Northern Ireland in a large old Mercedes self converted bus who were looking for a property to buy in Portugal - he was a real character having served in the British Army, spent years in the Merchant Navy, then oil rigs around the world and most recently several years on the Stena Irish Sea ferries. I was also intrigued by a young Spanish guy camping out of the back of his estate car - he carefully set up a folding table with cloth and cutlery and then produced a stove and began cooking  - good to see this way of life appealing to so many characters and with such different approaches.

Between Bejar and Hervas I parked up at the old station of Banos de Montemayor, famed for its Roman thermal springs and followed the VV del Plata north to Bejar itself before returning to spend a hot afternoon in the sun. The following day I took the same VV south passing through Hervas to reach the trail end some 15 miles away. The old station did for another night and I fetched a couple of buckets of water from the spring to top up my tank. 

Today I passed through Plasencia where at last I found a Campingas outlet in a garden centre - several others promised by the locator app had not even existed. At £20 it is much cheaper than the UK and I expect a cylinder to last 10 days or so which is all hot water, cooking, washing up and the overnight fridge use. By staying off grid and avoiding campsites my total cost so far in 8 weeks away has been the £15 spent very early on at an aire with hook up for 3 nights - cheap living.

From the visitor centre for the Monfrague National Park I enjoyed another VV 12 miles each way that followed the old Madrid to Valencia D'Alcantara railway which has been superceded by a newer line that runs nearby. It was a good surface and passed through tree dotted grazing land with healthy looking cattle - both Spain and Portugal are seeing a drought and farmers are feeding their stock which is unusual in winter, in contrast to the UK feeding is normally only required in the dry parched summer months. In contrast to the storms back home I have had one afternoon of showers in the last 8 weeks...

This evening I am parked up in the square of Relvas which sits below Monsanto regarded as one of Portugal's prettiest villages. I walked up earlier on a cloudy afternoon which wasn't the best for photographs but was an improvement on my last visit in 2013 when according to this blog I had visited in stormy weather and there were trees down and tiles off roofs. The blog also described my previous visit to the Estrella around the same time  when the summit was shrouded in thick fog and snow lay on the roadside - no wonder I didn't recognise it. After 17 years on the road and so many amazing adventures I guess it's inevitable that I forget about some of the places I have visited but as the Estrella proved return visits are always different and can be an improvement on the first occasion, although the opposite can also be true.

 

Anyway that's everything up to date - shopping and laundry in Portalegre will precede my return to Marvao where I hope to borrow the vacuum cleaner and give the van a good clean out before my trip to Lisbon.

 A few pics here....

East to the Med then inland to the Centre

 As I pulled in to the aire at Cretas amongst olive trees I realised we had stayed there a couple of years ago en route to Barcelona but not actually ridden from there. The old town was full of beautiful stone buildings, cool arched walkways and was attractively lit at night.

I set off along the Via Verde heading north for a couple of hours noticing a transformation from pines to olives and almonds in the surrounding scenery. It was warm by day but again nights were frosty.

 

The VV also headed south with the lofty tops of the NP dels Ports looming and an isolated top with a ruined chapel caught my eye for a possible walk. The old stations were mostly abandoned although one did have a cafe based in an old railway carriage but it only opens in the summer. One other station also had a closed cafe but its wifi was still working allowing me to do a bit of planning whilst I enjoyed the last of the oranges from Burgos. The following morning as I prepared to leave a tractor turned up with another plus trailer followed by a 4x4 which contained a film crew. They were here to record the first tractor with its olive harvesting attachment - basically a large fan unfolded around the base of the tree and then two jaws gripped it and shook it violently to dislodge the ripe olives. It was fascinating to watch and the small crew took various clips, did interviews and launched a small drone for aerial shots.

 

I moved on to a huge monastery below the ruined chapel I had seen and enjoyed the 90 minute walk up steep paths for a panoramic view before dropping in to Tortosa where the aire was well organised but located under a rather noisy bridge. It was almost full but by tucking away beside a larger French van I was well shielded from the traffic.

The next day I cycled north up the VV de Zaffran to reach the old station with its wifi, again passing through a number of tunnels and crossing various rivers on lofty viaducts - it was a very enjoyable section and also passed a large weir that diverts water from the Ebro in to a huge network of canals that irrigate the rice paddies of the delta. Orange and lemon groves were full of fruit about to be picked and there were a number of spring flowers out in the warm sun.

A long but flat ride, initially along an irrigation canal and then following the Ebro River finally brought me out on the coast of the Med - the Ebro actually rises quite near Santander so had been following a pretty similar route to me over the last few weeks. The sea was calm and in the lagoons behind and on the flooded rice fields a range of birds and waterfowl were dabbling in the waters.

 

Back at Tortosa I found a laundrette and supermarket before heading out to the delta again for a stay on another busy aire on the south side of the river. I guess as it was the coast and warmer the increase in numbers was to be expected but again there were very few UK vehicles. I rode out to the coast and took a number of long sandy tracks along the shore line to reach the enclosed lagoon at the north, home to hundreds of flamingoes. It was flat easy cycling and the miles soon added up - 40/50 a day being my comfortable average.

The following day I returned to the coast, followed a sandy track and treated myself to a day on the beach where at one point a large tractor turned up to dredge the outlet from the irrigation channel so that the fields could dry out a little for planting.

Moving on I climbed high in to the PN dels Ports to the summit of Monte Cova arriving at the same time as two Spanish cyclists who shared the remarkable views before they shot off downhill. I fixed the GoPro to the screen and followed them with the camera set to speed up the descent making for an entertaining clip. Hidden corners were still quite icy but the cyclists had descended safely as I passed them and turned inland to Morella.

The aire is across the valley from the walled town and castle so has a good vantage point and being a small van I could park away at the end of the terrace with enough room for a small private 'garden' - thus out came the solar panel and chair for a couple of hours.

 

I walked in to town the next day passing the remains of a three tiered aquaduct that had brought water in for many years from a distant spring. The lofty castle was reached by a series of narrow streets and had a bull ring within its lower walls. The various levels and battlements culminated in a substantial courtyard at the top with the main keep and made for a very worthwhile visit. Down in the town I chose a small but smart restaurant for lunch and worked out that only the second Covid dose and booster Q codes actually enable you to enter premises in Spain.

After a quiet night I got up early to catch the sun rising over the town before heading to Viafame where another castle loomed over the town. A young German lad was touring in his BMW estate car with a roof tent and had a slide out kitchen with stove and cool box in the boot - he'd also made a hot water system by mounting a section of black painted plastic 6'' pipe horizontally on his roof rack with a filler cap and spout - ingenious..

The aire at Segorbe was no more than parking along a road by the railway station but it was quiet enough and allowed me to pick up the VV de Ojos Negros north that ran to Teruel and beyond and passed through more almond orchards and empty landscapes.

The location for the village of Alcala de Jucar was spectacular - set deep in a limestone valley and overlooked by a beautiful castle it made for an enjoyable half day. The steep streets beneath the castle have many cave houses set deep in to the rock - ideal for winter warmth and summer cooling - and there is one incorporated in to the castle as well which was fascinating.

 

The village of Lezuza west of Albacete was my base for two nights - the aire was a large old dusty football pitch with plenty of space and no other occupants. From the village a 40 mile mountain bike route was signed so I took a photo of the board, translated the route on to my GPS and set off for a memorable ride through empty farmland passing many uninhabited dwellings and not seeing a sole. The route used various tracks and trails and offered expansive views before returning me to the quiet parking once more. I used the facilities to fill with water and deal with the bathroom before loading the bikes on again and spending a comfortable night with the heating in use again as inland was much cooler at night.

A few miles away I parked at an old station to ride a length of the VV D'Alcaraz which skirts the mountain range of the same name before pulling up at a rather small aire in Riopar alongside a Dutch van. The following day I took a drive through the Sierra D'Alcaraz following a very quiet minor road and then another through Bogarra and Ayna. Whilst stopping for lunch on the forest road down to Molinicos the Dutch guy turned up on his scooter and we enjoyed a good chat over coffee in the sun. I stayed the night in Molinicos which was the start of a good walk up in the hills on a hot day with a ruined village towards the end providing a snapshot of a lost way of life.

Heading inland again I stopped above Ruidera in an aire amongst pine trees by the Penarroya reservoir with a dramatic castle overlooking the flat water. It was a lovely spot with a good sunset.

The wetland bird reserve of the Tablas de Daimiel is suffering from a lowering water table caused by agricultural boreholes so whilst much reduced in area it still attracts a wide variety of birdlife which could be seen from the various walks that crossed the reserve on duckboards. At dusk the birds were very vocal but it soon became a very peaceful place to spend the night with just one other van parked nearby.

A stunning drive through the Sierra de Cabaneros brought me to an unusual aire - it was fairly new, fully fenced in and watched over by CCTV. Payment for water, waste or electricity plus a nightly fee would have been around £10 but as I had no need for these services I pushed on eventually parking at the old station in Aldenueva de Barbarroya for, you've guessed it, another VV. With the rest of the afternoon still available I knocked out 20 odd miles up to Calera y Chozas before returning for a quiet night. On the Saturday I headed south to the final station before a long tunnel under the Sierra de Guadelupe which is closed off although a Camino Natural (rural track) does carry on over the Puerto de San Vicente to the monastery at Guadelupe. Back at A de B a party was starting across the line at a house and a few local kids turned up to drink a few beers right next to me but all was well and it was quiet by late evening.

 

On arriving at Logrosan I realised it was another aire I had used before and indeed we had cycled the VV before as I recognised the huge solar thermal power station and long concrete canal structure as I headed south. Storks were nesting on the poles and pylons, cranes in their hundreds were prowling the fields, buzzards and kites floated overhead and I saw three otters cross the path ahead of me as I returned in the late afternoon to find three other vans pulled in amongst the trees - all UK plates. One had managed to damage his awning so they were all busy trying to repair it so I left them to it and created some very successful chickpea and onion burgers for tea.

Today I have moved on to Trujillo for one or two nights and expect to be at my friend Gary's small campsite near Marvao in Portugal by Wednesday. I've not seen him for 3 years so it will be a good catch up after which I will look at the options for crossing to Morocco by late February. After 6 weeks in Spain the Brexit clock is slowly counting down and I will need to focus on my options.

Anyway an update from Portugal next week will follow - meanwhile click here for more pics.