Day 4 - Port De Muge to Vale De Figueira 28km

So, after a really nice night in our hostel and in Santarem, Mario dropped us back to the point before Santarem where we had finished yesterday - Port De Muge. We then walked to Santarem, through it and on to Vale De Figueira (effectively finishing yesterday's stage and taking a chunk out of tomorrow's). When we started at 7.30 in Muge it was 21 degrees and really nice, but surprise, surprise we experienced rain, such a change after all the sun. By mid afternoon it was dry again and very hot.

Red peppers ready for harvesting.

A funny thing happened a few nights ago. We were having a beer at a cafe in Azambuja when the waitress brought us a free bowl of pulses. We dug into these and they seemed fine, but we did detect a bit of a buzz around the bar. Some of the locals had been watching us and decided to call the waitress who arrived with an interpreter to explain that we were supposed to peel the pulses first. Morto!!!

Black grapes really delicious. We sampled a few!!!

Mario surprised us last evening. He said I have something for you and went to get it. He arrived back with, ............ wait for it ............ A box of Barry's Tea!!!  It seemed a Cork walker had stayed a few months earlier and insisted that he should offer Barry's Tea to any Irish walkers who stay with him. The box arrived in the post a few weeks later. So, Mary and Fleur had a cup of Barry's for breakfast this morning!

Kieran strides out. Nothing we said really!!!

Everybody should take a Fleur with them on a Camino! She can hear all the things that we can't, she can manage machines such as metro ticket vending machines in Lisbon, she has a good grasp of Portuguese after a few days, and she is in constant good humor despite her blisters.

We completed the Camino Frances a couple of years ago (see yellow marked route above). When we were finished, we were very pleased with the achievement and the experience, but at the same time felt it was done and we put it behind us. However, the Camino itch stayed with us and so we are walking again.

This time it's Camino Portugues, a 610km walk from Lisbon to Santiago (see brown marked route above). There are route variations once we leave Lisbon, including an attractive coastal one, but we will stay inland most of the way, with a view to experiencing the 'real Portugal'. About 80% of the route will be in Portugal, with the other 20% in Spain. There are some interesting locations on the way including Porto and Santarem, and we will share parts of the route with Fatima pilgrims. From following other blogs, etc, we sense that the Camino Portugues is on the up, with more facilities opening all the time, and improved waymarking. 

However, we think we won't have the choice and value we experienced on the Camino Frances. While we will continue to seek out pilgrim hostels as a preference, it may be a matter of taking what we can get. This blog is dependent on WIFI availability, but hopefully we can update it each day. Armed with tablets and phones, we hope to capture a sense of our route through photographs, and reflect these in the blog, rather than too much text.

So, Bom Caminho

Kieran, Mary and Fleur