Day 9 - Santiago do Cacém to Vale Seco

# Pasteis de Nata: 2, Distance Walked: 22.6km, # Floors Climbed: 142

The hiking part of my holiday began in earnest today with a 20km hike to Vale Seco.  The extra 2 and a bit kilometres includes getting to the starting point from my hotel and getting to my AirBnB in Vale Seco.

At the castle (the starting point) I met a Canadian couple, Tammy and Bob, who are also walking the Rota Vicentina.  I've met a lot of Canadian tourists here.  At least, I've met a lot of people with North American accents that claim to be Canadian.  Bob & Tammy are the real deal though.

I let them start before me as I prefer walking on my own.  It is pleasant to have company of an evening, but I don't like to have to make small talk for a whole day's walk.  

The signage for this trail is pretty good.  I have an app on my phone, as well as a map and compass, but I only needed the phone app once today.  The only quirk is the distances quoted on some signs seem rather arbitrary.  During yesterday's circular walk I came across one that said the distance was 12km only to come across another 1 or so km down the track which claimed there was only 2.5km to go.

The walk today was all on dirt tracks through mostly scrub land, with only the occasional farm.  There had been a lot of rain in April and with the warm weather since there are wildflowers everywhere so it is very pretty. There was the occasional puddle on the track that were full of frogs. It must have been very wet for a good while for frogs to appear. 

There are also a lot of cork trees which have been harvested.  They have numbers painted on them.  I'm guessing that is to identify when each batch was harvested but surely the bark would grow back over it?  Perhaps it is to identify who owns which tree.

I took a detour off the route (the orange line running down at the top of the map) to see a ruined convent.  I thought it would make a good place for a morning tea stop.  However, when I got in sight of the convent I came across a farm - with dogs which madly started barking.  I wasn't sure how free range they would be so I took a photo of the convent ruins through the trees and turned back.  I met Tammy & Bob on the track.  They'd had the same idea as me.  They were behind me as they'd gone off track leaving Santiago.  They decided to brave the dogs so I said goodbye (thankfully).

The only problem with the countryside we were walking through is the serious lack of places to stop for lunch.  I was looking for a clearing with some shade or perhaps a tree stump to sit on.  This is the best stop I found - at least I had a rock to sit on.

While I was having lunch Tammy & Bob came by and joined me.  We walked the rest of the way together.  Tammy doesn't have problem finding things to chat about.  Bob is a twitcher so he spent all his time looking at birds through binoculors or taking photos of them.  They live in a small town in British Colombia and are hard-core hikers.  They even enjoy camping!

When we got to Vale Seco we split up.  My place is right here in the village but theirs is another 2 or 3km down the road.  There isn't really a town here, just a collection of farms with a bar/cafe at a crossroads.

I'm staying at a farm that has 3 cabins they rent out.  They don't provide breakfast but do have a kitchen which can be used by guests.  They stock the fridge with some basic supplies including frozen meals and soups and such like, which you can buy from them.

I arrived a little early (3:30pm when check in is officially from 4pm).  Ricardo had told me to collect my suitcase from the kitchen and then let myself into the cabin with a key in the door as that would be mine.  They all had keys in the door so I arbitrarily picked door #2.

My landlady, Olga, showed up a little later and about 30 minutes after her a pair of hikers also showed up.  They are clearly carrying all their belongings with them given the size of their packs.  The man is currently lying out by the pool, fully clothed, wearing a hoodie with the hood up and sunglasses on.  I would have said he was trying to sunbathe but instead of baring his skin he has done the complete reverse.  Very odd.

Dinner tonight was some rice thing with shreds of chicken and chunks of chorizo in it.  For a frozen dinner it was really quite Decent.  However I will backtrack to the bar for breakfast tomorrow though.  There is no coffee here!