An exhausting, but rewarding day!

It was a 9 mile walk yesterday, but a lot of it was uphill to the Alto da Portelo Grande, so I was absolutely exhausted on arrival here at the Casa da Capela in Cossourado Pecene. It is a rest day, and I don't intend to walk anywhere, except down the stairs to the dining room! The owner is kindly washing our clothes, so we will feel really refreshed setting out tomorrow.

View of local church and vineyards as we start our climb up the Alto da Portela Grande

We started out from Revolta quite early for us, to take advantage of the cool air. Thankfully, much of the rest of the day was along forest trails, so we were shaded from the hot sun.

A forest trail up to the Alto.

Despite the fact that it hasn't rained here for about four months, there was water everywhere as we made our way along the trails. (As I am in my sandals, this did get a bit worrying at times!) There were a couple of fountains where you could fill your water bottles from a fresh mountain spring, a great improvement over our last hotel's water which didn't taste very good.

Stone marking the location of spring water fountain

One of the paths on our way down

I was a bit disappointed when we reaching the summit. Rather than the peaceful setting that I had imagined, it was crowded with mountain bikers, and someone playing a small guitar, and everyone else singing. As I said yesterday, it is quite surprising how many people are walking the Camino, and many of them are young, even at this time of year. British footpaths are very much quieter.

View from the top of the Alto. 

After we had descended, we walked for many miles along a Roman Road. It was wonderful to think that so many pilgrims had passed this way over the centuries.

Roman bridge at Rubiaes

Just north of Rubiaes is a Roman bridge, which is still in use. We saw a tractor with a heavy trailer pass over it as we stood there. Amazing! The water flowing beneath it was crystal clear, with small fish darting about in the shadows.

We have now walked 50 miles, which is the furthest that I have ever walked, so that is quite an achievement for me. I think the rest of the group were quite impressed that I made it up the Alto. 

I am off now to prepare for our quiz evening, but more about that tomorrow!

Love

Rina