33 km. A long day. It was a nice sunny morning, and after walking through Azambuja and climbing over the railway line bridge, it was a pleasant walk along a quiet country lane eastwards. The Camino Portugués ( as well as the Camino Fatima), then left the road heading north along a river through farmland. I walked past freshly ploughed fields, and even though it was May 1 st (a public holiday – Labour Day), the farmers were out in their tractors working.
The good weather ended, and it was back on with the raincoat and pack-cover, as it turned cold and raining. There was a group of workers placing seedings from the back of a tractor in the rain. I joined a bitumen road and after 10km of walking reached the small village of Reguengo. I stopped because the rain had temporaily stopped and had something to eat sitting on the levee bank that runs along the Tejo River, protecting the village and the farms behind.
Another 2.4km along the road brought me to another village -Valada. I stopped at the local bar/restaurant/shop/deli to have everyone go quiet when I walked in. I bought an icecream and waited under the shelter of the shop for another cold rain downpour to finish. I had a look at the Valada “Beach” on the River Tejo.
I headed north still continuing along the levee bank, reaching Porto de Muge, when a bridge crosses the river. It varied from sunny to rain during the afternoon.
I then left the bitumen road to take a dirt road north. I passed one Quinta (large farm or country estate), then it was fields . I had covered 20km by the time I passed the Quinta, and I was getting weary. It was 4pm in the afternoon, and I still had 12km to go.
About 5km further on I could see Santarem sitting up on the hill, and that spurred me on. I joined the bitumen road again going under the elevated A-12 Freeway, and then it was another 2 kilometres, before the 2km climb into Santarem (which was hard on the knees). I got to the hotel meeting Judy at about 7:30pm.
Planting seedlings, 3 people on the back of the tractor
Reguengo Levee (click for larger version)
Valada Beach (click on photo for a larger version)
33ks that enormous. Take care. Sorry to hear Judy is still not right.
Best wishes to you both.
Sorry to hear Judy you are still not able to walk. As I know rain and cold isn’t good for bad backs. Greg is coping well with the weather. Love the pictures of the rural countryside and the farmworkers at work, looks very primitive.