July 10, 2011

It is already very hot when we start out on a very small mountain road up to a pass some 20 km ahead.  We’re in really wild countryside – during our climb we see not a soul – neither on foot nor in a vehicle.  The people who live in these parts make their living from harvesting the cork from the cork oaks growing all over the mountainside.  There are piles of the cut cork at the side of the road as we ride by.

We don’t intend to do a full day today – the weather forecast had warned us of high temperatures again and, because we are ready for a rest, we are going to stop at a camp-site 40 or so kilometres away on the other side of the pass.  By the time we reach the camp-site we are saturated in sweat – we are worried that if this weather continues the remainder of the trip will become so uncomfortable that it will really not be worth trying to complete the trip on the bikes.  We hope we can but we will need to see how the next few days go after our rest.