May 9, 2013

The weather is not being kind to us. We have drizzle again to greet us as we leave Torre de Moncorvo.

The start of the ride is along a ridge overlooking a vineyard, the first we have come across in Portugal; the Douro valley is one of the most famous regions for wine in Portugal. We are riding along accompanied by a heavenly scent of wild honeysuckle and roses which are all along the roadside, together with the stunning display of other wild flowers that we have become accustomed to seeing. The road turns upwards again but this time the gradient is reasonable although it keeps on going up for a good 10 to 12 kilometres. We have decided that today we’ll just make a short run to a camp-site at Vila Flor. The reason for stopping early is that there is another camp-site about 85 kilometres after that which will work out well for tomorrow. If we carry on today we’ll end up having to stop half way between the two and we’re not sure that we’ll find anywhere to stay easily. As it turns out the short day is the right decision as Ken’s back is really stiff after yesterday and the rain just will not stop today. The camp-site is another disappointment . It is in a pleasant setting but very dilapidated, the shop is closed, the café is open but only has drinks and we can’t even buy a chocolate bar to eat. I ask hopefully if they have WiFi – they have absolutely no idea what I am talking about. Luckily, we have our own supplies with us – bread, soup, pasta, chocolate, bananas – the staple cycle tourist’s diet., but I can’t do much about the WiFi.