Safe Return Doubtful

On Monday morning I headed north, to the Arouca region, on a route that went over the Serra de Arada range, on a magnificent road that seemed wilder than it would be in the warmer months, that atmosphere heightened by rain and 7C temperatures; down in the valley it was mid-teens. 

To the east of Arouca is its ‘geopark’, an area of natural beauty of several hundred square kilometres between the city and Espiunca that was recognised by UNESCO in 2009 for its geoconservation, education and tourism. The park is centred around the Paiva River and I found a base directly on the riverbank in Espiunca village. 

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From Espiunca, though the Paiva Gorge, an 8 kilometre boardwalk has been constructed that follows the river to a waterfall at Vau, and then to the suspension bridge, nicknamed 516, close to another waterfall at Aguieiras. When it was opened in 2021 it was the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world, at, not hard to guess, 516 metres, and 176 metres above the river. I think the longest now is the Sky Bridge in the Czech Republic, at 721 metres, opened in 2022. 

Monday and Tuesday were both with rain, and besides, the walkways were closed for forestry work. Both the walkway, and the suspension bridge, require tickets for access, half the price if purchased online, one euro for the walkway in low season. The suspension bridge is not open until March, though even if it had been, I would have turned down the opportunity, it’s not my sort of thing, and certainly not Roja’s. 

Fortunately I had always planned to stay until Wednesday, so got on online ticket for the walkway then. 

There was a Dutch guy travelling solo in his campervan there when I arrived, the same age as me by coincidence. He was heading south, and the van was new to him. He is recently widowed and made a change in his life, retired, and has taken off travelling by van. He says barely two hours go by without a call from his son or daughter to check he is okay. He had come from Santiago and Porto, and was headed to Lisbon and the Algarve. I warned him about the difficulty in finding free van spots on the coast, it is very difficult, and gave him a couple of good options inland that I have used over the years. It was a rainy evening, so we didn’t chat for long. There are two cafes in the village, usually open, but not when the walkway is closed, so we retreated to our vans. 

I found some forest trails to amuse the dog and I on a wet Tuesday, and got on with some reading in the heaviest of the rain. 

Wednesday dawned fine, and we pretty much had the boardwalks of the walkway to ourselves, leaving just after 9 am, and getting back to the van a little more than three hours after, a fairly flat 10 mile out and back walk. I met only three people. Near to the terminus at Aguieiras I came across two Czech guys. They worked together driving trains on the Czech railway and were here to drop a car off in Lisbon for the son of one of the guys. Working for the railway they get half price, and sometimes even cheaper, rail trips around Europe, though getting back by train to Brno would take them three days.. Last summer they travelled to the UK and took the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness, paying only for the bed. Just before arriving back I met an English woman, from Stroud, hiking alone. She was visiting her elderly parents in Porto and needed a break. Porto is only an hour’s drive away. 

In the early afternoon I drove northeast crossing the Serra de Montemuro range, over a pass at 1200 metres, then down to the Douro river, followed the river for a while, then headed steeply up to a camp at a chapel I had found on the map. Chapels here are often on the top of hills, deserted at this of year, and bar any strong wind, excellent places for stopovers. One relatively close by, ten minutes or so away, was listed on the Park4Night website, but the one I have found isn’t, it’s a bit more rural, and I think better. It’s also on a hiking trail that we will undertake tomorrow. 

This is big wine country. Many of the vineyards offer a park for motorhomes and campervans, and offer facilities, but charge at least 20 euros, though include a tour. Though I will partake of a drop of red wine from the area, I’m quite happy up at the chapel. It’s a great time of year to visit the region, temperatures a bit warmer now it’s February, in the mid-teens, and yet there are hardly any other travellers around. 

The area is special to me, and not just because I worked in Porto in 2012, but also because my brother, Nigel, who died in 2017, made two visits here with his work, in the wine trade, and it was  special place for him. One of his visits at least was very close to where I am now, hosted by Sandemans, who have made port wine since the 1600s.