Safe Return Doubtful

Day 24 – still at Rio Arado A superb mountain day with clear skies and an almost perfect temperature, warm enough for T-shirt and shorts even. With the weather so fine, there were a few other people out today. I met a Brazilian young couple, over in Europe for only…

Day 23 – at Rio Arado I’m in and out of any internet signal up here. Strangely, it was strongest in the wind and rain when I arrived. It was a day clear of rain today, and without wind also. It ranges from nothing at all, to 2G, to 3G,…

Day 22 – to Rio Arado, near Ermida A day of heavy showers with a bit of sun in between, just enough to keep the van’s solar happy. The rain was heaviest in the morning as I drove through Gerês town to stock up at the small supermarket. It was…

Day 21 – to Terras de Bouro, just up from Campo de Geres I only drove 3 kilometres today, the least ever in a change of stopover on my van courses. My idea originally had been to go to Geres, 15 km away. I had thought of topping up the…

Day 20 – at the museum at Campo de Geres In September 2020 I was travelling in the old T5 in the Pyrenees on route to Tresviso in the Picos de Europa and we were beset with 10 days of rain. Looking back now I can’t see how we managed…

Day 20 – at Campo de Geres One of the highlights of visiting this area is to spend some time on the 318km-long Roman trade road, built in AD80 during the reigns of Emperors Vespasian and Titus, used to run from Bracara Augusta (now Braga, Portugal) to Asturica Augusta (now…

Day 19 – to Campo de Geres Both Wednesday and Thursday were forecast to be with heavy rain, but Wednesday afternoon we got a break, the wind and rain eased to just showers, and the dog and I could get out for a walk for a couple of hours. I…

Days 16 & 17 – to Entre Ambos os Rios I decided to top up the LPG, which I only use for cooking, at Arcos de Valdevez, to the south west, about a half hour drive. There’s a website that shows the LPG stockists. In some countries, Scandinavia for example,…

Day 14 – to Gavieira There’s a few days of rain forecast, with temperatures gradually getting warmer, though not today. Not a lot higher up, and it had originally fallen as snow. The tops of the mountains, less than 1200 metres, were just about at cloud level, so peaking in…

Day 13 – at Castro Laboreiro It’s the last clear day for a while, and there had been a hard frost overnight. But the sun’s up at 7 here, Portugal on the same time as UK, so by 8 most ice had gone. I took a meandering route into town…