Golega to Tomar (19.39 miles/31.22 km)

Today turned out to be another grueling and challenge day, as the rest of this week might be because of the temperature.

Leaving at 7:30 in the morning with already warm weather should have been an indication of the temperature, but I really did not give it much thought because I was in the eucalyptus forest and in the shade some of the time. I did find myself completely out of energy going up some of those steep hills and just thought it might be my illness still lingering on. When I stopped for a rest, I saw that the temperature had reached 100 degrees (38c) in the shade! No wonder I had no energy! It did drop to about 95 at 2:30, and it was 90 when I reached Tomar at about 4:30.

The day had started out fairly well as the Camino was on a flat quiet two lane road from Golega to Sao Caetano, a tiny village of a few hundred people. Just outside of town on a dead end road it passes Quinta da Cardiga, a beautiful old abandon mansion built in the 1600s. The street is lined with beautiful old abandon buildings on both sides of the road, and then a huge beautiful old mansion on the right that must have been built there to capture the view of the river below. It seemed so strange that it was so quiet as I could picture what it must have looked like in its prime with the hundreds of people it must have taken to maintain it because it is huge.

The rest of the way to Atalaia the Camino moved back and forth from dirt to asphalt roads. Once through Atalaia the Camino moved onto a rough and steep dirt road into the eucalyptus forest. It was about five miles of rough roads and trails to Asseiceira, all through the forest.

The road through the forest was a constant up and down, and at one point a section of the road was the steepest I had ever gone up with the Wheelie. When I first saw how steep and rutted it was, I was not sure whether I could go up it with the Wheelie. The French woman that had stayed at the hostel last night, the first pilgrim I have seen in four days on the Camino, was struggling going up ahead of me. I was actually surprised that there was actually a section so challenging on the Camino, but there was no other option and started up. It was a struggle, especially with the heat, and when I was about three quarters of the way up the clip on the waist belt to the Wheelie snapped because of the weight caused by the steep angle. It took me about twenty minute to rig up another strap from the broken pieces that were left. It was a little tricky because I had turned the Wheelie to the side so it would not roll downhill.

By the time I got out of the forest I was ready to stop, but Tomar was another six miles. Most of the way there was on the main highway, and on some side roads through some residential neighborhoods. I got to Tomar about 4:30 and found a room at the first hotel I came to, the Hotel Trovador. It turned out to be a nice place and was only £35 ($44), including breakfast. AND, it has air conditioning! After my usual chores and I walked to the store for my four liters of drinks for tomorrow. I then went to a nice Chinese restaurant and had a great meal with the chicken and shrimp that I’ve been wanting.

Tomorrow? Right now I am way too tired to even think about it! Looking at the map, the terrain looks like it climbs higher in elevation and with many more ups and downs than today. It is also suppose to hit 102 degrees, so you see why I don’t want to think about it until morning. A good night’s sleep with the AC down so cold I have to use blankets, and when I wake up I’ll play it by ear again tomorrow.

Best wishes to all,

Ted

Please excuse the typos, spelling, grammar, etc., as I am typing this on my phone, and I am probably pretty tired.

If you would like to see the Alzheimer’s Association website, see our team page, and donated, please go to:

act.alz.org/goto/tedstrek

The Camino on the road out of Golega in the morning

Quinta da Cardiga

The road going through Quinta da Cardiga. Interesting that I could sense what it was like hundreds of years ago

Just a very small part of the huge mansion

The bridge leading to the mansion, with the river in the background

Looking back where the Camino started the steep climb to the forest

The Camino going through the eucalyptus forest

The bottom of the steep uphill climb. Note the sign indicating, yes, believe it or not, but that is the Camino going up that god awful steep hill!

The climb! You can see the French pilgrim in the distance struggling to make it to the top. The strap on the Wheelie broke about where she is. The photo does not really show how steep it really is.

I am better off not looking at the temperature, but here it had dropped two degrees.

On the Camino road into Tomar. There is no real shoulder and you have to walk at an angle in the gutter

Hotel Trovador

Not fancy but it has AC

My bath

My elevation chart for the day. No, I did not make it up! And with the heat it was very challenging.

My trek today

My trek today

My trek today