Thursday 19th November, Mertola to Belliche Reservoir.

The following day we were less certain about our destination for the day. Initially we had planned to go west to Cachopo along minor roads, but we had real difficulty trying to find out if there was any type of accommodation there at all. We also knew that the area was very hilly.

The other option was to go east to Alcoutim, on the border with Spain where we thought there was a youth hostel. Karen had lost her faith in Portuguese youth hostels after Evora where we arrived planning to stay there and found it had been closed down 2 years ago, even though it was on the 2009 guide as well as the web-site.

However, before we left we wanted to see little more of Mertola. After a quick look at the Castle and the Roman Ruins we did a bit of shopping in case we had to wild camp that night and then we set off along the main road towards Vila Real.

Although it was a main road it was not very busy. It was quite a climb out of the town, up some 200 meters, but then got easier. There was little in the way of habitation, let alone cafes so we stopped at the first turn off to Alcoutim for our lunch.

Karen was concerned that by going to Alcoutim we would leave ourselves with a long ride the following day, so we decided to keep going to the next possible habitation at Odeleite. The road took us over three or four major ravines. We were thankful that we were on the main road with its high bridges rather than following the lesser roads into the depths of the valleys.

Eventually we got to Odeleite, but there were just two cafes and no accommodation. We asked where the nearest accommodation was and were told either Alcoutim or Vila Real. Curses! We didn’t want to go back to Alcoutim and Vila Real was too far. It was getting towards dusk so we cut off the main road to try to find somewhere to camp. After spending all day in lonely country, suddenly there were houses everywhere, all with a large and loud dog. We hunted around for about 30 minutes before we found a spot in the middle of a pine nursery overlooking the villages below and close to the Beliche Reservoir.

We pitched and had a scratch meal of sardines, rice and tomatoes and then emptied our tuck boxes of their few meager contents: a few squares of chocolate, some muesli bars and some cheese and biscuits.

The sun set and we were left with a biblical scene, the sky fading from bright blue to orange at the horizon and a new moon in the sky. By the time we had finished our dinner the sky was dark and filled with billions of stars. We looked in wonder and awe. It was getting cold and the mozzies were extremely hungry. Needless to say we had an early night. We read our books for a short while and tried to get some sleep whilst we listened to the baying of distant dogs.

By now however, Steve’s sore throat and cold were getting worse and he didn’t sleep well.