Aljezur 18 km

 Shorter day today, left pretty early and almost immediately ended up walking along an irrigation canal, right after I watched this old man wheel his motorbike out of his front door, who does that, who keeps a motorcycle in his house.

 We walked the canal for about 12 km till we hit the town of Rogil.. This was a small town in the middle of farmland, nothing too inviting- but we found something to drink and eat.

Look

 Not a lot to tell about today, we stayed away from the coast but could hear it at times.

We walked on into the national preserve, and we stay in the preserve all the way down till the end of the walk.

At one point- I thought I was about 3 km from the end of the day, but no, the trail turned back on itself and headed further inland to what turned out to be Aljezur.

A village at the bottom of an old river valley, a river that silted up when they stopped using Aljezur as a port

I was pretty tired as I walked into town, but there was this statue of Prince Henry the Navigator to greet me, I thought for a moment that it was Prince Henry in the flesh, sitting next to his statue for a second.

 Another half mile and I walked into a small square where I got to relax and have a beer, no more walking today, and a very short day tomorrow, but my feet need a break today.

We are 8 Kim’s short of 100 miles walking, tomorrow we break that barrier, and for some reason, 100 miles seems to be the distance it takes to flip that little switch inside, here after becomes a special time of peace and reflection.

The name ALJEZUR was most likely derived from the Arabic word for ISLAND. this being because it’s surrounded by water course etc. the Moors occupied the area until 1249, and was the last area of the Portugal to be conquered by the Christians.

Our home for tonight

This area is famous for the cultivation of sweet potato, the stuff grows everywhere. This farmer didn’t look too happy about getting his photo taken though.

Looking around, I’d have to say that this has become an artist colony, there are art shops everywhere, and artists walking the street. It’s a pretty town.

Patty and Bill went to the Supamercado  to do some laundry ,as we all smell a little off. They just got back and you can hardly handle the clothing from the bag it’s still so hot. , it’s funny now, but two of my hiking shirts, made from used plastic bottles, indestructible, ,,,,, melted,,,literally. I guess if you can dry a load of washing in 10 minutes, it’s a clue.

Maybe this explains it PATTY,,,Gotta laugh, let’s get dinner!