Vila Cha, Porto and NO electricity

We camped at Vila Cha, north of the airport and Tas arrived on an early flight so we met her using the local Metro and then we all travelled into Porto where we stored her small baggage in an electronic locker.

A 'welcome' wine at the campsite!

The centre of Porto is picturesque, overlooking the Douro. Here are some photos.

Inside the Sao Bento train station

The first sign of the power outage were car horns and we realised that the traffic lights were not working. All the shops and cafes had no power and we were told it had affected the whole country as well as Spain, France and maybe some others!

No one had any internet but there were various theories being talked about - Russia and a plane crashing into a power station in France were some! All ATM's were not working but we had some cash so we continued to explore the city.

However, after lunch we were told that it could last all day and maybe into the following so we had to think about how we would get back to the campsite north of the city. Then we realised that Tas had her luggage in an electronic locker!

First stop was the Metro where we were able to enter in the pitch black to find a lady with a torch unlocking the lockers so Tas could get her luggage. The next step was trying to find a bus to take us north out of the city. We managed to find one going to the airport, which was about half way, so we took that. We were first on so had a seat but during the journey the bus became rammed. During the journey there was one altercation with a person trying to push his way on without cash we assume. The whole bus erupted into a chorus of 'get off the bus' in Portuguese, which was funny.

The airport was carnage, with some flights cancelled and some diverted to Porto from Lisbon for some reason. We could not find any busses and the que for a taxi was massive. In the end Phil decided to try to hitch as near to the campsite as possible. Dee made a sign for the main road he needed to get to a shopping centre and then he could walk.

Eventually he got a lift with a lovely couple that took him right to the campsite gate but then disaster - he realised he had left his truck key in the rucksack with Dee! The campsite had no phones and they were looking into who could take him back to the airport to fetch Dee and Tas when another camper, with enough fuel in his car (petrol stations were closed), offered. All ended well, albeit a bit late, with all of us back at Muy for the night!

We still don't really know what happened that could affect such a large area!

The bad weather continued and a visit to the Douro was cut short on torrential rain but we did at least take the train from Peso do Regua to Tua and back via Pinhao.

Back at the Water Park campsite

Waterfall near Welcome Douro

Barragem do Alvao hike and Amarante

A lovely hike in the Parque Natural do Alvao, starting from north of the dam. We hiked to over 1000 metres in the cloud with beautiful views that unfortunately we couldn't see but eventually the sun came through.

We walked through an old village that looks the same as it would have done 100 years ago. These look like burial chambers but we think they were or are for drying grain or similar.

Near Lamas de Olo we saw a herd of Maronesa cattle, local to the Alvao mountain region and one of only two indigenous Portuguese breeds. The other is the Bravia goat.

Local lads out for a spin

Another poor stray back near the truck

Mondim de Basto

Amarante - another lovely historic town on the Rio Tamega.

A local Scout group selling keyrings

Go with courage, come back with
stories to tell!

A stop to check out the Welcome Duro campsite for later when we return with Tas. Its ideally situated to visit the Paiva Walkway and Arouca 516 suspension bridge. Very expensive but with a gorgeous view over the Douro.

The Douro valley and human sacrifices

At Peso de Regua we stayed on a motorhome parking lot with electricity for 3 euros to investigate boat trips for when Tas arrived to visit us.

We also visited the museum where we learnt about the history Douro wine region finishing with a taste of Tawny Port. We both thought it would be disgusting but were pleasantly surprised but not converted!

There is a railway along the side of the Douro and each station is ornately decorated with tiles. This station was at Pinhao, where we would return later.

This was a very strange place called the Panoias Sanctuary (previously called Fragas de Panois) located on the edge of a small village near Vila Real. Here, about 1800 years ago, various cavities of different shapes and sizes, as well as stairs, have been carved out of the rocks. Luckily, several inscriptions were also carved in the rocks in Latin and Greek, describing the rituals to their gods that were carried out and also giving instructions - basically human sacrifices! Apparently, the victims sacrificed themselves. Their blood was poured into small cavities and their entrails were removed and placed into larger cavities where it was burnt - lovely!

From here we spent three quiet nights in a water park campsite and because the waterpark was closed, we were mostly the only ones here!