Back on the road again

After nearly 2 weeks at Salamanca we were told the truck would be ready so we biked into the centre for a farewell beer.

We returned the hire car, collected the truck and mounted Muy up ready to leave the following day. We headed for Portugal and spent our first night in Evora, in a free park up for campers which was a short walk to the centre.

Nearby were a series of standing stones that Dee knew about, so we went to have a look. We ended up having a great day exploring some of the Alentejo region camped in a Natural Park area. We had a very tasty and cheap meal on a small restaurant on the lake front, where you get a shot of "Water of the Lake" liquor after your meal! This is on the house and the owner joins in!

Menir dos Almendres

From here the track took a turn for the worse after all the storms they have been having, so we parked up and walked.

This was a bit much for Truck and Muy!

We saw hundreds of Cork trees where the bark is removed every 10 - 12 years. How high they go depends on the diameter of the trunk - about x 3. This one below was very recent, sometime last year.

The Cromeleque dos Almendres are about 7000 years old! That's about 2000 years older than Stone Henge!

Cromeleque dos Almendres

At the visitor centre we were told about some cave paintings nearby but we had to book on a guided tour, which was in about 45 minutes, so we sent them an email and legged it to the cave. Luckily we were let in. The cave is locked and not really a "tourist attraction" so you meet the guide there and it is opened up. We had the tour with a Canadian family - it was very interesting, and a bargain - 3 euros for about 90 minutes! No photos allowed though.

A group of Ferraris travelling through Escoural.

Los Pilones in the Jerte valley

After a phone call to the garage we were told that we would be waiting another week for the new clutch to be fitted because it had to be delivered from Germany! Strange that Phil bought a tent from ebay from France and it arrived at the campsite in about 3 days! Anyway we made the most of the area by visiting the mountains again for a hike to Los Pilones.

Los Pilones are located in the heart of Garganta de los Infiernos, the spectacular ‘Gorge of Hell’ in the Jerte Valley. If it was warmer we would be in for a dip - a bit further down though! The river was quite high covering a series of natural pools carved out by river erosion over the years.

Our next day out in Salamanca

We entered the tower of the old Cathedral and were able to climb up inside to the roof and high outside the old and the new cathedrals, which are joined together - all for 4 euros!

Today we went inside the lovely art nouveau building of Casa Lis. Dee loves this style so it was a real treat. It was built as a house but now is an art museum full of art deco figurines, glass, postcards etc. No photos were allowed but we sneaked one in the cafe half way round.

A nice beer and "racion" to end the day. Raciones are a bigger portion than tapas and ideal for a snack with a beer. We had tortilla.