Faro Santiago bike ride

---

Odemira to Lisbon 86.37 km

An interesting day with some cheating…
The day started as regularly. Breakfast was very decent and the sky was looking to rain. Although we started out riding dry, the rain came quite quickly. Fortunately, the rain did not last. Little weather problems for the rest of the day.
Some decisions were made to shorten our ride. Instead of biking around the bay close to Setubal, we decided to take a ferry, shortening the ride significantly. Getting off the ferry, we met a german couple that recommended us not to drive through Lisbon, but to take the train. As it turned out an excellent recommendation. Driving on a bicycle with luggage through a busy town is not recommendable. Too dangerous.
An interesting note on the train: crossing the river the train is suspended from the roof of the bridge instead of riding on rails on the bridge. I had not seen that before.
We did not avoid the whole town, but what we did was more than enough.
Before leaving the town our first experience with the true Camino de Santiago was horrendous. A sand path with numerous potholes and deep puddles. A very tricky ride indeed.
Finding your way did not turn out to be that easy, since the marked way for el Camino is the walkway not necessarily appt as a bike route. Several times we had to turn around and look for alternative routes. Fortunately enough Mark and Jaap are quite versed in map reading. Smart mobile phones becoming indispensable.
The route getting to the ferry took us about 50 km and about 25 km after getting off the train, we found a simple but clean “hotel”. No in-room bathrooms, just to keep us humble.....
After a meal at an Italian restaurant, I am now in my room. More tired than the days before. A good rest will do me good.
Again poor internet. I am not sure if some of the photos will come through.

---

Photos

Villalonga
A better part of the road