Day 7 Tomar to Alvaiazere

I went to bed last night worried about today, would I be able to withstand the heat? I was also worried about my legs, the constant walking on Tarmac was taking its toll.

The alarm went off at 0350 and I was straight up, I went into the bathroom and had a pee in the bidet by mistake, I had a quick shower, some breakfast and was on the road by 0420, I had put my doubts behind me.

I soon cleared Tomar and was walking in total darkness which was a shame, as I was walking along side the river and I could hear waterfalls, a wasted photo opportunity, this was my view.

I came across this beautiful medieval bridge Ponte de Peniche, a great shame you can barely make it out .

I was pleased when I found it as I knew I has to turn left there which meant I was on the right track. I climbed up through a forest, I still could see very little and I was praying my head torch battery would not give up on me.

Now that is what I call snake

The sun was doing up as I left the track and headed into Casais, it was already getting hot and it was very humid; my heart sank.

I was now in open country and the views and smell of herbs were beautiful.

Ouch!! This is where all my training on the South Downs paid off.

I made it up the hill in regulation time. Once again thank you everyone that trained with me. It was not long before I entered Calvinos, I decided not to take a break here as I had made up my mind I was going to walk 20 miles without stopping to beat the noonday sun, that was soon to going to change!!!

I was hoping this cafe would be open, the bottles on the table where a clue why it wasn't. I wanted to buy some water as I was going through my supply rapidly, It was only 0630.

Onto Chaos days Eiras, I was making good time despite the heat and the trees lining the road offered shade.

These two are for my cat loving brothers Donald and Malcolm.

I had been walking for three hours and I had not seen a car until this farmer on a tractor stopped to check on me to make sure I knew where I was going, I assured him I did.

Some of the villages I passed through did not even have a name and they did not show in my guide book. It was not long before I entered another eucalyptus forest, it was a steep climb, I suddenly got a very sharp pain in my right knee.

Thank goodness for Ibuleve Gel, after 10 minutes the pain eased a bit. I was soon back onto the road and 20 minutes later I entered Portela de Villa. I felt something tugging on my trousers and looked down and saw todays dog on a blog, he was a little cracker, if I had room in my rucksack he would have been coming back with me a real game dog worthy of being on the blog.

More beautiful plants.

It was now getting very hot and this sign with the yellow arrow on it was telling me something!!

I ignored it and pushed onto Ville Verde ,where I left the road and entered another forest. The shade was so welcome, it was now only 0930 and I was drenched in sweat.

I was now running out of water,but I knew there was a garage 2 miles away. My good friend Mariet had emailed me to say I needed to drink more water, I had heeded her wise words but I had already gone through my water bottle, two half litre bottles and my reserve bottle, plus I drank at least half a litre before I left, I was peeing literally every 15 minutes.

When I left the forest I knew I only had half a mile to go the garage by know the sun was blistering,at last it came into sight.

It was like an Oasis to me, I filled all my bottles up and drank the best part of a litre of water, it was only 1000 hrs, I just could not believe it could be this hot so early.

I only had 6 miles to go but I was dreading it, as it was all walking on roads with little shelter.

My plans of not stopping had completely gone out of the window, I was now stopping every 10 minutes. I took this photo at 1030 and I can honestly say I have never known heat like it in my life. I was drenched and exhausted.

The road seemed to go on forever and I was already going through my water at a rate.

At last I came to the crossroads at Cortica and I knew I had only 3 miles to go.

Thankfully I was now walking on lanes that offered a little protection from the sun. I needed to get my boots off, my feet were killing me.

The road was cobbled which made the going hard under foot.

Oi what do you think you are doing mate?

Yes he is right push off pal, or I'll have you!!!

Cow on a blog time.

The end was in sight. I dropped down onto the main road into Alvaiazere and who should come round the corner in his taxi? Yotty, I was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I got ferried in the last 1/4 mile I was finished. We checked into our Albergue which is run by Carlos who is a super guy who has made us most welcome. My room is named after John Brierley who wrote the Camino guide, apparently he slept in there.

It was good to see Yotty and I am pleased to say his leg feels that it is on the mend.

We went and had some lunch that cost the grand total of 9 euros .

This is a great Albergue and I highly recommend it, Carlos who runs it is a real character.

Stamping our Credencial with a wax stamp.

The village is preparing for a confirmation of one of the children the streets are lined with petals, sadly we can hear thunder rumbling in the distance. I hope it does not spoil the procession.

It did!! Amazing how the weather can change so quickly.

Today has been another demanding day, the combination of the long distances and sun is punishing, my knees are really hurting.

Another twenty miles tomorrow 

Stats for today 

Walked 20 miles

Walking time 6 hrs 35 minutes 

268 miles to go 

Covered 113 miles so far.

No Tarts today everything is closed, we are devastated