We woke in our Christmas Tree hostel, put together our fabulous cous cous, feta and peanut salad for lunch and headed off, with all our belongings, to walk towards Aljezur. As we had already walked the stage to Odeceixe our first mission was to find the main road and hitch from there, ready to walk the walk we had not walked, 18km to Aljezur! As soon as we came to the main road a car pulled up and two guys asked if we needed a lift. It was a bit odd and I had a feeling it wasn’t good but we got in the car anyway and took the hitch. *Note to reader – if you have a bad feeling about a lift, don’t get in the damned car! They were weirdos. Not dangerous but annoying young sex-pests. The journey started with the usual what’s your names and where do you come froms. The driver spoke no English but kept mumbling to the passenger, obviously asking him to ask each question. ‘Would we like a coffee?’ No thanks, we have to walk. ‘A beer?’ No. ‘How about a wine?’ No really,we have a long way to walk today. ‘ Would we like to see their home?’
No thank you…. At last we reached Odeceixe and the guys made a last ditch attempt to seduce us. ‘Would we like to text him?’ At least that’s what I thought he said. He didn’t! He was wondering if we might like to sex him! Ermmmmm, no, but thank you, we said, as we hurriedly got out of the car, and scurried off, glad to be away from these charming local lads. Hmmmmm….. Lesson learned, cars that stop before you actually even start hitching may likely contain weirdos.

We felt we deserved a beer after this stressful experience and headed to a bar on the square. A big beer! *Note to reader – never have a big beer before a big walk – always maintain beer discipline and wait till the end…

The walk started with a steep climb through pretty cobbled streets up to a view point and a windmill at the top of the town. Full of beer we sluggishly plodded up, stopping for a cornetto to raise our energy levels and cancel out the beer.

The walk was long but gentle through Eucalyptus forests and open countryside. Our backpacks felt heavy and we only made it to the small village of Rojil, about 8km shy of Aljezur. Realising we would not make our hostel before dark we called it a day, bought a beautiful lavender plant as a gift for Celsoe and Sofia at Daguasoul Hostel, and hitched a ride with a kind German lady the rest of the route. Entering Daguasoul was truly like coming home. Celsou had the fire burning and welcomed us in as though we were family. It felt good to be back!!!!!