Monday 7 September 2026 – The Quinta was a good oasis in the middle of nowhere – spacious room, availability of hot water and milk, etc, but the facilities didn’t extend to air conditioning. We had a fan in the room which was better than nothing but rather noisy. Consideration of the weather (i.e. temperature) forecast, the improvement in Jane’s cough – she was able to sleep through the night without paroxysms – and the relatively modest distance to our next accommodation in Ansião of about 19km made the idea of actually walking seem like a reasonable prospect; if we set out before 7am, we could expect to arrive before midday, and the temperature should still be below 30°C by that stage. As I’ve said previously, the breakfast arrangements at the Quinta meant that some breakfast foods were laid out overnight, with bread, we were told, arriving at 6am. So the alarm went off at 0500 (ah! the Camino!) and we were in the kitchen, along with all the other peregrinos staying there, before 6am.
The smooth organisation of the Quinta fell rather to pieces at this point, at least for those who wanted coffee at breakfast; the coffee machine refused to dispense coffee (but was still OK for nice hot water for our tea, hurrah!). Also, the bread hadn’t arrived by about quarter past six, so we (and all the other peregrinos) decided to cut and run, having had just cornflakes and fruit. We took a small milk container with us because, well, you never know.
So, we departed at 0625, with the moon still in the sky and into beautiful, cool – possibly even a tad chilly – conditions.
Others departed at the same time as we did,
and we got a real feeling of – at last! – being On A Camino, rather than just wandering along being stared at by locals because we were wearing backpacks. Another good thing was being able to moan (quietly) about the other peregrinos; the girl on the left in front had no ferrules on her sticks, so they were a staccato accompaniment to what would have been lovely early morning twilight if they’d only stop prattling to each other. There was also the sound of quite loud conversation behind us for about 20 minutes, and soon we were overtaken by
a solo peregrina, who was gabbling away on her phone! One wonders why, if she dislikes silence and her own company so much, she is bothering to walk a Camino. But this is all me being grumpy. Of course other people can do their Caminos the way they want, even if it does show that they’re idiots.
Jane, ever eagle-eyed, spotted that we passed some fig trees which were sporting some lovely ripe fruit,
so we helped ourselves to Nature’s bounty (or at least the bit we could reach) to supplement the rather limited breakfast we’d had. All the way along our route today there were various fruits to be seen: sweet chestnuts, walnuts, pomegranates, persimmons, quince, peaches (or possibly apricots, depending on whether you believe Google lens or not) and even apples.
We started off on tarmac, but soon diverted onto a cobbled path,
past Belladonna Lilies, which were in full flower. Eventually, of course, the sun cleared the horizon
but because of the low angle, we continued to walk in shade.
We came to a section where there were several Cork Oak trees,
in an area which looked like it was being sympathetically managed,
with careful and not excessive extraction of the bark. Since this tree is a big part of the Portuguese ecosystem, it was good to see. I noted one that had been cut down, for whatever reason, and it is a good demonstration of how thick the bark can be.
We walked through pleasant countryside, tiny hamlets and some smaller villages. As we went along, there were some nice decorative touches to be seen: sculptures;
the occasional mural;
decorative topiary;
architectural flourishes;
lots of decorative tile work;
and this lovely mailbox.
Another thing that gave today that “authentic Camino feel” was the existence, after 5km, of a town, Alvaiázere, which was substantial enough
to feature somewhere to stop and take coffee,
so we did, of course, and a pastry (got to make up for that lack of bread, y’know), in a café which gave us chapter and verse on how much further we had to go.
The sun rose, as is typical of its daily behaviour
and occasionally provided some nice warmth – it really felt almost chilly. But our route was largely in shade
for which we were duly thankful. The kilometres after Alvaiázere were up quite a long ascent, and I’d taken my walking poles with me in case it turned out to be burdensome. But actually it was perfectly comfortable to walk up; being largely in the shade really helped, of course.
Every so often, we’d pass through a hamlet, and it was actually difficult to decide whether some of them were entirely abandoned or just very, very quiet.
There were several buildings which were clearly disused. This one was rather magnificent in its decrepitude
and this one was clearly being sold as a bit of a doer-upper.
We had a variety of surfaces to walk on, mostly either tarmac or cobbles. There was the occasional stretch of dirt road and at one point a fairly rough track which required care with one’s footwork.
Eventually we saw in the distance what I took to be Ansião
and we headed there, despite some slightly confusing waymarkery.
The outskirts provided some pleasant touches to the houses we passed
and we soon reached the town proper,
and, at 1126, just five hours after setting out, our accommodation, Ansiturismo, which is described as an Alojimento – lodgings, I suppose.
On entering, we found ourselves in a general situation that I suspect we’ll encounter many, many more times before we get to Santiago – there was no-one at reception, and check-in time noted as 3pm. So we discussed what we should do next in quite loud voices, just in case someone might hear us. And our luck was in! A lady came down the stairs very clearly equipped for doing the cleaning. Her English was limited but her preparedness to help boundless. She showed us across the road to another establishment, where our Walk The Camino booking was registered, and they gave us the magic combination that enabled us to unlock the key to our room, which had been cleaned and was ready for us. The cleaner also showed us where our bags were and led us to our room; she really couldn’t have been more helpful, and we were very appreciative.
As you can see from the photo, Ansiturismo is a modern building, and, like the other modern places we’ve stayed at, well-organised. The room had air con and a kettle! (There was also a fridge, but although it was making noises, it didn’t appear to be cooling anything.) So we could indulge ourselves in a cup of tea and a bit of a rest before heading out to find some lunch.
Ansião is a reasonably substantial town, so I had thought that we would have a choice of bars and/or restaurants. We walked towards the one I had thought would be a good choice, only to find that it was closed, so we headed back to one we’d passed earlier, which began to look like the only option. The town was very quiet, but is not bereft of charm.
It even boasts a Town Name!
I was slightly amused by one place we passed. I’ve commented before that it’s sometimes difficult at first blush, to distinguish whether a wall is covered in artistic display or decayed plaster. This building had both.
We took our lunch, therefore, in Manjar do Diogo, which translates as “Diogo’s Delight”. It’s a lunchtime joint, with a pastelaria and a cafeteria, so we went into the cafeteria bit and a nice young lass behind the counter explained how things worked and ladled masses of good healthy salad on to our plates (as well as opening a bottle of beer each for us). Total cost of lunch was €19, good value and healthy. Having stuffed our faces, we took coffee in the pastelaria and scored a couple of cakes (for later on, in case of extreme pangs, you understand), and headed back to our – now cool – room in Ansiturismo. By this time, the sun was stingingly hot, so we were glad we’d made the earlier start.
Today has been a very pleasant day. We have a walk tomorrow of a similar distance to today’s – 20km, ending in a small place called Zambujal. I rather think it’ll be not dissimilar to the Quinta da Cortiça, i.e. the only accommodation anywhere near; I can’t find evidence of any other bars or shops or that kind of thing. We will start out early again – earlier than Ansiturismo is prepared to offer us breakfast – so need to go shopping for supplies before the stores close today. The temperature should be less than today and I’m hoping that tomorrow will be as enjoyable as today has been.
