Rota Vicentina

Along the southern coast of western Portugal you can hike the Rota Vicentina, a 400km trail mostly along the coast. From where we stayed in Vale da Tehna it's only about 20 minutes on foot to get to the sandy part of the Fisherman's Trail.

We got our first impression on Monday evening when we did a silent meditation walk to the edge of the cliffs. It was a beautiful walk through low trees and bushes and on really soft sand. The light was amazing and it was hard not to regret that I'd left my camera back home even though I can see the benefit of only watching and feeling it. I brought my iPhone along so I took a few photos just to remember it.

The next day we decided to go for a bigger hike, starting in Praia de Monte Clérigo. The sky was a bit cloudy which made for beautiful moody colours and the temperature was just perfect for a long hike (in the end we did 17.6km which isn't bad on sandy ground).

On the way out we were very slow because we took so many pictures. I think we must have repeated "this is soo beautiful" about a million times and it was true every single time. We made it to the point of the meditation walk and then we turned around and hiked back.

On this second half of our way the sun came out which changed the mood of the scenery. I liked the warmth and the brightness, but I think I almost prefer the more subtle light of the morning.

I was really impressed by this wonderful hike and I would really like to walk much more of it. Maybe one of these days I can do the whole length of it.