Rota Vincentina The Fisherman’s Trail - February 26, 2026 ~ Day 5 Odeceixe to Aljezur

Daily Information  Planned Distance:        24.3 kms Actual Distance:          24.1 kms  Actual Elevation G/L:       252 m (218) m         Cumulative Information  Actual Distance:           102.7 kms  Actual Elevation G/L:       857 m (840) m  Stage Description - Stingy Nomads Highlights & Challenges Highlights  - Incredible scenery on the coastal route. Challenges  - occasional walking on the road, here and there but not busy The above accurately summarizes the day. Initial road walking…spectacular coastal walking for maybe 5-6 kms… 14 kms of backcountry lanes into Aljezur. Perfect low 20’s…low winds…brilliant sunshine. Back to last evening & night which to say the least was a « mixed » bag 😳. Supper was really good with « the best pizza in Odeceixe 😊 » I am not sure what all the toppings of my pizza was…artichokes were one of them. Super thin pizza…we thought we would each save some for breakfast…but both of us were hungry!  Just as we were finished we were joined by Horst, Rosie and a fellow walker from Germany. It was most enjoyable just sitting there talking about this and that just like on a Camino walk. Rosie is a tour guide at the Neuschwanstein Castle in the Bavarian Alps built by King Ludwig 2. It is the tallest castle in the world, with its highest tower reaching a height of 213 feet. Rosie must be kept busy considering  1.5 million visitors yearly. Leonard and his wife Carol were there ~ 40 years ago so there was a connection. However the nights sleep was anything but enjoyable. Our accommodation had a bedroom and a sofa bed…no problem I took the sofa bed. Well…the bed had NO bedding…yet was advertised on Booking.com as a sofa bed! So I took out my handy but totally useless silk sleep sheet and in the morning simply gave up… I shivered most of the night getting up multiple times to add various clothing layers as I lay under the blanket provided. The owner was really receptive upon our arrival however advertising a sofa bed without bedding…well that’s not cool. However it was time to simply get going. Breakfast was delicious with scrambled eggs, sausage and a salad! The morning then took an unexpected unfortunate turn as Leonard went to pay. He noticed that two of his bank cards were missing. Leonard had not even used the cards on this trip…how did this happen? After the initial shock it was time to ensure that banks were contacted to lock the cards. Having had the experience twice in recent trips I had a pretty good idea of how Leonard must feel. Nether of us had a phone plan associated with our eSIM cards…relying on WhatsApp calling. This only works if both parties are on WhatsApp…lesson learned for both of us. Thankfully the owner of the restaurant allowed Leonard to use his phone (compensation given) and all was good. A very shaky start…my poor sleep…and the missing cards. However there is nothing like walking to settle racing thoughts. After the coastal section there simply wasn’t much to see. On various long walks there are always days like this. Walking is meditative requiring a mindset of simply grinding out the kms. We stopped for lunch at 15 kms where Horst joined us…. While not pretty the following few pictures summarize the last 14 kms. Other than some additional pictures below we move on to 20km Day 6 tomorrow of our 11 day walk. So far the walk has exceeded expectations!