2025 - Day 6 - Golegã - Tomar

Scores on the doors - 21.32 miles, 8.07 hours walking, 9.44 on the road.

We both slept well, and I was fast asleep when Lesley woke me up just before 7.  After showers we headed to breakfast in a room fit for a banquet, a long table for about 12, with matching chairs and sideboards etc.  the table was laid for two, and it was certainly a breakfast banquet, more for just us two than was offered for seven people a few nights before! Replete we finished our packing and we’re on our way just before 9:00.  Taking a route I had scoped on street view whilst at home, we were soon back on the Camino and rapidly left the town behind us.  Farm tracks gave way to a country road with almond groves beside it, with a wide enough verge to walk on for the first mile or so.  As we walked we noticed that storks had set up a colony on a nearby pylon with nests all over it.  We stoped in a lovely village with beautifully clean toilets and a fountain on its green, before walking through the rest of the village made up of old abandoned factories and workers cottages and a wonderful old ruined mansion, all perfect to be turned into something like a Holiday Property Bond, site.  The trail then took us into our first major settlement along the way that we hadn’t stayed overnight in, Barquinha with the Camino going slowly up hill with one settlement merging into the next, and after two or three miles we left civilisation again and turned into the forest, made up of eucalyptus trees, the path undulated up and down, and we eventually came to a bridge over a motorway where Sonia and Elaine were resting, we caught up with each other and discovered from them that a Spanish lad had found Lesley’s hat, and was looking for its owner, but that was yesterday, so we guess he had probably left it in an Albergue today.  We then plodded on to pass the ten mile mark before taking a rest and having the first part of our lunch.  Whilst eating the others overtook us.  Coming to our next settlement at Asseiceira we met again in a bar where we had a Radler, and saw Bob of the blisters, who was much more chipper.  He is in his mid 80’s ran a marathon in Italy last year as well as walking from Lisbon to Santiago, a feat he was repeating this year, next year he plans to walk to Rome! 

We still had 11km to do so set off again, out of the village and then along a busy trunk road for a couple of miles, after a roundabout with no paths, we eventually turned off onto a cart track beside the railway towards our destination, then back on a couple of minor roads and a couple of hill, we dropped down to the outskirts of Tomar, stoping just before crossing under the railway for the rest of our lunch at about 5 pm.  The final km or so was beside the trunk road again but this time on a walkway and paved streets, where in crossing to the shady side, we passed a clothing shop a got Lesley a fetching black flower pot hat to give all round protection from the sun for the grand sum of 2 euros!

We then popped into a Spar for supplies for the evening before finding our hotel, and after showers and beers on our balcony we headed off to an Indian restaurant, where I tried a karmasutra beer.  After an enjoyable meal, but different dishes from their namesakes in the uk, we came back to the hotel for bed, and our adventures tomorrow.