Day 5 N2 to Arraiolos

It was lovely waking up in such a rural location next to the river, we all slept well and met at breakfast at 8am we knew today was going to possibly be a long day which is why we met slightly earlier than usual this morning. So after our breakfast we got our bikes packed up ready for the off, but there was a slight problem, it was raining not the normal sort of rain but the fine light rain, none of us put on our weatherproof clothes and set off hoping it wouldn’t get any worse but it wasn’t long before visibility went down to a few meters and the rain got heavier we decided to stop on the roadside and add another layer, well myself and Cliff had brand new waterproof clothing and it was not the easiest task getting them on, Cliffs needed him to remove his boots to get his leggings on and mine being a one piece made it hard to get my arms in, Derek had to help me and in the end I ditched the over boots as I could not get them on plus we were sweating so much because it wasn’t cold in fact it was very humid so adding layers was not helping us, anyway we got back on the road and pushed on, the scenery we could see was amazing and the roads were fantastic a shame they were soaked, but still amazing. The only problem was, our pace had slowed right down and it ended up taking nearly 3 hours to travel 100kms. We pulled up for a photo opportunity next to a damm and decided to go back to normal clothing it was now cloudy but not raining so we pushed on to try and recover some time. We pulled over in a cafe to get our passports stamped and stayed for a coffee.

Today wasn’t too bad re the passport stamps but we still avoided some stops because they were not on the N2, we didn’t want to ride off the N2 to a nearby town to get a stamp because it was in the book so there will be some gaps but we always got the stamps at the stops that were actually on the N2. To be honest the Galp petrol stations had proved to be the best places to get the stamps.

By lunchtime we had still not travelled that far but decidedto stop anyway it was in a town that required a stamp so we thought we could kill 2 birds but the cafe didn’t have the stamp but we stayed for lunch we all had huge toasted cheese and ham sandwiches and sat outside in the shade, just as well as there was a local guy inside shouting so loud it would have been unbearable. He wasn’t angry he just talked while shouting, the Portuguese can be quite vocal when talking but this guy was so loud the lady thst served us had her hands over her ears while he was taking, never seen anything like it. Anyway Cliff said he would blast up to the BP station to get the stamps done me and Derek waited for him to come back but realised we needed fuel so rode up to meet him, BP didn’t have the stamp so we rode to fill up at the Galp across the road and we were on our way again.

We pushed on and after what seemed like an eternity we pulled up for a cold drink in a petrol station in Motemor do Novo, we were now only 20 mins from our destination for tonight in Arraiolos, we had to come off the N2 to get there but it was only a small detour we rolled into town at around 4.15pm the latest we had finished riding so far, the hotel is right in the town centre and they had agreed to allow us to park inside in there little courtyard Maria met as at the gate and let us in. Maria was lovely and took us to our rooms where we all got showered ready for a walk into town for a cold beer. Maria guided us to the town center where we found a bar and sat outside and had a few rounds as we reflected on the days journey. What we did agree was that during our ride in one of the many towns we rode through the diversion we were told about from one of the many people that stamped our passports was the best section of road we rode today, apparently it was a section of the old N2 that was not widely signposted that would add another 20 minutes to our journey bur it was worth it as it was an amazing addition to what was already a fantastic trip.

So now we were hungry and had to make the desicion on which of the 3 town restaurants we were going to eat in. The bar we were at did serve food but it was a bit of a shit hole inside so thst was a bust, so we walked round to another which was more Iike a cafe so then we had no choice as the only option was the third, as it turned out it was fine, a tipico restaurant, we did however end up having the same as last night a right meat fest. It was ok and did the job, but what was nice was the covers, 6 little chicken pies, cold mushrooms in oil and chickpeas. We ended up staying there until nearly closing and even got a free round on the house, we rolled back to the hotel not before me having to go back because had left my phone/wallet and glasses on the table what an idiot. We went to bed full happy and a little drunk and mindful that tomorrow was going to be our last day.