The first stretch on the Camino Portuguese is about 36 km long. It’s a big distance when you’re only just starting the walk, so I decided to split it up into manageable sections. It was the right decision, not just for my body, but also for my mind. The initial approx. 50 km of the camino are not super interesting. However, the Oriente area of Lisbon is really attractive and there are some small towns and cute places along the way.
The first steps on the Camino Portuguese from Lisbon to Vila Franca de Xira
The day I arrived in Lisbon I used a few hours of the afternoon to walk from the Sé Cathedral to Oriente. I started walking through the Alfama area, although the route follows the lower part and therefore doesn’t take you past the main attractions in the neighborhood. I tried to follow the spray painted yellow arrows, but struggled and had to use the map on my phone. In essence I was following one long straight road between Alfama and Oriente. I passed small houses that were in desperate need of some love and later saw the modern flats in Oriente. I passed offices for big companies like Microsoft and Ericsson. The weather was simply amazing so I enjoyed strolling around the Parque das Nações, admiring the art and the boulevard on the shore of the Tagus river.
The area certainly looked different the next day. I’d stayed in a hostel in downtown Lisbon and took the metro back to Oriente. When I exited the bowels of the city I couldn’t see a thing. The beautiful view of the bridge was hidden by a thick layer of fog. Everything looked so much gloomier: the gondola, the statues… it was a bit eery. I joined a few joggers and was passed by a mountainbiker. Even this early in the walk he recognized me as a pilgrim and wished me a good walk.
At Sacavém I really felt like I was leaving Lisbon behind. Above me the highway crossed my path. There was a big parking lot full of cars underneath a Toyota sign. I took a sharp left along a small muddy trail leading me passed the back of a building, into nature, along a river. I heard a lot of sounds, but the fog was masking what created it. Airplanes were flying over, seemingly low, ready to land. Cars raced by on invisible roads. My feet stepped through the mud, the soles of my shoes collecting an ever thickening layer of sand.
On my right I passed a few vegetable gardens and later some sheep. I mainly heard the bells attached to their necks and knew they were somewhere out there in the fog. After a while I saw a house. A woman was running around chasing chickens with a broom. A man was on the path, carrying a stick and a bucket. He was poking the grass, perhaps looking for edible things? Towards the end of the road the place looked more like a garbage dump than an idyllic little river path. I saw everything, from car parts to bottles and from desk chairs to construction rubble. What a waste…
In Gronja I walked passed the convenience store and got a thumbs up from the owner who was hanging in the doorframe. The camino made a little loop through town and then continued close to the highway. I walked through a sleepy town Alpriate, more muddy fields and gathered so much mud that I arrived in civilization feeling like I was wearing platform shoes. I quickly walked through the unattractive part of town and then arrived at a beautiful riverfront park. There was a nice platform with benches which made it perfect for lunch. I was taking photos when I heard someone talking to me. The man was saying I should take a photo because it might all be gone soon. The area is being exposed to more and more pollution due to all the factories.
A wooden boardwalk was built along the river and I followed it for a while, enjoying the peace, the birds and the plants until I reached a busy road. The route followed a main road between the river towns and I was very wary when I walked in the shoulder. I was glad when I had to take a right into Alhandra. For a while some dark clouds had been hanging in the distance and they’d finally caught up with me. It started to rain slightly, so I put my rain cover on my backpack. Then it got worse and I took out my poncho. But by the time it started pouring down I was too late to put my rain pants on. I doubt it would have mattered much. It came down with such force.
Since I was already wet I decided to keep going. This was a mistake. I should have gone into a café or some other kind of shelter. But there was only one more straight path I had to follow to reach Vila Franca de Xira. While I was on this path, the rain turned to hail. There was thunder and lightning and lots of wind. The few trees along the path provided no shelter whatsoever and I felt my shoes fill up to become swimming pools. In a matter of seconds I was soaked. It was pretty terrifying and all I wanted was to be safe from the lightning. Of course it had calmed down a bit by the time I walked into Vila Franca de Xira. The receptionist of the hostel was just having a smoke in the doorway and moved aside to let me in. I must have been quite the sight, creating puddles on the floor. According to my step counter, I’d walked about 34km at the end of the day. I’m glad I didn’t have to walk those extra 8 km in Lisbon today.
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