The Truemans' Treks - Walk 11 - Views and Solitude

1. To your right as you face the church, you will find a small road alongside the church. Follow this road past some rustic houses as it becomes a track between stone walls. Follow this track until you come to a T-junction after some 600 metres, where you turn sharp left.

This is a remote and windswept area with several windmills on the surrounding hill tops and the stone walls creating patterns over the hillside. Sue and I were accompanied by 100 or so noisy choughs, property called a chattering or choughs, which lifted and fell like confetti as we passed.

3. At the T-junction take a short detour to the right to reach a magnificent viewpoint, a launching point by those mad enough to paraglide.

The view is spectacular across the neighbouring countryside towards the Serra D'Aire to the east and north towards Fatima. We sat here for half an hour just drinking in the majesty of the view.

To the right is a perfect ice-age U-shaped valley and another smaller hill. In most countries, this long hill would be given a name like 'The Devil's Grave' or 'The Dragon's Hump', but this hill is unnamed. Sue decided, therefore, that it will be 'The Dying Dinosaur'.

4. Return along the main track passing the T-junction and, after about 200 metres, take the turning to the right where there is an ugly farm building, possibly a water reservoir. Follow this track for 1,500 metres as it bends left and drops into the hamlet of Chainca.

As you head up this track, superb views to the north come into view. There is little in Chainca except an old chapel built in 1797, a few older houses and farms and one modern villa. The villa has a large piece of limestone in the garden with stalactites dripping from its top; an impressive ornament cut from the local quarry but somewhat spoilt as it is adorned by truly awful figures of Snow White and some of her dwarfs.

To your left you will see a series of small reservoirs on the opposite hillside. There are also five or six picnic tables here which made us wonder if the top reservoir is also used for swimming for the local populace.

7. When you meet a junction, turn right and follow the road downhill for one kilometres, ignoring the first two turnings to the left and taking the third which leads past another old chapel.

This is a strange chapel with the door tucked away at the back, thus making the entrance difficult to find.

8. Drop down past the chapel until you reach a track to the right after 100 metres. Take this pretty track which winds uphill following the course of a limestone pavement until it reaches a road where you turn left, then right, taking you back to the main road.

9. Turn right at the main road which leads back to Sao Bento and the starting point.