Dog attack: Vaqueiros – Cachopo

I got my lift back up to Vaqueiros in the morning, sad again to leave my newfound friends behind. John told me that the first two looks you get from Portuguese people will be strange ones, but after that, they open up and show their charms. I’d have to say I agree, heartened to think the Portuguese aren’t all a pack of Cristiano Ronaldos.
They have a pretty bleak future in front of them in small towns like Furnazinhas, the large majority of whose occupants are over sixty. They all spoke of how their children have either moved to bigger towns or overseas. As a result, the next generation is not arriving, the school closed down a couple of years ago, the village has no children. Couple that with the fact that farming is no longer sustainable, more and more land is falling fallow, all crafts, methods and traditions are dying out. A pretty unpalatable mix. A very good reason for people to walk/cycle/skip the Via Algarvia and breed new life into the area.
The rain had moved on and I was greeted with blue skies all morning, it was back to the huffing up hills and falling arseways into ditches. About half way through my journey, I was ambushed by a three legged dog (the most vicious type of dog there is), he came at me from a ledge above, while his small terrier partner took up the rear. I rounded the corner to find the dog’s owner shaking his head and telling them both to be quiet. He motioned to me, suggesting I should give the dog a good belt with the hurley, I turned the hurl thin end up and suggested an upward thrusting motion. He laughed and spread his hands wide, indicating it was my choice as to how the medicine was best delivered. Although I may live to regret it, I let this golden opportunity pass me by.
I got to Cachopo by four o’clock, a pretty little town, with a choice of three restaurants. The first one I went to had rooms up above for rent, so I took up their offer. After orientating myself, I went downstairs and ate a fine meal in three courses, washed down with two beers. The bill, including the room rental, was twenty euro. Viva la vida via Algarvia.


P.S. Apart from the place I kicked off from, I haven’t found anywhere with broadband access along the way. I hooked up my phone as a 3G modem for my laptop which seems to do the trick, the guys at Vodafone didn’t even know how to do that. Bet they’ll know how to charge me for it though.