Day 177
8 hrs, 5 .6 kms

Time to head north. Since this may very well be the last time I visit Southern Portugal, there's one more province that I need to add to my collection (called districts in Portugal) Beja. It's right between Algarve and Lisbon, so you'd think that I'd be a simple matter of getting a bus and just getting of somewhere along the way. No... There are many buses to Lisbon, but none of them stop anywhere in Beja District. The largest city in this large district is only 34,000 so it's clearly not a heavily populated area.

Finally I find a bus that stops in Ourique twice a day. Which means I'll have to get off there in the morning and then catch another bus from there to Lisbon 6 hours later.

"No District Left Behind" is my motto, so let's do it.

So, I'm off... riding a bus through the back roads of hilly grassy hills of southern Portugal. It seems a bit odd that this area is relatively sparsely inhabited . I do a little research and it seems that it might be because there aren't a lot of permenant rivers here--just streams that dry up in the summer. So although it looks lush and green now, it might go through so pretty severe dry spells.

And then we reach the town of Ourique. Where I'm first greeted by a large parking lot. Understandable, with only 2 buses a day to Lisbon, it feels kind of isolated. As is typical, the town is built on a hill rising above the surrounding countryside--a rather classy feel despite its isolation, with a straight tree lined street climbing up to the municipal building near the top. I then wander down the other side and through the countryside a bit.

...Six hours is starting to feel like a long time to be stuck in this town.

Back in town, I take my time doing my parkbench concert, with a couple street sweepers nearby who seem to be spending more time chatting then working . Then I climb to the very top of the hill where there's a nice little garden and a raised platform/tower you can climb up to and and get a panoramic view of the region.

Despite its isolation (or maybe because of it!) Ourique has a Chinese run store selling miscellaneous this and that. I guess the Chinese just travel all over Europe looking for the most forgotten towns and villages where they can move to and open up shop...

For lunch there are a couple of options. I opt for a little homestyle cooking place where I'm served a delicious chicken in white sauce... not very filling, but delicious. Then I wander a little morning and then chill out in a cafe packed with high school students. I guess hanging out at the cafe is the thing to do after school here in Ourique.

And finally it's time to catch my bus. It's been a long 6 hours--but I guess you need some time to really soak in the isolation of a middle of nowhere town in the Southern Portugal.

Now I have officially experienced Beja District.