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Day 8 | 9 July 2026 | Walking the Portuguese Camino
From Tomar to Cortiça | 26.4 km – 16.4 miles
The second photograph I took that morning was of something rather strange that had been placed opposite a villa beside the Camino.
I wasn’t really sure what it was or what purpose it served.
Was it a personal shrine? And if so, why was there a large image of the sea and rocks behind it? Or perhaps it was simply somewhere for the owner of the villa to sit and relax – or maybe even a resting place for passing pilgrims?
It was odd, colourful, quirky, mysterious and perhaps even tacky – and for all of those reasons, I really liked it.
Having photographed the ‘rest area’, we were caught up by a young German pilgrim who was an apprentice carpenter.
We walked with him for a little while and chatted as we made our way along the Camino. He told us that he was averaging around 35 km a day and that, on one particularly long day, he had walked an astonishing 68 km.
He was on a very tight schedule and needed to get back home for work, which explained the distances he was covering.
Eventually we said our “Bom Caminho” and he headed off ahead of us -by the time we turned the next corner he was already out of sight. Gone.
We also started to see cork oak trees along the Camino, their bark stripped from the lower sections of the trunks to reveal the distinctive reddish colour underneath.
The harvested bark is used to make cork, what surprised me was just how slowly it grows back. Once removed, it takes around nine to twelve years before the bark is ready to be harvested again.
Late that afternoon we checked into Quinta da Cortiça where we had treated ourselves to a night.
Best of all, it had a swimming pool.
After a long, hot day of walking, getting into that pool was bliss. I also enjoyed the company of the owners friendly Collie dog called Olive, who decided that my main purpose for being there was to throw sticks for him.
I never did find out why Olive had a plaster on his nose. My second unsolved mystery of the day.
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