Drift Man: 48 hrs Motorcycle Ride In Portugal

The Weekend Ride In Portugal

(Lisbon - 278 kms - Faro - 325 kms - Porto - 316 kms -Lisbon) 1281 kms in 48 hours
July 2014

After looking around for a while I stopped at a convenience store to ask for directions. Out of the two guys standing outside the store, the younger guy didn't know the direction but he understood English. The older guy knew the way but didn't understand English. Both of them together tried for a while to explain me the route but it wasn't making any sense to me. Finally the old man decided to ride along with me on his retro Vespa to show me the route. We were on a one way so he asked me to just push our vehicles across the road and then start riding. He rode with me for around 5 kms till we reached the point from where I just had to go on straight road out of Lisbon.

Though the landscape kept on changing in this small country but one thing which was common across was people, they were warm, friendly and always eager to help. Just like the landscape smell in the air between Lisbon to Faro was different from that between Faro to Estremoz which was different from that between Porto and Lisbon.

Lisbon

Portugal wasn't really in my list of places to visit but when the opportunity came I thought why not make the most of it and do my first ride in Europe. When I started the research about Portugal I figured that places like Porto and Faro had been recently rated as one of the best places to visit in Europe.

Portugal is a small country with some really interesting and diverse places to visit. Like always, once the idea of motorcycle ride came up, it changed the entire plan. Now I was planning everything around the ride, focus shifted to journey and destinations became mere stopovers.

Outside Hertz shop in Lisbon

I started looking for options to hire motorcycle and came across Hertz, which typically doesn't rent motorcycle in most of the countries. The bikes they had were perfect for my requirement. I got in touch with few other motorcycle rentals but all of them were far more expensive than Hertz, plus I trusted Hertz more than other bike rentals. Even without seeing the motorcycle I was sure that quality won't be an issue. So I quickly blocked BMW GS700 with Hertz shop (Hertz, Aluquer De Automoveis Lisboa, Rua Castilho, Lisboa, Phone +351 808 202 038) in Lisbon near Marques de Pombal Square which is an important roundabout (known as A Rotunda). I just had the weekend with me as free time so I was going to keep the motorcycle for exactly 48 hours. Rental for the same was 73 euros a day. They had no provision for GPS mount on this motorcycle, apparently most of the riders don't prefer such small motorcycles for long ride. BMW GS700, which is actually 798cc, didn't seem small to me by any standard but I guess it's the difference in perspective. The country where I come from even 250cc is considered Big. Well, now in absence of GPS I had to rely on map, road signs and sign language with people as very few people could speak English.

I decided to pick two major regions of Portugal - Faro and Porto. Lisbon lies in the center of country along the coastline and two regions are on two different directions from Lisbon. Faro is towards South and Porto is up North. For no specific reason but I still decided to go down south first. Distance from Lisbon to Faro is around 280 kms. I left Lisbon around 12 noon. While Google maps said 2.5 hours but it took me around 4 hours with few fuel stops and one apple pie with coke break. Though almost all fuel stations had a cafe attached and there were few standalone cafes as well but I was enjoying the ride a lot to stop and have food. The highway on this route is mostly straight long wide roads with vast open farms on either sides. Rolled up cut grass in fields gave it an interesting character. Cars and other heavy commercial vehicles would zoom past so it wasn't a good idea to slow down or stop. So I had no option but to keep the throttle open. Though there is a speed limit but I guess they were not really fussy about it.

I reached Faro around 4pm and started looking out for the hostel I had already booked. One awkward moment was when I stopped on the roadside and asked a few cops for direction, since they were sure they suggested me to go inside one of the buildings close by and ask them someone there. I entered the complex and opened the building door. It opened into a huge hall of a hospital. I had disturbed the peace and pin drop silences in the hall, especially because the door was fairly noisy. I quietly walked to the reception and asked for direction.

Well that wasn't enough so I had to stop again to ask a few street cafes. One lady, in her forties, was really forth coming in offering help. While her husband didn't understand English but she seemed fluent in English with heavy Portuguese accent. The couple was happy to see an Indian man riding up to this remote area and offered free beer if I returned and wanted to enjoy rest of the evening. I finally managed to find the hostel Casa d'Algoa (casa means home / housing complex. https://www.facebook.com/hostelcasadalagoa?fref=photo). I had already booked a shared room in the hostel for 26 euros (around Rs.2300 per night). Hostel was a new form of accommodation I experienced on this trip and I must say it was completely worth it. If you plan to travel frugal and focus is more on seeing the place and less on comfort and luxuries then hostels are your best bet in Europe. Most of the rooms are shared, either with attached toiled or at times shared toiled but very cheap, mostly clean and homely. You will need to have an open mind to adjust to the hostel accommodation. There is no room service but there are roommates, there is no coffee-shop but coffee is mostly free, there is no in-house restaurant but a kitchen you can cook along with other guests in the hostel. It makes you meet interesting people from different parts of the world. There were few guys who had been staying there for a few months and would work in the hostel to pay their rent, that seemed like a good arrangement and cheap way to travel.

The location of hostel was very good as it was close to the old town of Faro, not so far from the swamps and market was close by too. I checked with guys in hostel about where all I could visit and what's the best way to spend the rest of evening. They suggested a few places and also informed me about the barbecue party they were planning that evening, 15 euros for unlimited sangria and barbecued food. The word 'Barbecue' suddenly got me into the mood. I already started smelling some good char grilled meat with beer, was feeling lucky.

But before the barbecue would start I had sometime so I decided to take a tour of the old town of Faro. Being the capital of this region and home to the only international airport in this region, Faro is in center of Algarve in all sense. The city is full of history and culture and surrounded by idyllic island beaches. These beaches are slightly far off from Faro and I wasn't really in mood to ride up.

Foundation of this North African-inspired architecture with a bit Islamic touch was laid in Roman times. In around middle of 13th century Faro became part of Portuguese territory completing the christian re-conquest of Portugal.

I moved towards Cidade Velha, the oldest part of the city which is on the eastern side of Faro marina, following the narrow, cobbled street I reached Rua do Municpio into the tree lined Largo de Se. Faro Cathedral, in the middle of the square which didn't really look very grand from outside, but inside is the intricate gilded carving, decorated tiles (azulejos) and works of art were well worth seeing.

Sunsets around 9 pm during this time of the year in this part of Europe, this gives a false sense of time. So I didn't realize but I was out till late. After walking around for some time I decided to head back and enjoy the rest of evening with hostel folks. 12 hours flight journey followed by 4 hours motorcycle ride and then some amazing barbecue meat with beer made me completely ready for a snoring night.

Next morning I stepped out to explore the town. I entered through the neoclassical Arco da Vila , top of the street opens onto the orange-tree-lined Largo da Sé, with the câmara municipal (town hall) on the left, the Paço Episcopal (Bishop’s Palace) on the right and the ancient sé (cathedral) in front of you.

The sé was probably the site of a Roman temple, then a Visigoth cathedral and then a Moorish mosque. Only the tower gate and several chapels remain of the original Romanesque-Gothic exterior – the rest was devoured in 1755. If I could have climbed up to the rooftop miradouro I would have got amazing views across the pretty walled town to the sea. I wasn’t lucky enough as the cathedral was closed when I visited it.

Next to the cathedral is the stately 16th-century Convento de Nossa Senhora da Assunção, now housing the Museu Municipal, also known by its former name, Museu Arqueológico. Colourful walls windows, cobbled streets, ancient buildings and cold sea breeze all add up to make it a wonderful experience.

I returned to the hostel as it was my check-out time. Packed up my bike and started riding on the cobbled street to leave the old town. Around the gateway are some of the town walls oldest sections. Towards the exit I crossed the famous municipality building.

To reach my next stop, Porto, I had two route options. Either take the shorter route of 553 kms which is almost like a straight line from Faro to Porto along the western part of the country. Option two was to take diversion towards Evora and Estremoz. This was relatively longer, 675 kms. Since my agenda was to ride and see as much as possible, I decided to take the longer route. I started riding around 11.30 am and as per Google maps i could cover this distance in around 6.5 hours.

This stretch of ride was more through highway surrounded by green forests. Unlike the straight roads on Lisbon to Faro route, the roads on this route had more character. There are various smaller towns on the way. I had no reason but just to get the feel of the places I would ride into these towns, through narrow lanes. Evora was relatively bigger city. While there were interesting things around but nothing that would compel me to get off the saddle. Next up was Estremoz, the largest town of Algentejo's, the Marble town. Its Estremoz that contributes heavily in making Portugal the second largest exporter of Marble in the world. The castle on top of the hill, surrounded by vineyards, was reason good enough for me to turn my handle bars towards the inside of town.

I started riding through the narrow cobbled lanes of Estremoz to reach the old, upper part of the town which is crowned by the castle founded in 1258. The open sky view from the castle was something that any motorcyclists would love to ride here for. Part of the castle has now been converted into one of Portgual's best pousadas. Pousadas de Portugal is a chain of luxury, traditional or historic hotels in Portugal. I could see an array of vintage cars lined up to leave the castle carrying its guests as I entered the castle. After getting the king's view from the top of castle I moved on with my journey.

For next around 50 kms I was riding through relatively narrow roads, more like state highways in India with enough trees on both sides to cover the road. For a part of ride I was accompanied by the same entourage of vintage cars which had left the castle few minutes back. While I enjoyed the company of vintage cars for a while but these cars were really slow for me to continue riding with them.

I later stopped at a cafe along with fuel pump to grab a bike. Just like a lot of other places, attendant didn't understand English but sign language helped me get pastry, a puff and a coke for around 15 euros. Unlike India where we have multiple attendants to put fuel in your vehicle, here you have to first pay and then fuel up your vehicle yourself, I kind-off liked it. Petrol in Portugal was 1.6 euro per liter (around Rs.130 per liter), which by Indian standard is expensive, in Delhi we pay around Rs.70 for a liter. Thankfully this 800cc motorcycle, around 75 hp still gave good mileage of around 25 kmpl.

I had been riding for almost 7 hours and Porto was still far away. As I was getting closer to Porto traffic on the highway started increasing. Cars and trucks were faster. I could hardly spot any bike, clearly not a popular thing to do. On this route I constantly had a fear that in absence of GPS and road signs at certain places I might miss a turn, continue riding and land in Spain which was just 100 kms away. Well, I didn't land up in Spain but certainly missed the turn towards Porto. I suddenly realized that none of the roads have anything written about Porto, I pulled over a to a fuel station. While the fuel station attendant didn't understand English but he still understood my problem. He quickly drew a map for me with landmarks marked on it so that I could reach Porto.

I entered Porto around 8.30 pm and started looking for my hostel. After asking a few people I started to get a sense of direction in the old city but lack of road signs and multiple one ways made things complicated. It was mentioned on hostel's website that it's located right in front of a building called Rivoli cinema, which didn't seem that easy to find. After asking few other people I came across a bunch of youngsters who knew exactly where I had to go. One of them decided to accompany me on his cycle. When I finally reached Rivoli Cinema hostel (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rivoli-Cinema-Hostel/77258188653?fref=photo) I realised that I had crossed the heritage building of Rivoli Cinema twice earlier. Just that name on the building was etched right on top so it was difficult to read while riding and sign on hostel was discreet to notice. On one side of the building was huge open space where a huge video screen was installed for hundreds of people to watch the football world cup final that night. Hostel had interesting interiors. Being inspired by Rivoli Cinema, they had taken the cinema theme for their decor. Staying in Godfather's den for just 19 Euros wasn't a bad deal. Especially when I had to just spend the night. The only difference here was that this was a mixed gender room, which I realized only when I got up the next morning. So if you aren't comfortable spending the night in same room with another gender then make sure to check before you check-in.

After dumping my things in the then, room I started feeling hungry and the obvious urge to explore the city started increasing.

While riding up and down when I was searching for the hostel I had seen various heritage buildings all around the hostel buildings. So I decided to step out and grab bite after taking a walk around the city. Porto was recognized as World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1996. Located along the Douro river estuary Porto is one of the oldest centers in the history of Portugal. Its settlement dates back many centuries, when it was an outpost of Roman Empire. It's Latin name Portus Cale has been referred to as the origin of the name Portugal. Internationally it's also famous for Port Wine. By the way, port wine we get in Goa is nothing close to the world famous Port wine you get in this region.

After enjoying the walk through some of the most beautiful heritage buildings I parked myself in a street cafe and ordered for a beer with Francesinha. For which I paid just 11 Euros (Rs.900). That's not expensive in Europe, actually not even in India. Francesinha, literal translation means French Lady, is the traditional dish in this area. Essentially it is toast with layers of meat inside, layers of meat being that of beef, pork, ham and more. It is covered with cheese and spicy sauce. Most importantly, this dish must be accompanied with beer and not wine. No, I'm not making this up because the motorcyclist in me likes beer but its actually true. Francesinha has been rated one of the top 10 sandwiches in the world. While I was enjoying my Francesinha and gazing at buildings around me the waiter at the restaurant came up and told me that the full moon view on top of a particular heritage building was rare scene.

Next morning I got up early to walk towards the Douro river. After losing direction a few times and being chased by dogs from inside of a mansion I finally reached the riverbank. It was a bit chilly. Porto has Mediterranean climate, July is probably the warmest month of the year but still the temperature was around 12 degree Celsius. The river has a great historical significance in the city.

Lisbon is around 316 kms from Porto and I knew that it would take me around 4 hours to reach. To ensure I reached Lisbon within 48 hours from the start of ride I had no option but to unwillingly push the motorcycle. Though it was fun but I was scared of speeding as I didn't want to get caught in some other country for over speeding and pay heavy penalty. At 200 kgs this motorcycle didn't really seem too heavy as I pushed it to ensure that I make it to Lisbon within 3.5 hours. My 48 ours ride ended at the Hertz showroom but I wasn't as upset as I normally am when the trip ends. Reason being that I had World Ducati Week to look forward to on the upcoming weekend.