Spain and Portugal – Mondim de Basto to Penedones
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Mondim de Basto to Penedones
We are camped on the aire at Mondim de Basto and had a quiet night, I make breakfast and look at places to stay in northern Spain, perhaps too far in one day as it means crossing the mountain passes on steep winding roads.
We take the N404 out of Mondim de Basto, crossing the river Tâmega through Rua Nova and crossing another much small river: Rio de Veade. Just after this, Google maps sends us right along a small road (which is clearly a short cut taking out a large sweep of the N304). We follow this narrow road taking a sharp left 90-degree bend over a small wooden bridge at Praia Fleuvia (shallow river bathing lake) and up to a narrow section of road at the tiny village of Corgo, we look and see it is less than 2m wide.
It is impossible to get Hymer through and we have to back up and turn around at a farm track, holding up traffic in both directions (do not take a motorhome down this road!!). There is always the prospect of any satellite navigation system trying to send you along narrow roads, especially when they are shorter. We do sometimes ignore that nice lady at Google maps and continue on wider roads. Fortunately she doesn’t get cross, she goes away and returns with a route using the road that we are on!
Back on the main road we see we should have continued about 100 yards further on and taken N210 which also avoided the three-quarter sweep of the N304 circle and, plenty wide enough. We continue on the N210 through Canedo de Basto to Baulhe and N205 to Cabeceiras de Basto. Here we take the R311, a much steeper and winding road up and up through the mountain range towards the Peneda National Park to Salto.
From here through another narrow mountain pass to Vende Nova. At Venda Nova the river Rabagão has been flooded to a reservoir but it is empty! The N103 follows the Rabagão to Pondras and through some isolated villages to the Rabagão Barragem (dam). We follow the N103 to the north side of the reservoir, which is almost empty, to Campismo de Penedones. The office is closed so we have lunch by the entrance and later go in and park up on the lower section.
The campsite at Penedones, opened in 2005 is clean but well used and somewhat old and worn. That said the pitches are large and flat and it is quiet. There are toilets and showers as well all services for €15/night (low season), electricity €5 extra. We sit out in the afternoon (Reception is closed till 5.00pm), when we pay we ask about laundry and he shows Mr C. the washing machine, which we use for our two weeks of washing, the use of the washing machine is included in the price. Later Mr C. hangs it out on the line and it dries overnight.
Later still, a bottle of semi-sec Cava (reminiscent of Babysham!) and chicken stir-fry for tea. After dark we walk up to the (closed) café and look out over the empty reservoir (which is too dark to see), but the sky is black and full of stars, too many to distinguish the constellations, except the Plough but the Milky Way is clearly visible as a white arc across the sky.
Gallery Mondim de Basto to Penedones
Click at image to enlarge
