The wonderful village of Monsanto

Sunday morning we headed out early to chew up a bunch of miles. Nothing too sexy today, just making time north in Spain before crossing into Portugal.

We did much of the day on the highway, but the routing didn’t disappoint – we crossed the Sierra Morena mountains, and did end up on some smaller roads that routed us westward across into Portugal (where we changed time zones again), and to our final destination of the day, Monsanto.

Wow, oh wow! We followed the signs, and the GPS said turn right. We were sure it must have been wrong, as we weren’t facing a road, but a narrow cobblestone lane. Still, we followed it, and this narrow lane continued along for some time before it began winding its way steeply up the hillside, switching back on itself several times. I tried to figure out what we’d do if any traffic were to have come from the opposite direction, but none did.

We climbed until we entered the village of Monsanto, where the roads are impossibly narrow and steep. As there was no place to actually safely stop a motorcycle, we crept along, riding the clutch in first gear, revving at several thousand RPM, and hoping for a wide flat spot. Oh, and that the pedestrians would get out of the way.

We found a mostly level spot to park for the night, just 100 m shy of our Airbnb, and lugged our panniers up the rest of the way.

This town has its buildings built in, on, under and around the rocky landscape. It’s really quite fascinating! A short rest and perhaps we’ll go exploring. Or maybe we’ll just stay in our accommodation – it is also quite incredible!