So it is back to Spain but not before a fine mountain drive from Braga up and down the valleys of a number of rivers ending at the Douro at Barca d’Alva, where there were major cruise boats moored. A short distance from there is the border to Castille and Leon, Salamanca region. After a steep climb the road then was fast and straight across a high plateau where birds of prey seemed to be everywhere in the sky. My original plan was to spend more time following the Duoro but on close examination and with experience so far it looked too difficult. I am not a range worrier in my EV but I am range aware. Looking at Tesla Superchargers it looked to close to the likely available range to risk and a careful assessment of alternative charging looked bleak, almost none. As I found, this is pretty empty country, mountainous and relatively poor, not EV territory. The only Teslas that I saw were parked next to me charging at the only 3 chargers between my hotel in Braga and Salamanca. They are just off a toll motorway, not going to Salamanca. Without them the journey would not be possible. The car had 68% charge to start the day after filling to 85% at the nearest charger on the way to Braga. That gives me a spec range of about 300km to zero charge but typical on this trip that could be around 330km with 68% charge. My journey today was 375km. Now to put this in context I have driven 35000 miles in this car and made 5 major road trips without issue whereas when driving traditional vehicles I have had to make route changes in remote places to ensure I get enough fuel a number of times and once, a long time ago, ran out of petrol. That event in the UK has educated me to plan for detours and unexpected traffic conditions. Anyway the compromise was not wiggling along the Douro river for tens of kilometres which let me visit interesting places on a more direct route, that was still 375km. One of the sights of Braga sits on a mountainside to the East of the city, the direction I was going. Perfect. Bom Jesus de Monte is a hilltop church with a long staircase leading from way down below. For those less able, like me, there is a funicular but not at 08:45 when I was heading out of town. I cheated and stopped at a convenient spot part way up and grabbed a few snaps. It is unique. There was a lady heading up from my vantage point for scale and another towards the bottom of the steps leading up. You can see it is impressive. From there it was a drive through some nice villages under continuous grey skies which persisted through the day. There are a number of “miradouro” along the way and I stopped at one or two including the one I include pictures from not long before my charging stop in Ribeiro de Pena, at a posh hotel in the middle of nowhere. Lovely coffee and immaculate toilet facilities but, as I noted, only 3 available chargers due to major upgrade work, which also meant slightly slow charging. From there it was on to Torre de Moncorvo for lunch in a nice little snack bar. A treat at Torre was the sand martins or maybe swallows nesting across the street from the snack bar, busy feeding young. Around here there are copious vineyards and olive groves gracing the steep hill sides. From there it was a white knuckle ride along a road less travelled, single track with no barriers and steep drops. Fortunately also no traffic.This took me over the last mountains to the Rio Douro at Barca d’Alva finishing my short trip through this, clearly, little travelled part of Portugal. It has been a long day and I’m now comfortably in my hotel on the edge of the old city in Salamanca looking forward to a gentle wander tomorrow. Let’s start at Quinto de Rio Sabor near Moncorvo. I’ll caption as I go along.

For orientation there is an outline map is here.

Torre de Moncorvo

Bom Jesus de Monte

Miradouro Albufeira de Daivoes

Almost a road!

Barca d’Alva (Rio Douro)

Hotel View in Salamanca