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The Grape Escape: Cycling in Portugal’s Wine Region Part II

Karen Berger — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:36:02 +0000

As with most long-distance bicycle trips in foreign countries, the logistics of an independent trip can be daunting. The Minho is not heavily frequented by foreign tourists, so there is little infrastructure. Don’t expect to hear much English. Accommodations range from campgrounds (many overpriced and even more crowded) to individual rooms in regular private homes to pensions—none should run more than $100/night, most well under. There is a resort town by the coast, Viana del Castelo (with a great wine festival each summer), that will bump prices up quite a bit. Then there are the above-mentioned manor houses (if you have to ask, you can’t afford it). Advance reservations are advisable.

Several U.S. outfitters offer bike tours in the Minho, typically ranging from one to two weeks. Unfortunately for penny-pinchers, most outfitters elect to put up their guests in high-class digs, which boosts prices into the range of $200-$300 per day per person. A few outfitters offer camping or two-star hotel trips in the range of $130-$150 a day.

You should be an experienced cyclist in mid-season form. Although daily mileage runs to only 30-40 in most cases, the hills can be challenging.

The Grape Escape: Cycling in Portugal’s Wine Region

Karen Berger — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:34:29 +0000

Surprisingly, Portugal is the world’s seventh-largest wine-making nation. An estimated 15 percent of the population lives by making or selling wine, and in the Alto Minho region—the cool, damp, hilly grape-growing countryside along the northern border with Spain—the proportion may be half. Okay, so it’s not the Napa Valley or the Loire, but that’s the whole point. The Minho has an unpretentious 19th-century feel; grapes are grown in small family plots on space-saving high trellises above beanfields or cabbage patches, transported to local wine-making co-ops in oxcarts, and consumed mostly in boisterous local taverns. And yes, grapes are still sometimes stomped by foot.

The Minho’s signature wine is vinho verde, whose tart, slightly bubbly character is the result of the grapes being picked not quite ripe and fermented only briefly. One wine critic noted that vinho verde is “all too easy to gulp like beer on a hot day.” In other words, it’s the perfect wine for long-distance cyclists.

The Minho countryside makes for fine bike riding, with woods, fields, stone walls, river valleys and quaint villages, although the weak of quadriceps may bemoan the hilly terrain. The back roads (some of them cobblestone) are virtually free of traffic—a good thing, since Portuguese drivers are among the world’s worst. But the big attraction for many cyclists is the network of posh manor homes and castles in the Minho region that welcome overnight guests. An example is the Paco de Calheiros near Ponte de Lima, owned by the same family for more than 600 years. It has a huge stone gateway, a long tree-lined driveway, and stone fountain. The Count of Calheiros welcomes sweaty cyclists personally. Dinner is pheasant (raised on the estate), accompanied by the family’s own vintage vinho verde. You get the picture.

Cycling around the Mulaccas

chen de jong — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:03:41 +0000

Destination visited: Indonesia
Activities included: Birdwatching, Mountain Biking, Scuba Diving

Early November ‘96 I went to Indonesia. Destination: Ambon Manise! I had been to Asia

and Indonesia a few times before, but never with my own transportation; My good old mountain bike!

I spent a week in Ambon, then went to Ternate before I headed to Halmahera. From there I went to Morotai, then went back to Ambon for Christmas.

In Ternate, the beaches are made of black volcanic sand, but the water is very clear. Some locals gave me a few coconuts and when I offered to pay they refused proudly. It’s always like this in Indonesia, the further you get from the tourist track, the more generous the people.

There are some stunning reefs in Indonesia, rivaling the best I’ve seen around Asia and Australia.

In Morotai, I went fishing with some boy’s from Wawame village. First we went to look for bait on the shoreline and between the trees. We not only found bait, but some souvenirs from WW2 as well, a handfull of bullets and empty bulletshells. We used home-made bamboo rods with a nylon string and a hook. The boys called the string a ’snaar’, which is Dutch for string as well, a small colonial heritage.

One Sunday while in Ternate, I went to the Catholic Church to attend a mass. The Church is beautiful, build partly from black lavastones in the Portuguese time. Quite an experience for a ‘heithen’ like me, but I enjoyed every part of it! Great singing in the Church, I won’t forget that!

I had taken a boat to get to Ternate. The boattrip was an experience on it’s own, two nights sleeping on deck, having fun, singing and playing

cards with the Indonesians. At night we saw zillions of flying fish, and during the day a lot of dolphins. We had 2 stops, in Sanane and in Dofa.