MNC-GR Travessia da Ribeira do Minho: Melgaço to Monção – 25.5km

There is no caminho walking today. Instead, we’ll be following the MNC-GR Travessia da Ribeira do Minho to Monção. (I’m finding all these place names beginning with M a bit confusing so I apologise if you are too … and there’s yet another one tomorrow!)

Harri has promised me an easy day’s hiking, although the threat of rain continues. Thankfully, our onward hiking does not take us through the mountains, unlike the various caminho routes heading to Santiago de Compostela.

After a good night’s sleep and a delicious, leisurely breakfast at Hotel Boavista, we got going a little later than planned. We’d got a bit carried away in the supermarket yesterday and our rucksacks felt heavy. Food can get complicated when you’re backpacking. On this trip, we’re alternating between hotels with breakfast and apartments with kitchens. I’m responsible for ensuring we consume enough calories to keep us going all day, although we split the carrying of foodstuff between us.

The name of today’s trail suggested a leafy riverside walk – or at least that’s how I imagined it – however, we almost immediately we found ourselves climbing steeply along tarmac lanes. No matter, we might not be able to see the Rio Minho yet, but at least the landscape managed to look green and lush under those foreboding grey skies. As we plodded along, we couldn’t help but spare a thought for our fellow hikers, those poor pilgrims who be heading into the black hills and an assured soaking.

We were back in the territory of missed landmarks and poorly maintained tracks – there were more signposts directing people to vinho verde or various vineyards than instructing hikers how to follow the MNC-GR Travessia da Ribeira do Minho (although wine lovers might argue that is the preferred direction). At one point, a gated industrial building completely blocked our onward route. Later in the day, it took us three attempts to find a grassy footpath which was a) going in the right direction and b) not blocked.

The trail follows the Antiga Estrada Nacional 202, i.e. the old road from Melgaço to Monção, while the newer, busier road runs adjacent and slightly lower. Curiously, while a signpost on the new road informed drivers that our destination was 14 km away, almost immediately afterwards we passed a GR waymark saying we had another 17.3 km to go.

Now, the walking itself was easy and the architecture of the vast – and often dilapidated – properties we were passing quite magnificent, but those overcast skies continued to put a dampener on the day.

This year, we’ve come on holiday slightly later than usual and, although the decision wasn’t entirely ours (our petsitters weren’t available earlier), I think it was probably the right one. We’d been hoping to catch the ‘saddle season’ when the sunshine is reliable but the hot weather – and fires – are yet to arrive.

The road-hugging route, lack of waymarks and constant threat of rain were conspiring to make this our least enjoyable day on the trail so far. Thankfully, we were under trees when we felt the first few spots of rain and held our collective breath. The downpour we anticipated didn’t come.

Another low point was when we reached a large building site and were forced to plough ahead through an extended section of dusty gravel (presumably the foundations for a future access road). Minutes earlier, I’d walked across some boggy ground so the building dust now clung to my damp Merrell trail running shoes. On a mountain slope across the border, the continual rock blasting sounded like gunshots.

In an elongated village called Valinha, we sat on stone steps for a brief rest and a snack. Our spirits were flagging and it was all we could do to put one step in front of another. Little did we know it, but we were soon in for a treat in the shape of nearby Ponte de Mouro, which lies at the confluence of the Minho and Mouro rivers. It was on the arched medieval Ponte da Barbeita (built in 1386) that Dom Joao I and the Duke of Lancaster met and the centuries-old alliance between Portugal and England was forged.

After the bridge, things started looking up as our route took us around an incredible historic area with cobbled roads and some pretty impressive buildings, including the Oratório do Santo Cristo (1798), a wayside shrine, the Capela de São Félix (1765) and several old mills. This tiny village exerted a real sense of history; I’m so glad we stumbled upon it.

After encountering more overgrown, unsignposted footpaths, it started to rain albeit very lightly. Then, almost immediately, it stopped again.

Rio Minho

By now, the old road was much busier and we wanted off. There were two false starts along grassy footpaths as we attempted in vain to reach the river. It’s hard to believe that we’re 19 km into this Rio Minho trail and yet we still haven’t had a glimpse of the titular character. We know it’s down there somewhere, but it continues to be obscured by thick vegetation.

On our third attempt to escape the old road, we finally hit the jackpot and were startled to find ourselves on what appeared to be a relatively new cycle path (the trail wasn’t routed along this cycle path). Elated, we stopped on a wall for a very late lunch. There were still no views, but we were certain the 340-kilometre beauty would be delivering very soon.

Another five kilometres of hiking and we were finally rewarded with our first glimpses of the elusive Rio Minho. Admittedly, we could only see the occasional slither of water, but this was indeed progress.

Before long, our patience was rewarded with more tantalising glimpses of the Minho. Very gradually, she revealed herself: a shallow wide stretch of water dotted with rock slab and narrow channels. Harri judged the Minho to be a little bit wider than the River Wye at Symonds Yat. I was curious whether the Minho is navigable at this point, but it appears not to be, except for small fishing boats, canoes, etc.

Ecopista do Rio Minho

We soon ‘clicked’ that this trail we were following – the Ecopista do Rio Minho – had once been a railway line. My  research revealed that the former Ramal de Monção line served the town from 1915 to 1989 (1990 for freight) and the trackbed had indeed been repurposed to create a shaded cycle and footpath. With two kilometres to go, we joined boardwalks which had seen better days.

Monção

There was rain in the air as we left the boardwalks and crossed an open grassy area close to Monção’s impressive fortress walls.

I have to admit, I’d never heard of Monção until Harri put this long-distance hike together, however we were both pleasantly surprised. The town is far grander than we’d expected and it boasts some imposing historic buildings. Monção once formed part of a string of fortified border posts along the Rio Minho although there is not actually a castle here (well, not one we could find).

Like so many Portuguese towns, Monção has its own legend, which goes something like this. In 1368, when the town was under siege by the Spanish army (and remember Spain’s just across the river), a local woman named Deu-la-Deu Martins is said to have used the last of the town’s flour to bake bread rolls. Flinging them over the fortress walls at the Spanish troops, she taunted the invaders that there were plenty more where they came from. Eventually, the Spanish soldiers retreated, believing their attempts to starve Monção’s residents were fruitless. A cenotaph erected in 1679 continues to commemorate Monção’s local heroine.

Coca de Monção

Being a couple of Welsh folk, we were fascinated by the number of dragons we spotted in Monção. There was even one at the base of the stairs in our apartment block. We might have guessed it’s all linked to Monção’s second local legend.

The creature we were seeing everywhere was the Coca de Monção, an evil monster which lives in the Rio Minho and must be overthrown annually if the region’s crops are to avoid being flooded. The battle between Saint George (São Jorge) and the coca is reenacted every year in the Festa da Coca. If São Jorge is unable to defeat the coca by removing his magical earrings, the crops will fail. So now we know.

We had a quick drink in a cold, blustery spot high above the river looking at the low clouds engulfing nearby hills and weren’t surprised to learn the temperature was 18 degrees.

After the majestic landscapes of Peneda-Gerês, we found today’s route, with all its road walking and lack of views, a little demoralising. We’d enjoyed the camaraderie of the Caminho da Geira e dos Arrieiros; today, we hadn’t seen one single hiker.

Our accommodation

We paid €63 for a double room at Raiano Guest House, located on Monção’s main square (although we managed to walk past it several times!). It’s what I would describe as a ‘boutique hotel’ in that the décor and attention to detail was really something. No breakfast was available.

The room was light and airy, and the floors beautiful, like the Portuguese equivalent of parquet flooring. There was a lovely little Juliette balcony and a very funky bathroom (with a bottom showering attachment on the toilet). Best of all, there was a kettle (and bizarrely, a popcorn maker with a packet of popcorn).

The route

This stage is mapped at 26 km with 230 metres of ascent.

Tracking with Outdoor Active, I recorded 25.5 with 219 metres of ascent.

Download the GPX file of our hike here.