Sistelo, the little village with a monumental landscape, by the Vez river, between the mountains, that found its way of living through the terrace farming. It was a cloudy day, and by lunch time some rain drops dared to fall, but not enough to make us change our minds.
It was shortly after 14h30 when we started the Passadiços Trail, marked as easy with 1,8 km. It started in the village center and we went through the stone streets, ready for any rain that might’ve fallen, looking for the passadiços (wooden walkway).
We walked through a bridge by some little waterfalls, by a church with a picnic park by it’s side, if we had known this before, we would have used it for our lunch, and by then no sign of the walkway yet. We must have walked 1 km until we arrived to the Sistelo River Beach, where a cement wall was built to hold the water, allowing everyone to enjoy the clear waters. This barrier made a very nice waterfall, and together with all the beautiful nature around makes this a great place to be.
What we weren’t expecting was that we would have to cross this nice wall, and for that we had to take our shoes off and cross the 30m maybe with ankle high freezing water. But these years in Iceland had prepared me well and crossing rivers barefoot was one of them, and by some instinct I had put a towel in my backpack before leaving the house in the morning. As we say in Portugal, a prevented woman, worthes two women, and the towel cleaned 3 pairs of feet.
When our feet were already dry and locked inside our boots, we started walking again to warm up, and that’s when the awaited walkway began. This part of the trail is great, very cute, with the surrounding nature and always by the river, and it makes this area the best and more interesting part of the trail. Interesting, but short, sadly, because as soon as they start they also end fast.
The trail still goes by a very narrow stone floor and walls street and some farms till we get back to the village.
In resume, this is a short and easy trail, and nice to relax and take a walk. It can be slippery if the weather is wet, and due to many rocks on the floor can be a little tough. The advertising to this trail made us believe that it was bigger and it was mainly on the wooden walkway, the “passadiços”, but it’s the opposite way, only a small portion.
If you’re around, it’s a nice walk, or even a nice start to the Vez’ Ecovia. The trail is worth it if you enjoy the nature.
What else to do in Sistelo? Have you seen the Brandas Trail post?
