Chance is always a wonderful thing. I never imagined that I would live in Portugal, a strange country where I first arrived, for more than two years. The Alentejo region in the south-central region is full of endless undulating fields, with the world's largest area of cork oak forests, an important supplier of cork stoppers for the global wine industry, and under the oak trees in the fields, you will always see black pigs grazing naturally on the Iberian Peninsula while pacing and peering around in search of wild acorns.
At first, living in the small town of Ourique and later moving to Faro, Alcoutim, near Faro, further south, public transportation was extremely inconvenient, and the countryside life was spread out like a daily life that had never been seen before, the calm day was slow, and the January month was as fast as flying. Lisbon, Porto, Cabo da Roca, egg tarts, yellow trams... These are the key words when Portugal was still a distant country, but portugal has long lived here, but the private map of Portugal is dotted with blue coastlines of different shades of beaches in the southwest corner of the European continent, surrounding the southernmost region of Portugal, along the Algarve coast.
The sea does have extraordinary significance for a country where half of its borders are coastlines. Five hundred years ago, it was here that human beings systematically bid farewell to the land, sailed to the mysterious vast sea, and began the adventure of exploring the world map. For modern people living in Portugal, the ocean has become a gift of ordinary life. It reminds you of your smallness with vastness, cheerfulizes your nervousness with a variety of blues, and satisfies your appetite with rough and delicious food.
On weekends, we often leave near noon on Sundays, and the way we choose our destinations becomes very casual — dragging Google Maps directly to a cape where a lighthouse sits at the junction of the North Atlantic and the continent, skipping the experience of reading travelers share on the Internet, and half the day will always meet unexpected and wonderful skylight and sea stories, and such a variety of colors can only be perceived after investing in nature.
Lighthouse in the southwest of continental Europe (Xu Qi/Photo)
Cape Pedade & Kemilo Beach: In the sunset and moonlight, listen to the wind
Speaking of which, Camilo Beach and the nearby Ponta da Piedade are our first visits in more than two years, driving from the piercing silvery blue of Portimao in winter to the southern coast of the small town of Lagos, thus beginning our exploration of the Portuguese Algarve region.
Compared with the lazy Côte d'Azur of France and Italy, the Algarve Coast in southern Portugal is a holiday destination for Europeans with a lonely soul. There are more than 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, and the beaches in summer are always full of naked people. And when the summer vacation passed and the weather grew colder, the Algarve returned to its original appearance. For me, the beach of Kemilo and Cape Pedade in winter are a healing place, much like the portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa imagined in his words the distant countryside and the ancient times, listening to the wind, sitting on the cliffs, watching the sun sink little by little, and the full moon shining the black sea white, which is a great calm that belongs only to himself, as recorded by Hiroshi Sugimoto.
There are also lazy tourists on the beach who don't forget the elegance. (Xu Qi/Photo)
Standing on the cliffs of Kemilo Beach, after the last rays of sunlight on the reef have moved away, the tiny peaks scattered on the calm sea have made me feel Zen for the first time in the Western world, as if returning to The Dragon Temple in Kyoto during the rainy season, sitting in front of the stone court for a long time to look at the mysterious dry landscape in front of me.
The beaches in the Algarve are friendly, and you can reach the sea from the cliffs down the wooden steps. The tides flow and you will swallow different beaches in one day. Fossils of seabed organisms deposited on the reef, barnacles find a stone and never go again, inhabiting for thousands of years, leaving a dense and open round mouth like the pores of the reef. Through the "tunnel" of the reef wall, you can wander through the small beach of the rock bay next door, where there are several small reefs that seem to come from a different space. When the tide is low, you can also drill into the mini cave to admire the sky changes framed by the natural opening at the top of the cave.
Adjacent to Kemilo Beach, Cape Pedade, gathers strange rocks from Densum. Surrounded by the sea on three sides, it is the best place to enjoy the sunrise and sunset. In the evening, travelers snuggled up to each other on the natural bumps on the cliffs to enjoy the sunset. In may, just after six o'clock, wrapped in a beach towel from a nearby hotel to watch the sunrise, the fresh light pink that fades from blue in the morning is completely different from the affectionate pink that changes from orange in the evening, like peony and rose stained with morning dew.
There were only two of us on the cliff that day, until we reached the cramped reef at the bottom of the mountain and met a few photography enthusiasts from all over the world. These photographers who have traveled the globe and visited the beaches of various bays are delighted by this unknown corner of the North Atlantic. They praised the barbaric temperament of the Portuguese sea, which far exceeded the famous "Twelve Apostles" of australia's Great Ocean Road. In the early morning, the sun shoots its first rays of light from the "arch" in front of it, and in a short while, the gentle waves will spread layers of gold on the surrounding reefs, explaining what "the sacredness of nature" is.
Kemilo Beach (Xu Qi/Photo)
There are at least seven or eight weekend excursions in this area. Beyond the mountains and seas, there is another reason to come to Kemilo Beach - Cliff Restaurant O Camilo. Unlike most restaurants in the Portuguese countryside, which have a family-style old-school feel, O Camilo is youthful and vibrant, with elegant and modern settings, whether on terraces overlooking the coast or indoors surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass, with the relief of an island resort, and the coldness of the North Atlantic Ocean transforming into a Mediterranean side. The independent O Camilo specializes in traditional Algarve dishes, and the freezer that greets you at the door is the hallmark of the restaurant, which displays the fresh ocean fish caught that day, Iberian red shrimp, oysters, barnacles, golden seabream, etc. exude a sexy glow, and we often spend a while choosing which beautiful fish. The creative appetizer tapas platter is different every time, with homemade seafood risotto, grilled mushrooms, fish sauce and chicken liver sauce always surprising. Dessert, every time you go to the restaurant, you will go to see the transparent freezer, so that the familiar waiter should keep the cheese lemon tower to prevent it from being sold. Such a quality restaurant, but the price is very friendly, and the Iberian style tibetan wine is also unique and extremely cost-effective.
Cape Saldan: Roaming and staying on the cliffs
Cabo Sardão, a dark cliff at the end of a land, needs to be reached through a romantic football field beneath the sky. The most recent visit was at eight o'clock in the middle of summer, and the air of the whole world was scattered with water vapor behind the ferocious waves of the North Atlantic that swept into the rocks, and the light was a bit like smoke in this dusk. The setting sun finally became a pink feather and disappeared at the end of the horizon.
It is a landmark in the Fisherman's Trail, a popular hiking route in southwest Portugal. In front of you, jagged cliffs form the outline of the European continent, stretching endlessly and full of wildflowers. In March, this cliff is always covered by rain. The waves were blue, condensed into a forced force in the fierce wind, crashing into the cliffs carved with black stripes, casting a white mist of water, leaving a tremor echo between heaven and earth. Seabirds glide along the cliffs in the wind, flying with little effort. The sight followed the trajectory of a snow-white stork as it landed and found its nest at the top of the sharp rock wall. Two pairs of snow-white wings stand side by side, guarding such a home at the end of the world, watching the huge waves rolling, the sun rising and setting, and the sky light extinguishing, it is really romantic and magnificent.
Stork's Nest on a Cliff (Xu Qi/Photo)
Returning in early summer, the stork's nest is a different story. Only one slender foot remained, but if you look closely, there are three or two more young birds at its feet. As the rain gets heavier, the stork mother's wings will involuntarily open to protect the child, from her in love three months ago to her mother, sometimes looking into the distance, perhaps waiting for her partner to forage for food.
But if you use a sense to recall the sea, it is not visual, but an indescribable smell. Along the way, succulent strips of plants on the coast stretched wildly, pink and yellow flowers dotted in large expanses of deep green, watered by rain, like the aroma of soap in the room after a childhood summer bath waking up from the depths of the earth and floating in the air. On a sunny day, this familiar fragrance, which is thicker than the floral fragrance, gradually begins to spread after sunset, as if the flowers and plants are breathing deeply after the strong photosynthesis.
On that afternoon at the end of May, we walked along the mountain path of the cliffs. Stop in front of the dusty bicycle in front of the tent at the end of the road. Then, meet a man who seems to have come from the depths of nature. He was naked and could faintly smell the scent of seagrass emanating from his body. We talked about the days. "I slept here last night, in a tent, and couldn't see anything, but at night I could hear the risings and downs of the tides in the depths of the sea so clearly. It's like the frequency of a radio. There are rules and quiet. His wet face was radiant. I guess he must have looked up last night when the moon was not shining, and had a close relationship with the stars. In his lean, naked body lines like Renaissance sculptures, there must be many other animal-like superpowers.
"I don't like to wear clothes!" People come naturally, even in winter, exercise can warm up the body. For example, if I live here for two days, I can swim at any time. "He's really not afraid of the cold, and when the rain comes, he embraces the rain." And his body was already densely packed, as if wrapped in the fur he had produced, and on his chest hung two beautiful shells taken from the ocean and the reef.
Wanderer (Xu Qi/Photo)
The bicycle drove his family. I pointed to that cute cushion. "It's from my mom and dad's sheep, and it's useful." Especially in the summer, after the direct sun, my cushion never gets hot. "We chatted happily for a long time. He told us that in addition to doing architecture, he was also a musician. "Then what instrument do you play?"
He walked over to the bike, removed the long wooden pipe, and moved it to his mouth. The very low music, as his very hard body stretched, slowly spread out, and the afterglow was mixed with the sound of the sea tide.
After meeting people who wander the world, I also saw more possibilities in life. I've always enjoyed chatting with them, and I've been listening to a little bit of Yoshimitsu Kataba in the story of my body. They bid farewell to prosperity, just to return to the original nature and grow up with the world.
Nu Hai (Xu Qi/Photo)
Bishpu Town: Barnacler Hunter with Ghost Feet from Hell
When I first arrived in Portugal, I first encountered this strange-looking and even somewhat terrifying shellfish in a seafood shop in Lisbon, the gooseneck barnacles (local: percebe, known in the mainland as "ghost claw snails"), small monsters that were 60 or 70 euros and a kilogram, as if a pile of sharp claws was gathered on a plate. Look closely, the sharp "finger slits" are oozing bright red marks like blood. The edible part is hidden in the softest rainproof canvas texture of about two or three centimeters long "neck". With a twist of the fingers, the salty sea water will always splash on the face, revealing a lump of crystalline and slippery flesh. What about the taste? Like eating a bite of sexy sea.
"Ghost claw snail" gooseneck barnacles (Xu Qi/Photo)
Gooseneck barnacles can be edible "neck" (Xu Qi/photo)
Even in seafood-rich countries, gooseneck barnacles are still a delicacy on the plate. On closer inspection, Vila do Bispo has some of the best productions in Portugal. Driven by insects and curiosity, we made a point of visiting this seaside town in the southwestern corner of the European continent.
It's a veritable town! Narrow alleys run through white houses, and the central area can be completed in less than twenty minutes. Discovering a highly rated small restaurant, Ribera do Poço, on Google Maps became the reason for us to drive two hours a month.
Open for more than 20 years, the restaurant rewards diners from afar with fresh seafood and local cooking, and is known to everyone in the town. The refrigerator at the door displays the seafood of the day, black-banded fish, oysters, my favorite jewel-like hat shells, a variety of clams and, of course, the gooseneck barnacles that must be ordered every time, known locally as "from hell's ghost feet.") Even in the country of origin, this precious seafood sells for 45 euros per kilogram. The reason for this, of course, is that it needs to climb over cliffs and fight the capture method of the waves. Today, only a dozen people in the town are up to the task of the most risky offshore fishing.
Jewel-like hat shell (Xu Qi/Photo)
As a rare Chinese customer, we have become acquainted with the enthusiastic restaurant staff after several visits. The old waiter called and brought in a neighbor, Barnacler hunter Paulo Barata, to meet us. From the age of fifteen, when he began fishing with his father, Barata's career with the sea has gone through more than thirty years. The raw waves sculpted his rock-thick, hard back ridge and boldness. Drinking the port wine we toasted him, he smiled and his eyes sparkled on his dark face. Barata told me that this crustacean grows on a reef eighty meters below the cliff, and hunters climb to the fishing area with their bare hands and need to avoid the ferocious attack of the tide at any time, and chisel this row of sharp "ghost feet" from the thick reef. Barnacles are seafood of all seasons, and he works almost every day except on days when the wind and waves are particularly heavy. Barata and I shared occasional videos of our morning work, sometimes with huge waves, sometimes rainbows after rain, like a magnificent and dangerous epic drama, and he obviously loved this sinister nature deeply, "and will do this job like Dad until he can't move." He said that the intimacy and wrestling with the sea were indispensable times in his daily life.
Cape St. Vincent's: The end of the world, the rhythm of the tide
Cabo de São Vicente, ten kilometres from the centre of Bishpu town, stands the southwesternmost lighthouse of the European continent. This is more extreme than the famous Cape Roca, a gorge that hangs above the sea and can no longer turn back, with annotations on the map: Sagres, the end of the world.
Since ancient times, it has been the main route for ships to enter and leave the Mediterranean from the Atlantic Ocean, and the European coastal road E9 has also ended here. Along the way to the finish line, there is also a stall called "The Last Sausage Before Reaching the American Continent", which is still in German. Yes, if the earth is flat and the line of sight crosses the ocean in front of you, it is the United States.
Sausage Shop (Xu Qi/Photo)
The cliffs cascade down at ninety degrees, and on the way down the trail to the beach, you are greeted by people holding wave boards and the smell of the North Atlantic. On a clear April day, the vast sea is full of winds and waves, making it a surfer's paradise. They walked alone into the deeper and deeper blue, stood on the wind and waves like mountain peaks over and over again, and because their bodies could not reverse the force of nature, they were swallowed up by the thick white waves that churned up, but they enjoyed it tirelessly, just to enjoy a "flight" in which the body, the wave plate and the wave were integrated at a certain short moment.
At dusk at the end of July, the light is dim and warm, the clouds chase each other, and huge waves crash under the cliffs. The waters were heavy, like lead when silent, mercury when plucked, and the folds of the sea were scattered little by little, which were the visible shadows left by the invisible wind. The sun sank little by little in the ever-changing light, became huge, and suddenly fell into the ocean. People applauded unanimously and cheered for this wonderful Haitian performance. The Englishman on the side told me that it was a magical place considered by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and that the sunset was bigger than anywhere else in the world. When the sun sinks into the ocean here, it means it falls to the end of the world.
Uncle Chuanyu driving a caravan across continents (Xu Qi/Photo)
In February 2020, before the unusual spring arrived, Europe was still peaceful. People from afar, along with the cats here, lie on the coordinates at the end of this world to enjoy the late winter sun and warm breezes of the North Atlantic coastline.
On the way out, the large motorhome with the "Chuan A" license plate on the open space next to the St. Vincent's lighthouse was a bit of a surprise. In a swarm of EU-plated station wagons, it's as big as a white house with aluminum food storage cabinets on the back. It was a bit of a surprise to us to meet the rare Chinese at the end of the world. Curious, I asked them how they had driven all the way here. "It's been more than half a year, in fact, road travel visas are not very strict, and we still drive this guy to Morocco. Twenty days in Africa, slow and leisurely, not in a hurry. Then head back to Europe, from Spain to Portugal. "A car of four or five uncles and aunts of Sichuan and Chongqing, who basically do not speak English, bravely traveled all the way to the end of the world with navigation." Eat not accustomed to foreign food, not afraid, oil and salt sauce vinegar dried pepper enough, make a fire to fry rice and cook vegetable stew soup is good. Even if the mountains and rivers are long, there are spicy hot dishes every day, and Chinese can live in peace wherever they go.
Lonely and warm travelers at the end of the world (Xu Qi/Photo)
On the cliffs of Cape Saint Vincent, there will always be a few caravans from neighboring countries, and at the moment of the moon rising, the sky and the sea will form a deep blue curtain, and their flowing white homes will become the existence of candles in the field of vision, lonely and warm. This kind of long-distance travel is a poetic ritual in the later years of many Europeans. When they stop in the car, they often drink coffee at the sitting window, their faces are idyllic, and they don't chat, just looking at the ocean and sky not far away. The world in a motorhome is simple and readily available, with fresh wildflowers in glass bottles on a small shelf, small old speakers singing the old folk songs of John Denver, and two bicycles strapped to the body to facilitate another kind of hike. The sunrise and sunset sky is projected on the window panes, becoming a constantly changing body painting.
For travelers, sunrise and sunset is a poetic ritual. (Xu Qi/Photo)
These weathered and frosted people who still shine with innocence are the most beautiful scenery at the end of the world.
Xu Qi