Algarve, Portugal

Went for a 4 days/3 nights trip with partner to Algarve, the southern region of Portugal, to catch the last bit of summer sun and sea. As usual, the flight there was a early morning flight on Tap Portugal, with a quick transit at Lisbon. Well, this was where it started to go wrong, with the flight delayed for 30min and by the time we reach Lisbon, we had to literally run to catch our connecting flight. Upon reaching Faro Airport, we waited patiently to collect our luggage and realised something was terribly wrong when the belt stopped and we have yet to see our luggage anywhere. As this was the first time something like this happened to us, we tried to see if anyone mistakenly took our luggage and checked the other belts as well, and after a good 20min of frantic searching, finally went to the ground personnel to report on our loss. The moment the ground crew heard of our situation, she immediately told us that its most likely still in Lisbon, and sounded that its so common to them, when we were fuming like mad! We literally did not have anything with us and were just glad that we had the car rental docs, cash with us. In the end, were told to wait at our hotel for our luggage and if they can find it, will arrive in the night. Blood boiling, but couldn't do anything much, we left the airport and collected our rented car. Getting a Kia Picanto instead of the expected Nissan Micra did not help to calm my partner's feelings down any bit, but seeing the actual car, it turned out to be quite cute and happily engaged on our driver/navigator roles for the trip. The service provided from Avis was pretty good I must say. We paid £75 to rent the car of unlimited milege for 4 days, up to 1000 Euro in accident coverage, and best of all, fuss-free when we returned the car. If you have some additional cash in your pocket and wants a smoother trip to save valuable travelling time, a TomTom system is highly recommended, else detailed maps for navigation are bare essentials.

First stop, off to this small town called Loule, north of Faro, a simple 20min drive from the airport with road signs for major towns as indicative guide. Tried to find the "mercado" or market recommended by travel guide, but looks just like the wet market below my flat back in Bedok. Disgruntled, went of in search of the local eatery and was recommended to a Portuguese restaurant that sells "cheap and good food", as quoted by this chinese shopkeeper who apparently married a portuguese woman, and spoke to us in Mandarin. Place was called Horta Nova, you can see more from JM's album from the link on the right, food was so-so, nothing fantastic, but can't complain much after a bad start to the trip and hunger-panging stomachs.

Next stop, Albufeira, another 20min drive from Loule. Journey on the motorway was very smooth, and I could even get a 150km/hr from our trusty Red Kia Picanto! But the car start to wobble significantly at this speed and could only manage 130 on a steady rate. Praia dos Barcos was the beach we headed to, plenty of tourists there, certainly not one where you want to have some peace and quiet, but after not seeing the sea forso long, its was definitely a worthwhile sight! Bikinis(or lack of tops) galore were also a welcome sight for sure =P

Decided to move on to the resort town which we are staying to check if our luggage has arrived and drove for another 20min to Portimao, off Praia da Rocha. The resort was a bare essential style with lotsa blocks of similar buildings catered specifically to family holidays for the week. Everything ranging from tv remote to kettle have to be rented from the counter on top of the daily room rates. A factor which made us wanting to bring our own kettle from London!!!

Because of the missing luggage, we had to scour the beach front shops to buy contact lens solution for JM to change to her glasses, and we were that dispair to even consider where to buy all our clothes to change, etc the next day if the luggage do disappear to timbuktu. To our greatest relief, our luggage arrived at the resort after our dinner and we couldn't have been happier to see it again.

Next day was to Lagos, Praia da Dona Ana beach. The best beach that I reckon for the entire trip. Small beach front surrounded by high cliffs. Can get pretty crowded though, and as usual, we were attracting alot of curious glances as the only Chinese folks around. Lunch was grilled sardines for JM, a local specialty of Algarve region and a must try for the freshness of the fish. Bet you did not know Tempura originated from Portugal to the east as well! Dinner was another specialty called Piri Piri chicken, but wasn't so nice as the chicken was so tough, its like eating baguette that I was used to. By the way, the beach at Praia da Rocha is a disappointment, its so big, you get tons of tourists and locals, and because its so vast, you can constant "sand storms" blowing at you. I reckon if you lie there and not move for few hours, you will be covered with sand and nobody will know you're there.

On the 3rd day, the weather was really lousy with rain clouds, but good thing we had planned to go to this local Portimao bazaar that happens on the first Monday of every month, instead of the beach. Well, the bazaar was quite a disappointment, pretty much similar to our pasar malam, but much less variety. After which we headed off to the eclusive beach Praia de Benagil off Lagoa. Quite difficult to find and we had to stop several times to ask the locals for directions, but the find in the end was really worth it. Much smaller beach front as compared to Praia de Ana, but much more secluded as well. The number of people there can be counted with just both hands and we spent a good afternoon lazing there. After which when the hunger comes knocking, we decided to drive out to look for food, and ended up at Praia da Marinha. Another highly recommeneded beach, much bigger, and guidebooks rate that there are scuba activities on the beach reefs. Dinner was to try another specialty that JM wanted to have very much, cataplana. A must have I would say, for 3 at least, even though the menu states that its for 2. You can see from the pictures how big the portions are and its overwhelming with seafood. For €28, its quite a steal! Best meal of our trip!

Last day was another disappointment from the weather end. Dark as it could be, we checked out from the resort early hoping that we can catch another beach before we board the plane. The target beach was to drive to Praia da Falesia off Vilamoura(Dozens of golf courses here). It was so difficult to find that we had to spend an hour and the half figuring out if we were on the right way, and obviously with a bit of tempers straying during the journey. When we reach there, we started packing up after just 5 min upon laying our beach mat as the dark clouds loomed above us. In the end, we just walked along the beach for a good 30 min before heading for a quick lunch and back to the airport.

Overall, it was a good trip, probably better if we have few more days to explore more beaches and the eastern end of Algarve. But as I always say, its the company that matters most.