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Early in the summer of 1497, Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) was granted an audience with King Manuel at Montemóro-o-Novo where the captain took an oath of fealty to the Portuguese Crown and was presented with a silken banner displaying the Cross of the Order of Christ. Da Gama was not commissioned to conquer new lands, but rather to seek out Christian kingdoms in the East and to secure for Portugal access to the great markets of Asia.
Predominant Winds and Explorers' Routes Vasco da Gama navigates the Atlantic and Indian Oceans to reach Asia
Da Gama set sail from Lisbon and then called at the Cape Verde Islands. Because da Gama was familiar with the wind patterns of the Atlantic, he worked his ships on a south by south-east course before making a wide sweep westwards to reach the currents and winds he would need to round the Cape of Good Hope - or so he thought. Unfortunately, da Gama miscalculated and after travelling over 6,000 kilometres in ninety-three days - all of which occurred out of the sight of land - his ships barely reached the Cape of Good Hope. The sheer distance covered by da Gama was three times the distance travelled by Christopher Columbus during his first voyage to Hispaniola in 1492. There were numerous disappointments on this voyage: da Gama's progress up the south-eastern coast of Africa was tediously slow and encounters with indigenous populations revealed that conversion to Christianity would not be as easy as hoped. Finally, however, the Portuguese captain reached the tip of the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese were finally on the edge of the Asian markets they had searched many years to find. Thus began, as the historian K.M. Panikar noted, the Vasco da Gama epoch of Asian history. That is, the era of history when European nations alone controlled the seas - until the emergence of Japan and the United States as major naval powers at the end of the nineteenth century. Getting Around
Flights inside Portugal are expensive and hardly worth considering, given the short distances involved. A domestic departure tax is levied, but it's included in the price of the ticket. Trains are much cheaper, but it's almost always quicker to go by bus - especially as a number of private companies operate express services between major cities and the Algarve. Note that bicycles are not permitted on trains. There are dozens of car-rental agencies in Portugal, though you should bear in mind that petrol is pricey. Bicycles can also be rented in some tourist areas. Local transport includes trams, buses and plentiful and cheap taxis. Lisbon has an underground metro (which is being expanded) and some stately funiculars.
The best general overview of the country is the very readable The Portuguese: The Land and its People by Marion Kaplan. Another good read is Rose Macaulay's They Went to Portugal, which follows the experiences of a whole host of travellers from medieval times to the 19th century. For a look at Portuguese fiction in translation, try The Lusiads by Luís de Camões, the cornerstone of classical Portuguese literature, and works by Fernando Pessoa (Selected Poems), Fernando Namora (Mountain Doctor), José Maria Eça de Queirós (The Maias) and Mario Braga. Also noteworthy is the more recent and very compelling 'whodunnit' Ballad of Dog's Beach by José Cardoso Pires.