From: Funchal
The Valley of the Nuns is a rugged valley north of Funchal in the center of the island.
It is surrounded by the highest peaks anywhere on madeira.
Took a bus and stopped at a viewpoint before heading down to the valley.
The cliff at the top was a sheer vertical drop. From up there I noticed something very strange on top of one of the mountains across the valley. You can notice it in the top left of the image above. It looked like a giant temple at the peak.
I should probably go up there and see what that is.
Instead of taking a bus down to the valley, there is a long path of steep stairs that goes straight to it down the steep mountainside.
(The path wasn’t nearly this nice, this is from the viewpoint)
The village at the bottom was pretty quaint. Could still see the strange mountainpeak in the background.
I decided I was going up.
I found a trail and headed for it. I wasn’t sure what would be up there.
The first two thirds up was pretty nice hiking. Views and waterfalls. That sort of thing.
 |  |
|---|
The trail that split off to go to the summit got more intense very quickly. It hugged the side of a cliff.
The final scramble to the summit was ominous because there was recently a forest fire at the top. It looked like something out of mordor.
The most challenging part of the climb was the big rock I thought looked like a temple before.
It was completely exposed and very steep.
By this point the clouds had rolled in. But you could see other peaks among them, like islands in the ocean.
The way down was long. After running out of water I was happy to find a small shop at the bottom with some beer (and a cute dog).
Valley Dog
I luckily just made the last bus to Funchal out of the valley.