I rode my first day in Portugal today. I like Portugal; the people are really friendly. They come up to me and ask if I need directions and honk, wave and flash their lights while holding their thumbs up to me. It is cheap here also; a beer at a bar is 66 cents. I will have spent less than ten bucks before the day is out.

There is trash all over the place here. I saw their trash compacting factory. They must have trouble digging deep holes in this rocky landscape that doesn’t seem to produce anything beyond these bitter crab apple treas and these other treas that are planted all over the place.

I saw like a half dozen castles today. I bet it has something to do with the fact that I am near the boarder. There seems to be a castle on the top of every hill here; and not little castles, big war castles.

I had a peaceful day today, mostly rolling hills. I don't know how far I went today, probably around a hundred miles. It looks like I will be at the boarder again at the end of tomorrow. There are a lot of nice cars here and no apartment buildings like in Spain. People live in houses here.

I took a lot of pictures today. The Portuguese language isn’t really like Spanish, there are too many Z's and 'gz's and sh's 'guzes'. It doesn’t really sound like the limited Brazilian Portuguese I have heard. It is interesting to think that such a small country made a language used by such a large country.

I camped in the trees next to the big road in the middle of town like ten feet from the wall of someone’s house. This dog was barking a large part of the night from his yard about 30 feet from me until his throat was sore because I think he smelled me.

Portugal is dirty. There is trash everywhere and I saw two dead dogs on the road today and. I like it that all these towns are situated on the tops of hills and they keep up on the paint on their houses much better than the Spaniards even though their street lighting system and roads aren’t as good. There are not many radio stations here; mainly just talk stations just like in Spain. People here are starer's also. Little kids looked at me like I am from another planet, but they are cool, mellow, content and nice here as far as I can tell.

I drank one 40 ounce beer last night and was buzzed for like the whole night. It was so warm last night I that didn’t need to have my sleeping bag over me. I was strong today and my stomach seems to have shrunk.

It will be nice but weird to go to Gibraltar and hang out in a place that speaks English. Oasises are always strange and cool. I should be there in three more days. There are a lot of flies on my legs now, probably from the trash problem. I would like to ask them what is up will all this trash, but I don’t want to offend anyone and they don’t speak my language anyway.

The people here seem to be of the same race as Spaniards, which is no surprise. I have no desire for booze, drugs or ice cream, although I physically need coffee to keep my eyes open every night. Time flew last night, before I knew it it was eleven. I found out why there was shit and condoms all over the place I camped last night; that was where all the big assed hookers strut their stuff. They didn’t even try with me though even though I was sitting right there, maybe because they noticed I was reading the Bible. These bar tenders are standing at the doorway looking at the women.

That would be so awesome if I rode down and up Africa. In theory it would take 5-6 months. It just occurred to me that the stamps I bought in England might work in Gibraltar. I am excited about kicking back in Gibraltar. This place is cheap, coffees are 46 cents.

Well I rode my little tush off today. Pretty much almost 12 hours from sunrise to sunset. I don’t now how many miles it was though because my computer goobered on me again. I got low blood sugar this afternoon, so I bought soda, candy, donuts and sugary muffins; then got queasy from all the sugar. I need good food tonight, which I will. This little doodad meal I have before me is just over a buck .

At the rate I am going I will be in Gibraltar tomorrow, it will be a long day though.

I saw a crazy castle made on a really steep terrace today. I had a nice camp sight in a tree field on soft dirt about 100 yards from the road. The quiet camp sites are the best. I will find one of those tonight. I am in a city called Huelco right now. I feel kind of queasy and sleepy from all the riding I did. I got to sleep late last night, like 1:00, because I wasted a lot of time trying to call home and was hungry so I bought a pizza. Then I rode out of town which I want to make more of a point of doing; however it looks like now I will be hoteling it in Morocco, which sounds really nice. It will be cool to have a bed in a warm, quiet, and peaceful place where I can read and write, and take my time getting up without worrying about anyone seeing me. After being in Portugal Spanish peoples Spanish sounds more Portuguese and less like the Spanish I am used to. Did something happen to me?

As soon as I crossed the river that divides the two countries the landscape immediately turned green with vegetation from the rocky desertness of Portugal, which made me think that maybe Spain’s irrigation system is better. It just occurred to me that I haven't gotten to sleep before 12 yet this trip. I might shack it up early tonight, seeing how there is no coffee here. I am tired, got less than 7 hours of sleep last night; haven’t done that yet in Europe.

The Bible is getting kind of annoying. John is all about the grandeur of Jesus, and the Apostles is all about Magic, very little real meat. People dress really dull in Portugal and there are a lot of nuns who dress all in black. There are a lot of old men on old scooters with funky helmets. I saw two old men on old three speed bikes, and one cyclist. There were a lot of hills today, one very beautiful. I should have taken a picture. I think this is the longest day I have had this entire trip and I can feel it. This one beer I got for less than a buck knocked me on my ass. I did 80 pushups and 60 curls today; my best yet.