I left with lots of hugs by beautiful girls and guys, and the way up was not half as exausting as I had thought. And I followed a decision I made earlier – to go into trust and leave the map behind me. A big experiment for me, as I am used to know where I am, or at least to know, that I am lost. But now I will follow my inner pictures and the general direction of north-east, and I hope to reach Bilbao by the 22., 25. latest! That day I was led onto a quite busy road with a lot of trucks passing me, not really what I had wished for, but later, after I crossed the motorway it got better. But in the beginning it worked very nicely – when after an hour I came to a small town I wished for my favoured super market – pingo doce – and for internet at a library – it is for free. I found both and I met the girl, who had led me to the rainbow – she just came out of a clothes store to bid me fare well – the first and the last sister to see.
The next day I am led to much more quiet and beautiful roads, one time even on a dirt path through a forest, very nice. But in one occasion my inner map showed to a way which leads to a private house, whit a rope blocking the way, and so I took another turn than my inner map showed. I wonder, what I missed there ? U see, I am still training to trust my inner!
It is the first day since around Sintra that it is cloudy, so easy cycling. I am very excited about my experiment and refuse to look on a map for the next days, so I can not tell u, where exactly I cycle. It is this feeling of not knowing where I go, but trusting that it will be good. And my sleeping place was very nice indeed, in a forest between a couple of boulders. I am quite sure that I will neither go to the national park Geres nor visit Escanda, the activist community I want to visit since years, and also I can not use couch surfing with this spontaneous way of travelling, but we will see whom I will be led to meet!
One little incident showed me, how great this guidance thing works: someone made me a gift of a loaf of bread. As I was cycling in the morning that was what i was whishing for, some bread, as I had quite some fruits, but ran out of bread. When i held mv siasta, under a huge fir tree next to the road, Joao stopped. He wanted to have a look, if this cyclist is al right, as he himself travelled by bike. And as he did not want to disturb my sleep, he made a couple of photos and left a loaf of bread for me 
thank u mate. Later we exchanged emails and he told me, that he should not have taken this road, but got lost and so got the chance to help me. I whish he would haave woke me up – I guess I´ll track him down when I am back in Portugal.
I ended the day in the valley of the Rio Pavia, where i thought that i already arrived in Spain. I entered that valley at its top end, and it is a wild rocky valley there. Its much more dry than the regions I crossed before. Found a lovely sleeping place in a rocky island, not in the river, but 200 meters above! Impressive!
