Travel Reports and Pictures – Reiseberichte und Bilder
–> World cycling: Klick here for “Stages and distances”
Part 1: Austria – Switzerland – Italy – France
Just want to give a few first impressions of the last three weeks of my trip to Portugal. I experience … (continue)
Part 2: Spain – Portugal
Welcome to Lisboa! Just came in yesterday directly along the coast to Praça do Comércio … (continue)
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How to survive in the mountains in wintertime? Go build your self an Igloo!
Chris and I took the chance of perfect snow conditions to experience one night in the alps in an selfmade igloo. It was also a good project to test the latest ivention of him and his friends, a snowsaw to cut bricks of snow. Our plan was to climb up in a remote alpine valley in the Kühtai area (western Austria). Using our skiers to get there, build up the Igloo and then test it for one night right away.
Check this out as well:
Since a long time already I had the dream of cycling from North Cape back home to Innsbruck. “Cycling from north down south is of course much easier then cycling from the south up north – because north is up and south is down you just need to let it go” was the most made joke of people once I told them from my 2013 summer plans. It was indeed a little easier because you start at North Cape on at the elevation of 300m. So, why North Cape? Just because it’s such a well know nostalgic point far up north which so many people already chose as a travel destination. Pretty good to do some showing off.
Reaching North Cape was much easier for me then coming back!
I think this is the cheapest way to do it: First book a flight to Alta, which is usually the cheapest. Then take the Bus from Alta to Honningsvåg (390 NOK = 50 €) and then from Honningsvåg to North Cape – Nordkapp (165 NOK = 20 €), all prices include the bicycle transfer. A little advice for the flight: You have to put the bike and some equipment like tent … in a box (max. weight 32 kg), then put lots of duct tape around it to protect it. The airport guys don’t really take much care about it. I had to fix my box in Oslo, otherwise it would all have been falling into its parts. In Alta then I had to wait for the bike till late at night, because they didn’t deliver it in the same plain where I was on. If you arrive in Alta late, just set up your tent and sleep in the wood next to the airport and then take the next bus in the morning.
A short video from the trip, check it out (by clicking in the picture)!
Unfortunately I didn’t prepare much for this trip so I didn’t even know how much money I should withdraw at the ATM. So I asked the lady at the book store and according to her information 1 Euro is about 80 Norwegian crowns, which was not true and leaded to the effect that I was very rich afterwards, withdrawing ten times more money I calculated. Stupid me withdrawed half of my bank account in Norwegian crowns!
Scandinavia was good to cycle. Always something to see: Wildlife, lakes, fjords …
The roads are well maintained and especially in the north there is almost no traffic. Be prepared for wind, rain, the cold and lots of mosquitos. Distances are large, so after the first week I tried to go about a 100 km a day. From North Cape to Gothenburg (Göteborg) it took me 2350 km. If you can, do some training before going there. I had a rupture of my outer ligament in the right knee three and a half weeks before the trip, so I didn’t even know if I could cycle and had no training at all. It worked out using a stabilizer for my leg, but still I needed some time to get into it and had to take it easy.
Cycling at North Cape
Most Cyclists I saw went up without luggage, because they checked in on the camp site northwest of Honningsvåg and then cycled up about 30 km to the cape and afterwards back. The conditions on the cape are pretty harsh. Weather was wet and cold and you have no wind protection by any kind of vegetation. The wind is usually coming from the northwest. I recommend taking the best, stat of the art, equipment you can get! Everything must be completely waterproofed and should keep you warm as well. Traffic is ok up there, drivers watch you and some of them are cheering you once going up one of the climbs. The two lane road goes up and down with a final climb at the end. On the cape they charge visitors for entering, but not the bicyclists, a little credit because of us producing less CO2 then the camper vans I guess. Once leaving North Cape Island you have to pass through tunnels. The first one is right after Honningsvåg and no problem, can be even good cycling inside, it protects from rain and wind. But the second one leading to Norway mainland is a bit touhg. The 6870 m long Nordkapp tunnel runs under the sea level so you need to go down on – 212m and climb up again. It is lighted but pretty noisy down there.
Cycling in Norway was great though I was well rested and enjoyed the first days along the cost, the scenery was great and every once in a while the sun came out. I decided not to go back to Alta and took the road (the famous E6) further south to Lakselv and later into Karasjok. As soon as I left the shoreline, a new problem popped up: Mosquitos! And it was a real problem, small flies, biting mosquitos make you cycle all the time. No nice time taking breaks anymore or sitting outside at night at a fire, forget it. You either: Cycle, eat while walking away from bugs, or set up your tent, flee inside, kill everything inside the tent and then rest till the next day. Generally you can say the further you go north the more mosquitos are around. For going to the toilet at night, you should have an extra empty bottle and use that one (training required) because going outside is not possible. Up in the north I sometimes rented a small lodge on the campsite, this is really nice for staying overnight or once you want to take a day off from cycling.
But over all I can say that the cycling in Norway was the most scenic and I enjoyed it a lot. Coming into Finnland, just for two days, the surrounding changed. Trees got higher and the landscape was smoother and widespread.
Lunch recommendation: On the Border from Finnland to Sweden in Kaaresuvanto right next to the bridge, you can enjoy a good all you can eat cyclist lunch buffet for less than 10 €!
European route E 45
On the opposite of Kaaresuvanto (FIN) you find the Swedish town of Karesuando. This is the starting point for the E 45 (European route E 45) which leads all the way through Europe till down to Gela (Sicily – Italy). I was planning to stay on that road till Gothenburg (Göteborg), which I did most of the time. The road is two-lane and all is paved, exept of constructions yards which can be up to 30 km long. The Altitude is between 200 and max. 500 m, the climbs are moderate up to8% not more.
Generally you can say: The further north, the less intense is the traffic. Most of the traffic in Sweden goes down to the shoreline and along the Gulf of Bothnia (E 4). Traffic was more intense north of Gallivare (E 45/E 10), around Östersund, and north of Mora/Orsa. You should detour north of Mora/Orsa to the east (adds about 30 km) on road 296 and road 301. I recommend staying on the campsite in the village of Los, a very nice place on a lake with good facilities. Another nice detour I did was north of Karlstad along road 62. They used an old railway path to make a cycling path (Klarälvs Banan) out of it which was good to go on. Also around Lake Vänern the traffic is very intense on the E 45. Taking other options here is no problem if you organize yourself a map of the area.
In Sweden, Norway and Finnland free camping is no problem and I did it most of the times. Sometimes there were no camp sites around and sometimes camp sites can be pretty expensive (up to 25 € per night). In bigger towns (for example Östersund) better don’t go on campsites, going to youth hostels can be cheaper. In Östersund I found a nice place called “Multi challenge” which is an entertainment center with a hostel added. As I mentioned before staying on lodges on the camp sites is a nice thing to do. Perfect to rest, cook and maintain your gear.
There is a nice Campsite (Vojmåns Husvagnscamping) 25 km north of Vilhelmina on a river next to E 45. Kenneth and Rita are running the place. Kenneth and I were talking about the flags in front of his campsite and I asked him where the Austrian flag is, which I couldn’t find. He mentioned that some Australians asked him the same about their flag and they sent him one from Australia. So I had to promise him to send an Austrian flag. If you ever stay there spotting a red whit rad flag, it was sent by me from home.
For food: Look out for lunch buffet, they serve good Swedish kitchen (dumplings, meat, potatoes …) and most important for cyclists, eat as much as you can! I tried some Sami style prepared salmon which was very good. The salmon got fished out of the river next to the restaurant. The place was called Jergul Astu and is located on the road (R 92) between Karasjok and Kautokeino in the Finnmark (NOR).
I adopted my “lifestyle” to nature, because I had to. The alarm clock rang me out at 05:00 am in the morning. I had breakfast, put the tent together and got everything ready for cycling around 06:30 am. Then I did cycle till 09:00 am and stopped for a second breakfast. You should eat every one and a half, two hours. I had to start that early because after 9 am the wind started and got more intense after 11 am. When I was cycling from Östersund down to Gothenburg (Göteborg) I had head wind for over a week slowing me down significantly. At about one o clock I had lunch and by then I tried to have cycled two thirds of the day. In Germany I slept longer because the climate is more calm.
In the north you can cycle all day because it’s always bright. I met cyclist who were on the road for hours and then slept during the day. I still slicked to the watch to keep a daily rhythm. In Lakselv (NOR) I met two Estonians who were together with a German cyclist their running joke was: “We will cycle until it gets dark”
The area up north is called Finnmark (NOR) and Lappland (SWE). Lots of native Sami people live there. Most of them adopted the modern lifestyle, but some stick to the old tradition of reindeer herding. Spotting reindeer is pretty easy, they are around everywhere roaming freely. If you talk to the Sami they are open to let you know more about their culture and lifestyle. A nice fact is also that lots of people speak English in Scandinavia. Finnisch people were more quiet but very helpful. I asked two guys for camping they showed me a spot and later on one of them followed me with the motorcycle to see if I found the right place. He didn’t go off to have a chat, just realized that I set my tent up in the right place nodded his head and took off again.
The Swedisch people were very nice and communicative. If you stop somewhere they come and talk to you soon. On North Cape for example I met Marianne a nurse from Sweden, she told me lots of stories about Scandinavia and we experienced North Cap and had lots of fun together.
Or once I stopped in the shade of a farmhouse. A Swedish lady came from the other side of the road and brought me fresh water and some fruits to eat. Asking people about products in the supermarket could end up in having a third breakfast and an informative conversation that Jamtland (Jamtlands Län) is not part of Sweden, it’s a own country with its own president. I also had a funny conversation while (hanging out waiting the rain to disappear) with a very old Swedish guy about distances to places in the south, he used the cashier girl from the supermarket for doing the translation work.
Important to know is that Swedish people give distance information in Swedish miles. One Swedish mile is 10 km!
One night I was too avaricious to afford myself a campsite so I continued cycling. It got late so I asked a lady if she knows a place to camp and she invited me to the home of her daughter’s family. They were building their own house (Earthship Hällekil) with the help of not already arrived volunteer workers. So I ended up sleeping in the tents which are prepared for the workers and having dinner with Emma and Magnus and their wonderful kids Alvin, Elodie and Malva. This was really a highlight which I had the luck to experience.
The ferry takes you overnight from Sweden to Germany, the ride out of Gothenburg harbour was amazing!
Weather and wind are one of the most important influencing factors once you cycle up north. A very useful source of information is this this page: http://www.yr.no
It’s a Norwegian Page but you can type in any city in Scandinavia and northern Germany for accurate information about precipitation and wind strength/directions.
After crossing through the wilderness of the north for 5 weeks, I really enjoyed coming into Germany. The traffic in Germany was of course more intense. But there are cycling paths all over the place, most of them on an extra lane next to the road. People were very friendly. When I was standing around navigating, a lot of times people asked me if they could help. By the way thanks to the two tour guides who helped me find the way in Franken!
In Germany I had two mountain ranges to cross. The first one was the Harz Mountains in the south of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. I was cycling through the eastern part and had to climb up to about a 400 meters. The second mountain range was the Thuringian Forest in the south of Thuringia (Thüringen) with climbs up to 800 meters. In conversations with the locals, they often tell you stories of former times. Especially in the east of Germany, people tell you about live in a communist country.
I met a few other cyclists.
Lorenzo from Milan Italy, he was cycling all the way up to North Cape from Sevilla (Spain). Or one Italian father with his son on a tandem bike, also cycling from Italy to North Cape. Janice and Paul from Canada started in Norway and want to go down to Istanbul taking their time through Europe. (Check out their blog if you want to know more www.2lovecycling.com) And in the middle of nowhere I met Simon from Schladming/Austria. The two coolest, but worst equipped cyclists I met once crossing the border from Germany to Austria. Both were on their way to the Chiemsee Reggae Festival doing 15 to 20 km/day, just look at the picture and you know why. By the way, thanks for the beer guys!
| Day | Distance | Cycling time | Country/Road | Locations |
| 1 | 25 km | 2 h 40 min | NOR / E 69 | North Cape/Nordkapp |
| 2 | 53 km | 4 h 15 min | NOR / E 69 | |
| 3 | 67 km | 4 h 56 min | NOR / E 6 | |
| 4 | 92 km | 6 h 36 min | NOR / E 6 | |
| 5 | 36 km | 1 h 56 min | NOR / E 6 | Karasjok |
| 6 | 93 km | 6 h 50 min | NOR / 92 | |
| 7 | 40 km | 2 h 30 min | NOR / 92 and 93 | Kautokeino |
| 8 | 110 km | 6 h 30 min | NOR and FIN / 93 and E 8 | |
| 9 | 98 km | 7 h 03 min | FIN and SWE / E 8 and E 45 | |
| 10 | 91 km | 5 h 39 min | SWE / E 45 | |
| 11 | 85 km | 6 h 42 min | SWE / E 45 | |
| 12 | 117 km | 7 h 25 min | SWE / E 45 | |
| 13 | 112 km | 7 h 17 min | SWE / E 45 | Arvidsjaure |
| 14 | 12 km | 1 h 01 min | SWE | Rest day Arvidsjaure |
| 15 | 117 km | 7 h 05 min | SWE / E 45 | |
| 16 | 88 km | 5 h 39 min | SWE / E 45 | |
| 17 | 121 km | 7 h 15 min | SWE / E 45 | |
| 18 | 83 km | 5 h 07 min | SWE / E 45 | |
| 19 | 56 km | 4 h 23 min | SWE / E 45 | Östersund |
| 20 | 11 km | 58 min | SWE / E 45 | Rest day Östersund |
| 21 | 95 km | 5 h 25 min | SWE / E 45 | |
| 22 | 112 km | 7 h 14 min | SWE / E 45 | |
| 23 | 99 km | 6 h 13 min | SWE / E 45 | |
| 24 | 105 km | 7 h 13 min | SWE / E 45 | |
| 25 | 114 km | 6 h 25 min | SWE / E 45 | |
| 26 | 118 km | 7 h 38 min | SWE / E 45 | |
| 27 | 105 km | 7 h 01 min | SWE / E 45 | |
| 28 | 84 km | 5 h 28 min | SWE / E 45 | to Gothenburg (Göteborg) |
| 29 | 9 km | 46 min | SWE | Rest day Gothenburg |
| 30 | 0 km | 0 min | SWE | Rest day Gothenburg |
| 31 | 2 km | 14 min | SWE | Ferry (Gtb – Kiel) |
| 32 | 104 km | 6 h 04 min | GER | |
| 33 | 104 km | 6 h 35 min | GER | |
| 34 | 101 km | 5 h 29 min | GER | |
| 35 | 97 km | 6 h 41 min | GER | |
| 36 | 113 km | 6 h 36 min | GER | |
| 37 | 11 km | 54 min | GER | Rest day (near Erfurt) |
| 38 | 130 km | 7 h 14 min | GER | |
| 39 | 116 km | 6 h 25 min | GER | |
| 40 | 104 km | 5 h 52 min | GER | |
| 41 | 100 km | 6 h 47 min | GER | |
| 42 | 101 km | 6 h 29 min | GER | |
| 43 | 102 km | 5 h 33 min | AUT | to Innsbruck |
Statistics – North Cape 2013
Statistics are nice to have and help you plane trips at destinations under same conditions. I usually calculate 500 km per week in Europe. This is a nice balance between: Cycling, sight seeing, resting, doing the “house work” …
Total days: 43
Cycling days: 38
Rest days: 5
Total km: 3547
Total cycling time: 226,05h = 226 h 3min = (9d 10h 3min)
Average speed: 15,7 km/h
km/cycling day: 92,2
km/day: 82,5
km/week: ca. 580 km
A Trip by Land Rover to the south east of Europe in Spring 2012
Not much travelling this year, but a two weeks time gap made it possible to check out the Balkan states!
My Friend Bernhard bought a Land Rover Defender in winter and after spending a few hours of carpenters work it had a kitchen, a bad and a living room inside. So off we go to check out the off road abilities and as well enjoying the comfort and safety of a car. One of the best countries in Europe I know so far, to test an off road car, is Albania. Mountains wherever you look, a nice coastline (specially in the south), no signs telling you to not to do things and just nice and friendly people. By the way we totally felt save in Albania and people were very friendly and helpful. People have a lot of passion teaching you their language and as well a lot of fantasy in helping you once you as a foreigner need something. Albania I am sure will develop strongly and more tourists will come in the next few years, so check it out as soon as you can.
Map: Double click to zoom, click and hold to look around
Starting point was of course Innsbruck and we took the highway down to Ancona Italy for boarding the ferry to Igoumenitsa in the northwest of Greece.
Remembering my tour guide colleague Markus, who is by the way a big “visit Greece in spring fan”, I realized that April/May are good months to visit Greece. The whole country is colorfully covered by flowers and nature is nicely decorating the whole country.
Already leaving Greece the first day we go into Albania and I was very excited to check it out. Knowing a little about history I knew that Albania was pretty isolated during times of communism and already after crossing the border (by the way no problems with European passport) you can spot the concrete pillboxes everywhere. We went further north and tried to find the ancient settlement of Butrint (Buthrotum). To find places is in generally not that easy in Albania. Maps aresometimes not accurate, it could happen that places don’t have the right names on the map and also don’t thrust the colors telling you about the road priority. But anyway we found Butrint and learned a little more about the history of people living in Albania. If maps don’t help you much to find stuff, people will do! Of course the language is an issue, people in the south speak Greek and Albanian. Sometimes English, Italian and also German helps to go along.
We went further north along the shore line and this is a real jewel of Mediterranean coast. If you like free camping on the beach this is the place to do it. A four wheel car helps a lot by the way. To go to the coast line you have to use steep und bumpy gravel roads. A little tip for motorcyclists, the section from Sarandë up north to Vlorë is very scenic, interesting corner riding and more or less good road conditions.
We skipped the central Albanian part and wanted to spend more time in the north crossing mountain ranges and visiting more remote parts of the country. We went to Elbasan and then further east to Lake Orid, which is also known from being the “Silver Lake” which was the set for Karl Mays-Winnetou movies. After a Shortcut through Macedonia we reentered Albania and then took small dirt roads through back country mountains. We tried to enter Lura National Park which is west of Peshkopi, but unfortunately it was a little too early in the year so too much snow blocked our way. This will be a project for another trip to Albania. I would guess mountain passes are open only in summer, in spring you have to take into account that crossing rivers is also not that easy. Maybe the best time in the year is August and September to do that.
We took another try further north and tried to enter the remote Theth national Park. The small community Theth in the very far north of Albanian mountains is according to the locals and to my travel literature really worth to visit. The whole valley for example is so remote that Christianity is still the mayor religion there. Even 500 years of Ottoman ruler ship did not change that. Albanians are pretty liberal once it comes to religion anyways. One guy told us, that Albanians discuss and fight about everything, but not religion, that’s your personal thing. We tried to enter Thet National Park from the west, but still too much snow, so again a project for another Albania visit.
Half time of our trip, and we need to go further. We leave Albania with good memories and cross the border to Montenegro. We will more or less go home from there and did not expect much more then camping on the shore and taking it easy going north. But what a surprise: a few highlights of our trip were still waiting for us!
Not informing ourselves about the country of Montenegro we asked the border police guy what to see. He recommended us the Lovcen National Park and also the bay of Kotor. Both places were on our route anyway, so we went there. And what a nice surprise!
The route from Cetinje to Kotor through the Lovcen National Park is very scenic. Still meters of snow but down in the valley we saw impressive lime stone formation only patchy covered with pine trees, generally infertile, karstic land which generates a unique atmosphere. We almost passed by Kotor but after realizing the city wall climbing up high the mountain, we knew we accidently found one of the most old and interesting towns along the Balkan coast line. We took the whole day for sightseeing, hiking up all the way along the city wall, exploring old town and the harbor, so check out the pictures. We almost felt like being home by the way, I did not know that Kotor was the further southern part of the Austrian Empire a long time ago. I also asked myself a few times already, why the Croatian country is relatively thin going south on the coast line and Bosnia is just a few kilometers inland. This dates back to the fact that the Republic of Venice which was Catholic controlled the whole cities along the coast, while the Muslim Ottoman Empire controlled the inland. This fact shaped today’s borders between Croatia and Bosnia. The Republic of Venice (697 – 1797 B.C.) was represented by a Lion in its coat of arms, you can still find that Lion on the city wall of the main entrance of Kotor old town.
But city sightseeing was not over jet. Dubrovnik on the southern tip of Croatia was still waiting to be explored. While travelling, you always get surprised and this happened again by looking down from the mountains along the shore line, spotting Dubrovnik old town coming in from the south. It was Saturday evening and we had a perfect timing for going out to have Dinner and some partying in town. But also during daytime Dubrovnik is really worth a visit, I recommend taking a walk along the city wall (reminding me back to Jerusalem, where the city wall walk is also an excellent way to explore town).
Sad but true we had to leave, in a few days we will have to reenter the normal world. We took it easy further north and after having barbecue and a glass of wine on one of the bays on Krk island we left the Balkan and had to go back home.
Southern Sweden
Unfortunately I could not stay one more night in Jellyfish hostel in Rostock so I took of making my way north to the ferry port. I checked in and at night the ferry entered Trelleborg port. It was late so I followed the camping signs and decided to stay there for one night (which is 25 Euros just putting up a tent). Well, from now on its free camping again.
The weather was, like my riding motivation, not the best the next day and so I stayed an extra night in Lund. Lund is a pretty student town and I found a hostel which is inside an old Swedish train from 1933. For two nights I took an apartment and went to town with the other hostel people.
One thing you should not miss in your cycle equipment are yellow or red glasses. If its cloudy and a little dark I got depressed by looking through my dark sunglasses all day long.
Travel Diary Day 18: 24.06.2011
“… Midsummer is just calibrated here in Sweden and all the Swedish girls are wearing floral wreaths on their heads. On every second house the have put out the Swedish flag and outdoor parties are all over. I met an old Swedish guy, he worked a few years in Austria and loved to cycle there as well. We talk a bit, also about the Swedish beer prices and bevor he took of he opened his walled and with the words: I love Austria, now you can drink lot of beer here – he gave me a 1000 Swedish krona and took off. I tried to regret but, okay my defence was not the best. I fought against the wind the rest of the day and in a little wood inside Falkenberg I hide my self with my tent and stay overnight …”
On the last two days I rode more ore less the Ginstleden Cykelspåret (Ginstleden Cycle Route) which you can ride from Kopenhagen up to Gothenberg. But basically riding in southern Sweden didn’t impress me too much. There is one farm after the other and the coastline you only see a few times. The area is very crowded and free camping options are limited. Campsites are like in Trelleborg very expensive (25 Euros/night just putting up the tent).
After a the last 114,1 km long riding day I reach Gothenberg at 10pm I meet Martin (the guy from the 2010 Iceland cycletrip) we exchange the latest news and make planes for a few days of exploring Gothenberg together.
In total I did about 1500 km and the hardest thing was the timing. If you go on long distance cycling you should no how much you can do in one week. I did’t about 550 per week, this is a valuable information fur further planning.
Especially I enjoyed the save environment and the good infrastructure in Germany and Sweden. Cycling shops (lost a screw from my cycling shoes and changed tires) and good restaurands, also campsites you will find everywhere. Also the language is not a big issue, with English you are fine all the way.
I had planes to go further up to the “North Cape”, but it was not meant to be this summer. Maybe another time, another year …
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Map
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Eastern Germany
Its true what other cyclists say, so after 5 days in the saddle you should take a whole day off. After this rest I was fit again for the east of Germany.
Travel Diary Day 8: 14.06.2011
“ … To Rostock it’s still far so I decided to leave the Saale cycle path behind and shortcut a little bit by the normal roads. 20km before coming into Jena I meet Axel asking him the way through town. After a little chat he was guiding me into Jena telling me stories about the town and how it changed over the years. He knows a lot and invites me to stay at his house. In the evening we go out and he was telling me stories about the town and how life was in the Communist DDR times. …”
This I wrote in my travel diary on my first day cycling in Thüringen. I crossed the former iron curtain border and was surprised how pretty and well taken care of everything is here. Jena is also nice and interesting to visit. Lots of students there as well.
After Jena you still need to climb a little bit but once you reach Merseburg it’s starting to flatten out, finally. People from eastern Germany (the “Ossis”) are very friendly and open minded. I had several experiences asking the way or meeting other cyclists and It was nice all the time. People tell a lot about former times, so listening to there stories gives you a welcomed historical input.
Travel Diary Day 11: 17.06.2011
“… I am sitting here on the camp site next to the town centre of Havelberg. A very nice campsite not welcoming you with tons of – not to do – signs. People here are very friendly and in the afternoon I decided to go through town looking at the half timbered houses (Fachwerkshäuser) from the 17. and 18. century. …”
On day 11 I was cycling along the Elbe river (Elbe Radweg) but more and more I begin to realize that I need to take the faster roads to make progress. Reaching Rostock in time is important to have enough time left for Sweden and the stretch to Gothenburg.
I push myself north to Rostock and decide to take the ferry next day to Trelleborg (Sweden). Later on I realized that a Restday in Rostock would have been perfect.
They have a nice hostel in Rostock the “Yellyfish Hostel” near old town, unfortunately only a bad for one night.
Map
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Bavaria
Travel Diary Day 1: 07.06.2011
“… I remember back well once Martin said to me: Saving space and weight is good but not stupidly. So I lay here with my new one person super light tent. Maybe I should have gone for the 2 person version of it. Its raining a little but I had a good riding day not too cold not too hot. In 3 weeks I want to be in Gothenborg either through Denmark or if I run out of time I take the ferry from Kiel. …”
I wrote this on my first riding Day taking the already well known Inn cycling path (Innradweg) from Innsbruck to Kufstein. After my 2010 Iceland cycling experience I decided to buy a new tent for my future trips. Quickly I realized that a one person tent is not enough space. You have to store cycling bags outside which makes it easy for insects to invade them overnight and all in all it’s not enough space. For 3 weeks ok, but for longer trips I will go for more comfort in the future.
Travel Diary Day 3: 09.06.2011
“… Behind me another long day in the saddle, always north and my GPS helps me finding calmer roads and avoiding traffic as good as possible. Today I met two cyclists from Thüringen (eastern Germany) but mostly I am on my own and really enjoy it. My new gear is doing well, I bought an extra 2l water bag and a rain cover for my helmet. In the meanwhile I know that saving money on the gear is saving on the wrong place … Tonight I will hopefully find a good spot to stay overnight near Regensburg … ”
Bavaria was much tougher than I thought up hill, down hill, up hill, down hill all the time. But after riding cross country I end up on the Donau cycle route (Donau Radweg) and later on the Naabtal cycle Route (Naabtal Radweg).
Travel Diary Day 5: 11.06.2011
“ … I already thought the toughest I did but I was wrong, up and down hill all day long. I am just crossing the Fichtel Mountains (Fichtelgebirge) a very nice area. The Fichtel/Naabtal cycle path (Fichtel Naabtal Radweg) is winding next to the Naab river, small towns along the river are framed by the beautiful landscape of the Oberpfalz (Bavaria) … This is the nicest cycling path I ever took …”
Yes indeed it was the nicest section of the whole trip, if you ever cycle through Germany don’t miss the Fichtel Naabtal cycle path!
After one week cycling through Bavaria I was ready for a rest day. In Hof I stopped for 2 nights reading, relaxing and drinking beer. On the first day in the youth hostel the two cyclists from Küsnitz Andreas and Peter, which I met on my 3rd riding day are arriving late at night and we were chatting and changing our experiences. They started from Bozen and made good progress. When cycling somewhere, people meet again and again!
Map
Map: Double click to zoom, click and hold to look around
Austria – Germany – Sweden
Only a “short” trip it was this year, limited time and only Germany. In my former austrianiced opinion Germany is only flat, full of industry and boring. Some nice places like the Schwarzwald, Allgäu and a few nice old towns like Rothemburg but that’s mostly it. But luckily I was mistaken!
In this years 3 week gap I wanted to at least cycle up to Gothenburg and store all my cycling stuff there. Then work for a few weeks tour guiding and afterwards return to Gothenburg to pick up bike and tent and go on to North Cap or at least cycle back to Austria.
The first challenge was the timing cycling to a far destination. I needed to be in time at Gothenburg for tour start on the Edelweiss Viking Tour. I scheduled 3 weeks. This should be enough if I ride mostly straight up to Rostock and then take the ferry to Trelleborg Sweden. A few days left and than I will land in Gothenburg.
For Navigation I took the ADAC Street Maps 1:200 000 (good scale for cycling), which also show the cycling paths. And of course also my GPS. I draw a line from Kufstein directly up norh to Rostock and would use it as an orientation helper. My plan was also to go on cycling paths, so avoiding traffic as good as possible. I found out that there is a whole network of nice cycling paths all over Germany. I also wanted to see eastern Germany so after crossing Bavaria (which already took me a week) I would enter Thüringen, Sachsen Anhalt, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg Vorpommern.
I will show a report posting tracks and over night locations and will also give some infos about the tour from my travel diary.
Navigation:
| –>2011 to Sweden | |||
| –> Week 1: Bavaria | |||
| –> Week 2: Eastern Germany | |||
| –> Week 3: Southern Sweden | |||
| –> Stages and Distances + Map |
Marokko – Land der Gegensätze
Schon bei der Einreise wird einem das klar, Marokko ein Land der vielen Gegensätze. Auch ein Land an welches sich der ein oder andere erst gewöhnen muss. 2006 bin ich zusammen mit Bernhard und dessen altem VW Bus nach Marokko und die Westsahara aufgebrochen.
Die Reise führte uns entlang der Mittelmeerküste durch Italien, Frankreich, Spanien und Gibraltar. Von Algeciras aus haben wir die Straße von Gibraltar überquert und zum ersten Mal afrikanischen Boden betreten. Auf der Fährfahrt lerne ich Ulli kennen, ein Tourguide von Edelweiss Bike Travel, der mit einem Motorrad ausgerüstet die Marokko Tour abfahren wird. Damals wusste ich noch nicht, dass ich ein paar Jahre später in der selben Situation sein würde. Kurz nach der spanischen Exklave Ceuta befindet sich die EU Außengrenze zu Marokko und eine andere Welt beginnt.
Geschäftiges Treiben bereits an der Grenze und nach ungewohnten Grenzformalitäten (mittlerweile weiß ich aber wies geht, da ich schon einige Marokkotouren als Tourguide hinter mir habe) stauen wir uns durch die Grenzposten. Wir nehmen die Straße nach Tetouane, überall die roten marokkanischen Fahnen mit dem Siegel des Salomon, das erste Kamel am Straßenrand und den Marokkanern die eilig ihrem Alltag nachgehen.
Wir fahren auf der Straße ins Rif Gebirge verlassen die Hauptstraße durch einen Graben, ein erster Geländetest, und campieren an einem Fluss. Der Norden Marokkos ist grün und die Gegend um Chefchaouen erinnert mich an die Alpen. Unsere Reise führte uns weit nach Marokko hinein und bis nach El Aaiún (franz. Laâyoune) in die Westsahara. Es war noch Winter und manchmal sehr kalt, in den Atlas Bergen mussten wir immer wieder unsere Routen ändern und von kleinen Schotterstraßen auf die gut ausgebauten Hauptverkehrswege ausweichen.
Besonders reizvoll ist die stark muslimisch beeinflusste Kultur in diesem Land. Wir besuchen die alten Städte Fès und Marrakech aber auch neue Städte wie Ifrane, welches das St. Moritz Marokkos genannt wird, und Agadir.
Auf unserer Runde durch Marokko durchfahren wir endlose Steinwüsten, sehen erste Dünen durchqueren den hohen Atlas und baden im Atlantik. Wir unterhalten uns mit den Einheimischen, in Gebärdensprache versteht sich, tauschen Fotos gegen Frühstücksmilch und revanchieren uns für einen Gefallen mit einer Taxifahrt zur nächsten Stadt.
Besonders reizvoll sind die Kontraste in diesem Land: Auf der einen Seite hoch modern und auf der anderen ist alles so wie es schon immer war. Die Gesellschaft ist stark muslimisch Geprägt und obwohl ich jetzt schon einige male dort war und auch mit Marokkanern zusammenarbeite sind das Land und seine Bewohner immer noch ein Rätsel für einen Westler wie mich.
An Marokko wird mir immer wieder bewusst wie die Dinge anders sein können, dass man nur zu Gast ist und nur durch ein kleines Fenster die andere Welt betrachtet. Am Anfang fiel es mir schwer sich den Gegebenheiten anzupassen und ich sträubte mich gegen so manches. Doch mittlerweile hat Marokko mich bereichert und mir verschiedene Dinge aufgezeigt dich ich nun von zwei Seiten aus betrachten kann.
