May 31, 2014

There’s a chill in the air again this morning – you can feel that we are getting near the mountains.  The sun is out though so we are hopeful of a nice day.  We’re only about 20 kilometres from Basel, a city which spans the Rhine at the cross -roads of Switzerland, France and Germany.  It is Switzerland’s only port.  Our path follows the quayside through the city, giving us great views as we go of the elegant riverside houses, Basel Munster (cathedral) and the cable operated pedestrian ferries that are propelled across the river by the force of the current.

We stay on the north side of the river in Germany to avoid the expensive Swiss prices until absolutely necessary.  We experienced €50 a night camping fees in Switzerland on our previous trip when we had to make a mad dash to the border before we went broke.

Once clear of the city we spend the next few hours winding our way, up and down, as the path climbs up to villages on the steep banks of the river.  Unlike the last couple of days the route is anything but straightforward, with constant stops and starts, junctions, changes from one side of the road to the other, railways and fast roads to cross; we hardly go a hundred metres without an obstacle to negotiate.  A couple of times we see the dreaded ‘Umleitung’ sign (Diversion), but fortunately these are only short and don’t take us too far off the route. As we go along we pass a few of the finished ‘polders’, the huge dug out overspill areas to hold the flood water that are causing so much disruption on the cycle ways.  They are not particularly attractive in such a beautiful environment, more functional than aesthetic.  

We stop at a junction to consult the map and, as always, someone stops to help; a rather large man on a bike in rather short shorts and a battered straw hat, with a leather belt with hunting knives hanging from it.  Quite a character!  He spoke no English but still insisted on leading us through a detour even though he was going across the river to Switzerland and we wanted to stay in the north side in Germany. We managed to give him the slip and continued on our way.  

We’ve decided to stay an extra day at the camping tomorrow as we haven’t had a day off for nearly two weeks and we’re both feeling tired. When we arrive at the camp-site we realise that it is Sunday tomorrow and the shops will be closed.  We need a few more supplies. The camp-site doesn’t have a shop and apparently the nearest one still open is 5 kilometres away – just what we wanted at the end of the day, another 10k!  Still, off we go and get tomorrow’s supplies.  We’re looking forward to a rest tomorrow, as well as getting the kit and bikes cleaned and the web-page updated.  When we finally get back to the camp-site loaded with our shopping, we see a sea of tents with literally only a couple of feet between each one.  Just as we get ourselves set up a family with 5 children and a dog cram themselves in the space next to us.  Probably not going to  that restful after all.