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07:30: I woke at 06:00 (and several more times during the night — my gravel bed was quite uneven and hard) but decided to lie on until 07:00. I’m dressed now and my sleeping bag is packed away. I’ve discovered that I can moderate my temperature in the bag simply by not drawing the cowl around my head and opening a slit along the legs. Today’s destination is a campsite at Seebruck, on the northern shore of Chiemsee. I could cook breakfast here, but I’m not sure about asking my hosts if I can use their loo. I don’t pass any villages of any size likely to have a café before I get to Seebruck.
09:21: Getting ready to move.
09:25:43 
09:58:14 
09:58:25 
10:18:25 
10:19:05 
11:19:24 
11:31:18 
11:35:41 
12:12:41 
12:18:07
12:25: Stopping for lunch — or a break at least — at the edge of a meadow next to a wood, where there’s a breeze blowing. The nearest village is Hinzing. The landscape I’ve been walking through is a mixture of cropland, grassland and forestry. Wheat and corn mostly, and mixed deciduous and evergreen. The terrain is low, gently rolling hills. Each village is no more than a cluster of two or three farmhouses — which are actually massive structures. The living quarters, workshops, storage and animal pens are all contiguous.
I’m hot and sweaty, covered in multiple layers of sweat, factor 50 and insect repellent. I’m covered in insect bites, on my legs, arms and body, but I’ve never felt freer in my life.
This morning, as I was packing, Andy came out to ask me if I’d like a coffee. We chatted about my trip which he watched me pack. He told me he’d always had a dream to do the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, but now his knees are bad. He’s 68. Marg called us to say the coffee was ready, so Andy and I made our way into the house. In the kitchen was a mug of coffee and a table setting for one, of several bread rolls (and a pretzel, which I didn’t touch but I’m wishing I had now!), cheese, apricot jam and yoghurt. Andy and Marg and I chatted while I demolished the breakfast spread. I was delighted to have remembered the German words for “surprise” and “hospitality”1 and I thanked them both profusely before, during and after my breakfast. They asked me to send them a postcard. I need to start a Google doc with all the addresses of all the people who’ve asked for one or to whom I’d love to send one.
13:17: That tin of fish went down very well! Delicious fried mackarel fillets. The only thing is the oil is too heavy to sop up, so now I have to dispose of it.
13:29: Ready to start moving again.
13:50:31 
13:50:42 
13:53:32 
13:53:46 
13:53:59
14:02: Wimm
14:06:52 
14:13:17 
14:19:58
14:20: Oberbrunn. I’m feeling the heat today.
14:56:26
15:02: Pavolding
15:13: Roitham
15:16:58 
15:28:24
16:16: Seebruck town limit. I have a choice of three camping sites to choose from. They’re all within a couple of kilometres of each other but I’m quite spent, so Google will decide.
16:38: Futile. Couldn’t get a reliable connection.
16:46:02
17:01: Sitting in an Italian café in the other side of the bridge over the Alz where it flows into the Chiemsee on its northern shore. Topping the rise above the lake, I got a spectacular view of the sea-like lake backed by giant, hazy mountains. I can see only their outlines, no details. All I can tell is that they are vast, larger than anything else that’s dominated the horizon so far on this trip. I’m also having a pot of tea. After that, I’ll wander around to the campsite, about ½ a kilometre away. The forecast printout in the window of the (closed, what’s new) tourist office indicates it’s going to rain tomorrow. Might be a day to park myself in a café all day. I still have two more days walking to get to Salzburg, but no more wild camping nights.
Seebruck seems like a very low-key town. It’s tiny and as far as I can tell, the lakefront isn’t a tacky agglomeration. All of the tourists here are German-speaking. I can hear non-Bavarian accents but no other languages. I couldn’t resist putting suger in my tea. I also feel like I need a good dose of salt. There’s a supermarket in the town somewhere. I’m free-associating.
19:00: Checked in, tent built, washed, clothes washed. €21.50 to stay two nights.
19:18: Heading into the Italian to get some food.
19:25:48
19:35: In a seat at the Italian. I’m having a big tuna fish and egg salad. Apart from the unfortunate lakeside road, this is a lovely low-key spot. I asked some of the locals if there was a Turkish restaurant in the town: “Wir haben hier kein Turken” was the reply.
20:34: €14.80 for dinner and Apfelschorle (it was half a litre and bloody delicious). The food didn’t come with bread on the side so I slipped the leftover bread from today’s lunch onto my plate and nyomped my salad with that. The salad was a tasty protein punch — ham, tuna and egg. The lettuce was on the bitter side. I’m heading back to the campsite now to take down my washing. Hope it’s dry. It’s going to piss rain all day tomorrow.
20:45:35 
20:45:43
21:20: Sitting in my tent, weatherproofing as much of my stuff as I can. More entertaining chats with locals about my trip. Now that I’m halfway, the wonder and delight people express is a real joy to behold.
I’ve strung up a washing line inside the tent which works a treat. I just lark’s-headed one spare loop onto another and then drew one tight using the three-hole slider. I’m also putting batts and maps in the lid of my bag into zip-lock bags.
Actually I’d been mangling this one - instead of gastfreundlichkeit (hospitality) I was saying gastfreiheit (guest freedom) which isn’t a word, but I think they knew what I meant!↩
