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10:08: Up at 07:30, lovely wash in the immaculate bathroom; t-shirt, jocks and socks washed, porridge breakfast, coffee with Sabine, broke camp and now I’m finally ready to hit the road. I’m about to say goodbye to Sabine.
10:20: I’d understood the supermarket was open, but it turns out just the bakery annexe is open. No harm. I do need soap, but not urgently, so I got a grainy brown baguette and a Danish for lunch. I’ll mop up the rest of the pesto with the baguette.
10:33:27
10:34:15
10:39:12
10:56:39
10:59:09
11:00:14
11:00:21
11:02: Ducking into the forest.
11:07:59
11:38: Today’s destination is Augsburg. I pass through several villages on the way, among them Adelsried, which is seven kilometres from the village I’ve just arrived in, Reutern.
It’s a hot sunny day with light, high cirrus clouds. The landscape I’m walking through is a mix of wheat fields and forests, gently undulating.
11:51:40
12:17:23
12:17:32: The bridge named after the river with the least creative name: “Fish stream bridge”
12:40: Stopped for lunch of pesto, French stick, honey and Danish.
13:09: Moving again.
13:40: Adelsried. Next stop Aystetten, 6.2 km.
13:57: Into the dappled shade of the forest.
15:04: At Aystetten, from the wrong direction, but it doesn’t seem to be a big deal. I’m tired though. Looking forward to getting to the youth hostel.
15:32: On the track to Ottmarshausen now.
15:55: Leaving Ottmarshausen. On the way to Neusass.
16:01: Neusass town boundary. I’m sitting down on a bench in the shade. I have another 10 km to go and I’m nearly spent.
16:06: Moving again.
Augsburg 7.4 km by bike, says a sign — and my route largely follows the cycle path.
16:27: Augsburg 6.5 km. Out-of-town shopping and light industrial. Railway lines.
16:42: Augsburg town limit.
16:56: 4.3 km to the centre. The soles of my feet are throbbing and burning.
17:28: A tram just passed. I haven’t been in a city large enough to have a tram network since Freiburg.
17:33: Crossing the river. It’s bizarre, the river is in a tree-lined channel and the city ignores it.
22:13: Ready for bed. I arrived at the hostel sometime after 18:15. I’m in a four-bed dorm whose only other resident is an Indian lad named Shahbaz who’s been in Germany for four years, studying and looking for work.
I asked Shahbaz for a recommendation for a nearby Turkish restaurant. He said “Come on, I’ll show you”, and a few minutes later the two of us went out the door, found a place and over food had a really interesting and wide-ranging chat about his experiences of living in Germany, my trip, 3D-printing and materials science, the constitution of Indian society today, Shahbaz’ trip on a motorbike to Leh when he was 24 and briefly the contrasts between life in the US, Europe and India. Fascinating stuff. Shahbaz is smart and engaging.
