Letter 8
Thursday 28.07.11
It's not a lovely morning. I'm pleased not being able to look at myself.
I must look quite used. Some time in the night the rain stopped - but it
started again. Now it's stopped, there are just scattered drips from the
trees hitting the tent. I don't feel like looking out. Even there is a
beautiful castle high up on a rock ahead. But the noise from the
motorway is disturbing.
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| Morning in Landeck for bike... | ...and luggage |
Markus calls me. Markus and Berni live in Vienna where my journey will
end. I know them from my last trip to China, where we met in Lijiang and
went for two days trekking in Tiger Leaping Gorge together. They have
had a boy since then. A boy who is apparently conceived in China. Anyway
he's got a middle name: Tian (Heaven).
I tell him everything is going according to plan.
It soon starts raining. A drizzle that comes and goes. A cycle path
appears. There's been some before but each time they suddenly stopped
and I had to drag the bike up the slope. This time it's "real" -
Innradweg - leading to Innsbruck.
The rain gets heavier the last bit to Imst, where the railway station is
my first goal.
I wash, put the rain covers on and enters the café to have a cappucino
and a cheese bun. After Germany it's hard to get used to austrian prices.
2€30 for a cappucino. 1€30 for the bun. But the gas is cheaper!
In the station someone is speaking on a cellphone. In Voralberg one
don't understand a bit because the Arlberg Pass has through ages ment a
physical separation of the austrians, that has had an impact on the
language. But now that I've entered the german speaking part, I still
dont' understand a word? The third time I get near I realize he speaks
arabic...
I stop at a Spar in Silz. But I'm too slow, it's 2 minutes past 12 and
they close between 12 and 15! I have to remember.
Shopping or not I have to eat, so I continue to the station in the next
town: Stams. There's just one bench on this side of the track and it's
not sheltered, but I have to make do with that. When I've parked the
stationsmaster comes to greet me. Grüss Gott, as they say here. I
understand when he ask about the bike and soon I'm inside to borrow a
better knife for the bread and I also make him boil some water for my
cappucino. It's much easier than packing out the cooker.
Every time a train passes he has to put on his cap and stand outside. He
asks if he can take a photo og me and the bike. So I get one of him -
including the cap.
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![](CykelIRegntoej.jpg") |
| The station master in Stams | Bicycle dressed in orange |
I have a nice time. While it's still raining outside he shows me the
station boards. He's in charge of two stations. The other one is
automatic, but he can switch off the automatic. And by the way, he's
crossed the Brenner Pass once on bicycle. With only 5 gears!
The next part is hard. I keep on thinking it must be Inssbruck soon, but
nothing happens. I have to go through a new rainshower first.
Then comes a sign about camping, but that's when I'm on the mainroad.
The last part there's a cycle path, so I evidently passes by. A kind
gentleman, who's been working at Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, and in
Helsinki, Tokyo and Singapore, tells me to follow him, he's going that
way anyway.
When I ask how much it is for a bike, a tent and one person, I get a
shock: 20€ (25€ for mobile homes). I ask if electricity and Wi-Fi is
included? Yes, of course! Then I'll stay.
Beside the bathing facilities there's a kitchen and a dining room
upstairs. There I come to talk to a nice french family consisting of:
father, mother, daughter of 12 and a boy a little younger. We eat
together and they offer me theirs - I don't have anything to offer, you
can't offer frenchmen untasty packed slices of cheese!
Afterwords we play cards. With tarot cards. I never saw such a set of
cards. Besides the normal ones there's an extra series of trumphs and
one special one I've forgotten the name of. It's much different from
those games of cards I know, there are elements from Casino, 500 and
Bridge.
All the rest of the guests are in their mobile homes, they say - and
that's true. Life on a camp site has changed a lot the resent years.
Many bring so to say their home with them, when they go on holiday. Then
you don't have to live with too many changes.
Now at bed time it's raining again.
73.20 km
17.2 km/h
48.8 km/h
4:14:35 h