Today we just had 50km to cycle, then we were going to visit one of Dave’s friends Theo, his wife Emma and their baby Oscar.

When we woke up, the weather was still a bit gross and we wiled away most of the morning in the tent, unwilling to get up. Eventually, we managed to pack up in the relative dry but once we were on the road, the drizzle seeped in.

We rode through a bit more of the forest before having to brave the open road. The forest was lovely – the trees kept the wind and rain off us. But on the cycle path by the road with fields either side, we got rain straight in the face as we rode into the wind.

Noooo! Not the wild rooster!

There weren’t any picnic benches to be found, so after 25km we resorted to picnicking by the side of the cycle path. Whenever a big lorry went past on the road, we had to shield our sandwiches from the road spray. Not the best, but we needed to refuel and felt better afterwards.

In the afternoon, we found some nice canal-side cycle paths and enjoyed the last stretch before Amersfoort. Then we cycled up the only hill in the Netherlands (a full 20 meter climb!) to arrive in the thatched suburbia where Theo and Emma live. We pulled up outside their house and sat in their front garden whilst Emma came back from walking baby Oscar and the dog Winston.  By this time, the sun was trying to peek through the clouds and it was humid and nicely warm.

Canal-side route into Amersfoort

When Emma rounded the corner and saw us, she nearly had her arm pulled out of its socked by Oscar excitedly jumping the hedge to greet us! Emma welcomed us in and we unloaded, unpacked and had showers between having chats. Dave and Emma were catching up whilst Emma and I were getting to know each other. Since Dave last saw the pair of them, they’ve moved to the Netherlands, got married and had a baby!

We had such a nice afternoon and evening together. We went to the shops, talked a lot about all of our travels, discussed their impending house move and entertained baby Oscar. Then Theo came home from work, we had a delicious dinner, a few glasses of wine and more story sharing. At 11pm we had to call it a night and went to our lovely comfy bed feeling happy and sleepy. It felt like such a nice long day with all that good food and conversation – and no campsite activities to be done! What a luxury. Thanks Emma and Theo!

Enjoying the evening together

– Anna

Yesterday we got the train all the way from Hausach in the Black Forest to Emmerich on the German / Netherlands border. It was a long trip! We got to Emmerich about 6 pm and cycled over the border, which we were delighted to find looked like this.

Border into the Netherlands

We found a campsite nearby and went to bed to recover from our epic train ride. It’s a tough life.

It was raining when we woke up this morning – stupid northern Europe! We managed to pack everything away with minimal saturation, except when I left the tent door open for a few minutes. Oops. I’m not used to precipitation!

As we were washing up and getting ready to go we started chatting to another tourer – a Dutch guy. We mentioned we were planning to go to one of two National Parks near Arnhem and he told us all about them, and said there was a really good campsite nearby. We decided to check it out.

We hit the road dressed in full waterproofs, it was like being back in Galicia. Too hot to wear the waterproofs, too wet to take them off. It was great riding though, there were cycle paths everywhere! Another of the tourers we were talking to last night described the Netherlands as a playground for cyclists, it looks like she’s right!

The landscape during the morning ride was mostly agricultural, with a few small patches of woodland. It wasn’t particularly inspiring, but I suppose they have to feed all these people somehow!

We got to the park (Nationaal Park Veluwezoom) in the afternoon and found our way in. We didn’t have a good electronic map of the trails, so we found ourselves going along wet, sandy tracks, up and down hills (who knew?) until we found a cycle path and a proper map by the side of it. We stopped for lunch and enjoyed being back in the woods!

Anna tackling the sandy forest track

As we made our way out of the park we saw something on the path. Anna joked it was a sleeping bear, but as we got closer we realized she wasn’t far off – it was a massive bull lying across the path enjoying a good cud. We didn’t want to get too close; luckily there was a sand track just next to the path so we could get around. It turned out the bull only had one eye, and was super chilled out, he didn’t even move as we went past.

Roadblock

We got to the campsite and went to check in. We found out this is one of a network of campsites under a group called “De Groene Koepel” (The Green Dome). You have to have a membership to stay at these sites, which costs €15 per year, but after that it’s pretty cheap to camp each time. We decided it’s probably worth it if we stay at a few other sites in the next few days so we went for it.

The site is really cool. As we were cleaning the bikes and cooking dinner we got chatting to a family who volunteer here. The campsite only employs one person, the rest are volunteers. The electricity here all comes from a solar panel, even so, they invite you to charge up your phones etc from the battery – a very nice change from trying to sneakily charge stuff up from the shaver sockets in the toilets!

The lady we were speaking to said that when she first came to this site there was a toilet and a cold shower. Since she’s been working here they have installed hot showers, the solar panel, a washing up area, new toilets, and a cool little shelter where you can cook and eat when it’s raining – such a good idea. They also light oil lamps and put them around the site each night instead of having electric bulbs – it’s such a nice light compared to bright electric light invading your sleep! As they were lighting the lamps she said they’d had a suggestion to put one in the shelter, so she was going to see if there was a hook there, and if not, to put one in because “that’s a good idea”. I like to think that that was the sort of open-minded attitude that resulted in this being such a great campsite!

Tomorrow we’re heading to Amersfoort to meet up with a couple of friends of mine, Huygen and Emma. Since I last saw them they’ve had a baby and got married, so there’s a lot to catch up on – can’t wait!

– Dave

Today we walked into the Black Forest to see what it was all about. We went up the road from the campsite for a while before crossing a small stream and heading into the trees. It wasn’t as scary as I expected. We found out last night that the impenetrable Black Forest of the Grimm Brothers is long gone; it was almost completely deforested during the 19th century, and subsequently replanted with monocultures (mostly spruce) across vast swathes. In the ’90s there were a couple of bad hurricanes that destroyed a lot of the monoculture stands, and these have since been left to recover naturally.

We saw few really big old trees. There were occasional examples with big trunks that looked over a hundred years old, but most looked up to 100. The mix was nice though, stands of spruce and pine with deciduous species like beech and birch filling up the gaps.

Mixed woodland

Lone giant

Looking up

More trees!

We headed up to a lookout point called “Bear rock”, which promised an all-round view. As we got to the top of the hill the things that caught our eyes were the three massive wind turbines standing well above the tops of the tallest trees. They were really impressive, and a bit noisy – like hearing an aircraft overhead, but never passing!

Towering above the forest

We went on to Bear Rock, but as we were going downhill from the turbines there was no 360 degree view of the forest spread out beneath us. Or there was, but you could really only see the trees right in front of you. It was a good spot to stop for lunch though.

Bear rock

We walked back down a different route, through more mixed forest which opened out onto a lovely view across the valley. As we got back near the campsite we stopped by a watermill and Anna cooled her feet off.

Lovely afternoon light

Walking back

Open woodland

Meadow

Roe deer

Cooling off

This afternoon we tried to get train tickets for tomorrow via the DeutscheBahn website. We were on the verge of buying some pretty expensive tickets when it told us our journey wasn’t available any more. Anna got rage at this point and after ten minutes of screaming and thrashing about on the floor she borrowed the campsite’s phone and called the train company. She spoke to a very nice man who helped us to buy tickets all the way across Germany with our bikes for €22 each. After that, Anna got the campsite to print the tickets out for us. What a hero. Hopefully our journey tomorrow is sorted and we’ll soon be kissing the sweet, flat, cycle-friendly earth of the Netherlands!

– Dave

Today we had a lazy morning then made the most of our free train tickets to get into the heart of the Black Forest without even working up a sweat.  We met another tourer on the train and had nice chats.  Then before we knew it, there were 13 bikes in the train all at once!  Dave got a few tips of adjusting his Brooks saddle from a man who’d had his for decades and everyone was busy admiring each other’s bikes.

Bikes on a train

We got off the train in Triberg, which we’d heard was tourist central.  It didn’t seem too bad though, apart from a busy main road.  We headed down through the outskirts of town and passed a few cuckoo clock attractions – this area is famous for its cuckoo clocks.

Giant clock here (actually it’s inside, where you have to pay)

I had envisaged us riding down the valley along a lovely cycle path through the forest, but there wasn’t one.  So we got on the main road and headed downhill as fast as we could, holding up the trucks and the cars.  Every now and then, there was a cycle route around a tunnel and we enjoyed some relative safety.  Except for one that went through the works yard of a saw mill and I nearly got taken out by a logging truck!  (Okay, it was my fault for overtaking a street cleaning buggy on a corner.  But the swept up grit was going in my eyes!)

We carried on for a bit along parts of cycle path and parts of the main road, stopping by a field for lunch.

Lunch break

When we reached the town of Gutach, we went to the supermarket, then found ourselves a cycle path and headed for the Rodelbahn.  We found it and its beer garden full of families and made ourselves at home for an hour or so.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have ordered a whole pint?

Once our beer-legs had stabilised a little, we each had a go on the Rodelbahn.  It was fun – went up really really steeply then whooshed all the way down, trying to remember to brake for the corners! The adrenaline subsided and we had to admit that it really was time to head for the campsite.

Going up the Rodelbahn

Just a little more downhill coasting before we turned off along another main valley heading upstream.  Then we turned off again down a quieter road uphill alongside a little river.  We were feeling surprisingly good post-beer and coasted uphill in the late afternoon sun.  My bum is getting pretty sore now but luckily Dave’s back is better.

One short but insanely steep hill to the campsite and we’d arrived.  We pitched up intending to stay for two nights and go for a walk tomorrow.

– Anna

Last night we found a cycle path that does a circuit of the southern Black Forest. It has the catchy title of Sudschwarzwald-Radweg (Southern Black Forest Cycle Route). Does what it says on the tin! We decided we could follow it from our campsite to the village of Kirschzarten, a bit northeast of here. That would give us a good start for getting into the middle of the forest.

We left the campsite and got to the river ok, but after a couple of kilometres we lost the trail. We knew which towns the trail went through, so we just muddled our way through them for the morning hoping to pick it up, but no luck. When we got into Freiberg we were in need of lunch, and we still hadn’t could the trail. We were hunched over the map when a chap pulled up and said in German “do you need help”, then in a strange German / American accent “Where ya’ goin’?” We said we were looking for Kirschgarten. “Perfect, that’s a really great place. There’s an awesome bike shop there. You go this way then that way then…….why don’t I just take you to the path?”. Anna asked if he was going that way and he immediately said yes, which was a total lie because when we set off it was in the opposite direction to the one he’d been heading in before. We had to forgive him though because he showed us to a lovely bike path next to a river that would take us all the way into Kirschzarten. With a cheery wave our benefactor was off, cranking up the gears and disappearing into the distance (still in the opposite direction to the one he’d been going in before). What a nice man!

Tour guide

We stopped by the river for lunch and Anna took the opportunity to wash her feet, then we were off. The path was much better than the ones we’d been following all morning; it was quiet, off the road and just what we wanted.

Brr!

When we got to the campsite we got a bit of a shock. €32 for a night! We thought we might have wandered back into Switzerland by mistake. The campsite did have a mini disco, bingo and a swimming pool, but since we’re not five, not bingo fans and not in possesion of swimming costumes we weren’t really interested in any of that stuff. It also came with two free passes on public transport within the Black Forest, which is pretty good, but since we have the bikes we weren’t too bothered about that either!

We headed into town; first stop, the cake shop for some black forest gateau (Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte), then all the other, less important food. After that we headed back to cook dinner. I ate my Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte straight away because I was scared for its fate in the hot sun. And because I’m a greedy swine.

BFG (Black Forest Gateaux / Big, Fat & Greedy)

We found that our €32 hadn’t bought us access to a table to cook on. We tried to annex one from the restaurant, but were soon repelled by two waiters. Anna went to complain to the receptionist (so bold!) and she promised she would sort it out. We went back to our tent and ten minutes later a man turned up and beckoned us to follow him. We went with him to the secret table and bench store where we were furnished with a fine bench and a lovely table. We carried our trophies proudly back to our tent where we sat and prepared dinner in civilised fashion, presumably to the envy of all our neighbours. Except they were all in caravans so probably brought tables with them.

After dinner it was internet time. Anna found out that I drained the Mac battery yesterday and didn’t charge it up. I then discovered that to get to Gutach, our desired destination tomorrow, we either have to go back to Freiberg, or take a massive diversion to the East. I don’t know how I didn’t realise that last night, but anyway it wasn’t welcome news after MacGate. After an argument we decided we would use our free train tickets to get the train to the top of the Gutach valley tomorrow, and then cycle down through it. Sounds like a plan!

– Dave

Last night we decided to spend some time in the Schwarzwald whilst we’re here, even if it means getting a train when we get out.  It was a bit cool this morning and we enjoyed sitting inside for breakfast without melting.  It even rained a bit, which was nice.

Once we’d packed up, we headed for the information centre across the road to see where we could go to do some water sports or hikes.  The guy recommended we head to a campsite 30km north and rent kayaks there.  That meant we had a nice short day’s ride, then some planning to do.

We set off around 10am and it was still a little cool (around 20 degrees).  I think I even got a few goosebumps on the big downhill into town!  We rode on a cycle path by a main road for a bit before leaving it in favour of a small country lane, which was lovely.  The sun came out and we were riding in the dappled light under the trees.  Not too warm, not too cool, perfect riding weather. When we had to leave the valley to head towards the campsite, we were suddenly going straight uphill!  Is it just me or is it getting hotter? After 1km of climbing we came out onto a country road that ran along the top of a rounded ridge.  Cherry farms either side of the road, then valleys, then mountains.  On the right, the Black Forest in Germany.  On the left beyond the Rhein, France.  We tried to pick a few cherries from road-side trees that weren’t farmed, but they were too high up!  So we had to buy a punnet of them from an honesty box.  We sat on a bench with a view of the French valley and mountains and munched our way through the cherries.  They’re fat and very dark red, intensely sweet and didn’t last very long!

Then we zoomed down a hill and arrived at the campsite to check in around 2pm.  After setting up, we went into town to find the kayak hire place and make enquiries for tomorrow.  But there wasn’t anyone around!  A phonecall to their office confirmed that they don’t do whitewater kayaking.  Bummer.  Maybe we will just look for a nice cycle route through the forest instead!

Camp

Stop off at the supermarket then back to camp for dinner and bed. Ahhh, it’s cool enough to wear pjs and contemplate the sleeping bag. Yesss.

– Anna

We woke up in the cycle tourist encampment at the ungodly hour of 6 am this morning. Barbara, our friend from last night got up after us, but she was the first one rolling out of the gate. So efficient! We did ok ourselves though and were on the road by 7.

100% tourers!

Nice looking town we passed

We crossed back to the Swiss side to get back on the route, but this subsequently turned out to be unnecessary. Then we crossed back to the German side and went to the shops, which took ages. After these delays we finally got moving, and we were heading along a gravel track when someone wheeling a bike along started shouting to us in German. Anna used her special translation abilities to discern that the lady wanted a bike pump. Her name turned out to be Rosa, she was 76 years old, and she was riding a bike with a tyre way too big for the wheel. The tyre had popped of the wheel and she was stuck. She said she only had four kilometres to go, so we checked the inner tube for punctures, replaced the tyre and pumped it up. Rosa went off happy while we were packing the pump away, but we soon caught up with her in an even worse mess. This time the tyre had popped off the wheel and the inner tube had got tangled through the brake blocks and around the mudguard. We sorted it out and persuaded her that she should really walk the rest of the way to avoid terminally injuring herself the next time the wheel dismantled itself. She agreed and we left her to it.

How does this even happen?

We were very late for our food break at this point, and very delayed in our projected progress, so tempers were frayed to say the least. We had a good sulk and argument over lunch and cleared the air a bit. Just after that we saw the longest wooden bridge in Europe, which was nice.

Longest wooden bridge in Europe

We set off again hoping to make it to a campsite on the river near Basel. When we finally arrived hot, tired and thirsty we found that the campsite was shut and entry was “verboten”. We went for a swim in the river anyway to cool off, which was just what we needed!

Secret swimming spot

Swans chilling in the river

Refreshed, we decided we would go to a hostel that was about 12 km away. We stopped in a little village on the way to stock up on food, cash and painkillers. Then we started to tackle the hill that lay between us and the hostel. About half a kilometre up a guy stopped his car, got out and started chatting German to us. It turned out he was telling us that we really, really shouldn’t try to go over the hill. Part of me wanted to say “we’ve been over the Albulapass don’t you know”, but just then a second chap came over and started agreeing fervently with the first. So either there’s a top secret nuclear bunker somewhere around Basel, or it’s a really steep hill. We’ll never know, because we were eventually persuaded to go around on a detour which proved to be ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE. It went back into Switzerland and everything! We were so hot and thirsty that we had to interrupt three kids who were playing in a public fountain in order to fill up our water bottles. About a kilometre out from the hostel the road started rising ominously, and we found ourselves going up an unwanted steep hill. We comforted ourselves that the two guys who’d advised us to take this route had said that it went up “a bit” at the end, and our original route must therefore have been much worse, and well avoided.

The hostel is ok, it’s basically a massive castle except built from chipboard. We found out today that hostels in Germany aren’t allowed to have kitchens for people to cook their own food unless they are completely separate from the main building. So most of them, including this one, just don’t bother. This meant we had to cook on a bench outside. We agreed we don’t really see the point of hostels without kitchens, as Anna said, “it’s basically a rubbish hotel”. Quite.

After following the Rhein for a few days we’ve decided that it’s going to be a bit boring to just follow it all the way to the Netherlands. We’re thinking about a detour through the Black Forest to change the record a bit.

– Dave

I managed to convince Dave that we should stay for hostel breakfast this morning, even though it meant a late start. Luckily breakfast was worth waiting for! And we got a lie in, which I needed. We feasted on everything that was on offer then got ready to set off around 9am. Dave has had a sore back the last few days. He got a bit of relief last night thanks to some postoperative drugs I’d had since having my wisdom teeth out 6 years ago! But this morning he was back to hobbling around and wincing when he mounted his bike. I feel bad that I can’t do anything to help, so I mock him occasionally for being old and crippled. I’m sure that helps a bit.

Crippled Dave

It was overcast all morning so not as hot as it has been, but still hot enough to get a serious sweat on riding on the flat. The guide said that today’s section was flatter than what we’d been doing, but that’s not the experience we had! We rode along the river for a while then through Schaffhausen, where we stocked up on lunch. The guide told us that after this town, we’d see the Rhein Falls, the biggest waterfall in continental Europe (we assume by volume, since it’s only 25m high!). But that’s also not the experience we had. We rode up a crazy steep hill on the gravel trail and were met with a ticket office. Hey, who wants to pay to look at the river? Not us. I wasn’t that bothered about making an effort to see the falls, but Dave was adamant that he was going. So we rode downstream, crossed a bridge, climbed up to join the road, found a car park and stopped there. I waited with the bikes and made sandwiches whilst Dave walked down to a little viewpoint. Then he came back, swapped lenses and I went off with his camera to see the falls whilst he ate his lunch. From the far side, we got a distant view of the powerful falls and all the people on viewing platforms and boats who’d paid to look at them.

Rhein Falls from a distance

They’ve got a good view!

Then we were allowed to carry on downstream again and rejoin our route. Up another hill, across the river, around the inside of a tight meander and we found the marked way again.

We spent most of the day in farmland or forest, sometimes on a path along the river, sometimes along a road, track or cycle path in the trees or fields. It was a nice route. Definitely not flat though. One hill even had a sign at the bottom warning us that we were about to gain 100m in 3km. On that hill, we passed two Italian ladies (for the third time that day), one of whom had decided that it was too much and she was pushing her bike. It was hot, I didn’t blame her. The only reason I don’t get off and push more often is that pushing our bikes is way harder than riding them because they’re so heavy!

At the top of the hill, we sat for a lunch break with a view of the river below and chatted to a fellow tourer. She’s 50 years old and touring alone for the first time, although she’s done way more extreme trips that this one! She’s crossed several deserts and toured in Syria, among other places. We shared stories, exchanged tips and waved each other off.

Me looking less than impressed at having to climb 100m above the river

From then on, we were getting tired and hot and ready to stop, but wanted to make some distance first. So on we rode the last bit towards Waldshut, up and down past factories and farms until we reached the town. We crossed over to the German side for a cheaper campsite and rolled in with 80km done for the day.

It’s a nice site by the river and there are 10 tents set up, all occupied by touring cyclists! The crazy bastards don’t know they should be doing their short touring holidays in spring. And Spain for that matter!

Campsite

Dave enjoying the Rhein

Today was (only) 32 degrees. Tomorrow the forecast is for 38. So I think we’d better get to bed in order to get up before the sun!

– Anna

Our goal today was the Bodensee, and we made it in style (mostly).

The alarm went off at 5.45 and we got up straight away 45 minutes later. Setting off at 7.30, the sun was already busy making the air warmer and muggier. We headed out the campsite and straight up a few little hills to get up the side of the valley. This gave us a great view of the straight, flat road we could have been riding on. But at least the cycle path was largely car-free.

Bridge over the Rhein

Morning sun over the river

Lovely vineyard views

We wound our way through little villages and vineyards, then lost the route for a bit but headed for the Rhein and found it again there. At the Rhein, we were greeted by a long, straight river-side cycle path that went slightly downhill with a tailwind. Now that’s what I’ve been waiting for!

That’s more like it!

Yesss

We sailed along at 25kph for about two minutes before Dave decided he was going to take the lead and do some serious pedalling. Okay, if you must! Off he went and I just concentrated on sticking on his back wheel. We we doing about 35kph on average, including a short burst of 40 (the average speed on the Tour de France!). It was great fun, especially for me, sailing along at the back!

Soon we’d done 20km and it was time for a break by the river. Then back to it for another 10km that flew by in no time before we had to leave the speedy river-side way and the route took us through some more towns. We stopped in a shop and bought 2kg of fruit that was on offer, scoffed some, packed the rest and carried on. We zoomed through agricultural land in the wide, flat valley floor and stopped again by a canal for more peaches and some of last night’s leftovers.

Next, the path took us back to the Rhein and we zoomed along it some more, just stopping to look at a tributary joining the river that was a completely different colour.

Rainwater tributary meets meltwater river

With 70km done, we stopped in the shade and finished off our bread, cheese and chocolate biscuits – it’s hard work, all this drafting!

Then our beautifully smooth, paved cycle way turned into a gravel track. We lost a lot of speed compared to before but still kept up a respectable pace. We stopped at a water fountain for a few minutes and chatted with other cyclists. One kiwi guy seemed to be leading a small group of seasoned riders and we headed the same way for a bit before we took a turning and they carried on.

Come on Switzerland, we know you have enough money to pave all your cycle routes!

We ran out of signs, so must have lost the route, but we found the Bodensee! There was a campsite that was packed with weekenders and a path along the lake full of walkers and cyclists. Along we went, wondering what we were getting ourselves into. It’s not exactly the scenic wonder and peaceful idyll of the Swiss National Park.

“Dave, how’s my back tyre looking?”… “Hmm, not great.” Damn, another slow puncture maybe. We pulled over and I pumped up my tyre. We knew it was hot, but without the riding-induced breeze, it was sweltering.

Squashy back tyre

Then on we went to find a campsite. And we found one by the lake, with 90km done. But it was only 1.45pm, there was no shade for the tent pitches, and if you’re going to be hot and sweaty, you may as well be getting somewhere.

So we set off again, stopping for more peaches and tyre pumping by the lake. Perhaps not such a slow puncture after all. Whilst we were sweating with our bikes, there were a lot of people playing in the water or sunbathing on the shore. We watched enviously as one family got sandwiches out of a cool box and tucked in. We need to find a supermarket!

But before we could make it to the shop, my tyre went flat again and really needed sorting. We pulled over at the entrance to a park and set about fixing it. Dave checked the puncture repair I’d done at Zernez and it had a fresh hole right through the patch! He checked the tyre but there was nothing stuck in it. Then he found a spiky piece of metal in the inner tube! Guess that’s it then. New tube, tyre back on and we’re away. That 5km was significantly longer than the ones along the river.

Pumping up after the puncture repair

The supermarket had a few discount treats in store for us and we found a suitably busy section of shore on which to enjoy them. We enjoyed a spot of tourist-watching, particularly when one man tried to feed his ice cream cone to an angry swan that was protecting five signets. Unfortunately the swan decided he wasn’t worth attacking.

Now it was coming up for 4pm (how did that happen?) and it really was time to get to the campsite. The thought of a cold shower helped us along the last few kilometres and we arrived at a site with 110km done. We checked in and went to find a pitch. Usually when we turn up at a campsite, the tent section is almost empty, we choose a shady spot and spread our stuff out. But this was something else – a large grassy area by the lake with tents and people everywhere! The tents were all crammed into a few sections, the rest reserved as play areas with kids running around, parents sunbathing, people barbecuing and swimmers in the lake. Everywhere to pitch up was in the sun.

We found a spot that we suspected would get some evening shade and I went for a shower whilst Dave set up the tent. After cold showers, we were pretty much immediately hot and sticky again, and sat about feeling clammy for a few hours, watching the family dramas unfold around us.

Not exactly what we had in mind when we planned the trip

At 8pm we made dinner and by 9pm it was just getting to a temperature where we could stay still in t-shirts and shorts without sweating. I’m not sure how we’re going to sleep! There are too many mozzies for an open tent tonight. Keep riding north!

– Anna