I had my usual muesli, yoghurt and banana breakfast, made a coffee and packed up. There were a surprising number of British accents around the campsite. Some had moved to Switzerland and most were bemoaning Brexit and how it has disrupted their lives. Completely understandable.
The path out of Murg was easy to follow. It hugged the lake and mingled with the railway line and main road as well as the steep cliffs on the south side. It was steep in parts but amazing too. To have this dedicated bike and pedestrian path in this beautiful area is special. In places like this I find myself just gawking around.
I was feeling a little tired after yesterday’s 80kms. I’m still feeling the effects of whatever flu I had back in Austria. The problem with today’s ride was that there were no camping grounds along the way I wanted to go. I was surprised. My plan had been to visit many of the lakes in Switzerland with the expectation of lots of nice campsites beside them. Not today.
The route was nice to start with but became flat and boring as the valley opened out and the surrounding mountains grew smaller. I made it to Oversee which is the bottom part of the Zurichsee and by that stage things were definitely warming up.
A few kilometres earlier, I’d stopped at a supermarket and got some lunch. As I left, my thigh caught part of a disused tap sticking out from the wall. Well, what was left of it. I never saw it, just felt the thud. It was sharp and took a chunk out of my thigh and the thump on the muscle felt like a cork. I mopped up the blood and wondered how something so dangerous would be left, in such a controlled and spotless country as this. Gee it hurt.
I ate my lunch beside the lake and then continued on to Pfaffikon where I got on a train to Zurich.
I don’t particularly like Zurich, but it had some accommodation, albeit expensive. I stayed in a hostel dorm for eighty euros and spent the afternoon planning where to go next. It took hours. Yes, it’s an expensive hostel, and it’s five kilometres out of town, and there’s nothing interesting around it but in the high season in Switzerland, you don’t have many options 😁
At this point, I’m only feeling about 80% and it’s hard to be enthused about the next stage of the trip back to London right now. I’ll be right in a week or so. I’ve never been through the Vosges area or across northern France. I might even head through the Ardennes, so there’s lots to look forward to. I’m skipping Paris as my friends won’t be there – unfortunate, but with the Olympics on, I’m sure the place will be a zoo.
Later, I booked some flights to Sydney. I’ll leave London on August 19 and visit friends in Thailand, then head to Sydney on Sep 4. I’m looking forward to seeing friends after being away for so long.