Day 8

August 11, 2003

Reisach, Austria to Faaker See, Austria

65 Kilometres

On Monday we decended the mountain. Back on the road the traffic was busy again. We got to a point where we could take a secondary road, and then we saw a bike route sign, so we decided to follow that rather than get back on the main road. It was a combination of small roads and paths that followed the river and the railroad.

Finally there was a map on the path. It said that the bike path was under construction ahead, but there was a path leading into Arnoldstein, where we could get back on the main road. But we didn't find the path to town. It may have been at the dam we passed. The road turned to dirt, but it was still going in the right general direction. It took us to Oberschutt, where a local kid directed us back to the main road.

It was extremely hot again, and Ursula was having trouble. We were heading to Faaker See, and Ursula could barely make it. There were many campgrounds on the lake, but I took us to the only one that had a sign from the direction we were coming. I didn't want to fuck around looking for different places. When we got there, it was expensive, but the guy said all the other places were about the same price.

Then the owner guy found out I was from Canada. He started telling everyone I was a Canadian boy. He said he'd get us a nice, shady spot. He got in his golf cart with his assistant, we followed on bike. First he picked up a table and bench for us, and loaded them on the golf cart. Then we drove through the campground. He told everyone that we passed that I was from Canada. Finally he dropped us off at a shady spot by the edge of the campground.

After setting up the tent we went to the washroom building. The side we arrived at was the woman's side, so Ursula went in. I walked around the other side of the building and used the bathroom. As I was peeing, I heard what sounded like a woman talking to a child. When I left I looked at the door. There was nothing on it. But looking up on the wall above the door I saw that this was also the women's washroom. The men's room was another building. Luckily, no one saw me.

The campground only had a little lagoon on the lake, surrounded by weeds, with tonnes of kids playing in the water. But the campground had some canoes, which were free of charge. We borrowed one and started paddling through the path through the weeds to the lake proper. It was a long, windy path, and took much longer than I expected. We passed other people in canoes and rubber rafts. There was a hugely fat guy in a motor boat. Ursula said he was naked. Eventually we got out into the lake, and jumped in for a swim. Then we paddled back.

We ate dinner in the campground restaurant. The food was really good, and our waitress was armed and dangerous. For dessert they had topfenstrudel, which turned out to be made of quark. Ursula had it and fell in love with it.


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