We made good use of Thomas’s apartment. We showered for the last time and we cook some eggs for on the road. We ate our breakfast and then left.

We leave Bonn behind us. The next major city on the route is Koblenz. What turns out to be an incredibly beautiful city with a beautiful old centre. But we didn’t stay long.

These days are dominated by hilly landscapes, idyllic villages, each with a castle or ruin at the top of a hill, vineyards and the first autumn colours. Despite the height differences in the area, the cycling route is very flat because we are constantly cycling along the Rhine.

But it’s time to leave the Rhine behind us and head south-east. We cycle through boorish landscapes, beautiful wooded areas and villages. One more beautiful than the other. The first major city we encounter is Heidelberg. A student city with a beautiful old centre along the Neckar. We take a lunch break here on the edge of a zoo with a glass outer wall. We eat a sandwich with a view of mother and baby bear with foxes frolicking around them. From this city we follow the Neckar for a while. The environment is stunning. With densely wooded hills on one side and the Neckar on the other, we cycle through occasional pretty villages.

We feel tension for finding a place to sleep. We cycle on a busy highway and choose to go to a campsite. The first is along the road, we don’t get a good feeling about it. And after we call the owner we are not accepted either. We have to continue on the busy road. We end up in a nature reserve. A beautiful forest and we have to climb and descend quite a bit. By the time we arrive at a campsite it is already getting dark. We set up the tent in the light and we decide to eat a pizza in the restaurant of the campsite. Tomorrow a rest day to wash our clothes and give our bodies a rest from cycling. We took a nice walk and read a book.

The rest day will soon be over, Tomorrow is a rainy day planned. Hopefully our laundry will be completely dry in the morning.