Enter Steven!

Steven and I found one another on a busy road entering Ingolstadt from the south. I had decided somehow that that was the road by which he would arrive, and by Jove I was right! I was bought a beer by a toothless and drunk woman, who went on to offer us both a place to stay. We declined and opted to wild camp at a free campsite some German cyclists had mentioned to me a little earlier in the afternoon.

Leaving Ingolstadt, the Donau led us through some heavy industry and finally to the free camping spot located by a small village. Surprisingly, the Germans were not there, but a couple of Young American cyclists were. They were riding east to west, and told us they'd had stuff stolen from their tent under their sleeping noses in an Austrian camping site. Score 1 for wild camping then!

The lack of security along with the story of the Americans made me a little nervous but I soon dropped off. Everything seemed to be still there the next morning.

We rode on, following the polders as normal at first, before passing through some hillier, forested country. We reached Regensburg with plenty of daylight to spare. I picked up my mainstay cycling fuel, a falafel durum and then we got out of town to return the next day for a proper look. After setting up camp, I cooked up some sausages that we'd skipped that day, and which happened to be 3 days out of date. I woke in the night feeling a bit iffy in the stomach, and then worried I'd given us both a nasty case of food poisoning but on waking properly with the dawn I found all was okay with my digestive system, and Steve's too.

After checking out the 'burg a little further, we set off and soon found the monument to a Charles Theodore, an historical duke of Bavaria. A little further along, Walhalla popped up too. Stocked with busts of famous Germans, this classical style temple overlooked the Danube from a big hill on the northern side. After climbing hundreds of steps, we reached the top and hung out with some other tourists there a while, taking in the panorama.

Continuing, we chose a hilltop spot next to a forest as the afternoon slid into an electrical stormy evening. We were seen preparing to camp by several people but none seemed much interested. Double rainbows marked the end of the worst, and then sleep was had.

Nick, the Anglo-Austrian schoolteacher, fervent Socialist and cyclist extraordinaire spotted us picking sour apples and joined us for a while. He was from Essex but considers himself half-Austrian, was on his way to Vienna on a rather dilapidated bike, and to my amusement was very fond of the ganja, although tee-total. He kept imparting bits of low-budget biking wisdom, such as cleaning/oiling the chain daily, protein sources, optimal digestion, etc., several of which I saw the sense in. A talkative and colourful character indeed!

Steve and I also happened across what was claimed to be Germany's second largest beerfest, in the town of Straubing. It was all Lederhosen, German traditional dress and long toilet queues, but unfortunately we were not well-disposed to join in the fun.

We continued and again camped out in somebody's field, making a quick stop for supplies in Deggendorf the next morning, before picnicking during a sunny interval and having a good swim/wash in a small lake.

Finally we came to Passau, where Steven and I were parting ways. I took advantage of some free Wi-Fi I found and then we left to cross into Austria to camp before Steven headed back to Munich the next morning.