Friday 3rd August
Sigmaringen to Munderkingen: 4 hours 2 minutes, 72km

“It was my first day along the Danube. I had given myself two days to get to Ulm, so my target was any campsite past Riedlingen that I happened to come across.

During the day nothing exciting happened. There were a number of other cycle tourists, but not nearly as many as I expected. I arrived at Riedlingen in the late afternoon and decided to consult Google for nearby campsites. The only one that it picked up was about 5km off the Danube in a town called Zwiefalten, however Google did warn me that it was unverified. I decided to give it a look and if it did exist I would have an early end to the day. Unfortunately, it did not exist, so I had climbed a massive hill and taken a 10 km detour for nothing. I continued along the Danube and hoped to stumble across another campsite.

I found one in the town of Munderkingen. It was very basic, which was a nice change from the overcrowded sites along the lakes of Switzerland. I arrived at the same time as a whole group of canoeists. I set up my tent and sat at one of the tables finishing off the groceries I had bought earlier in the day.

I thought back on my uneventful day. It had been the first day where nothing really interesting had happened. Just then a guy called Aram sat down next to me. He was leading the canoe tour, which was part of an exchange program between Hungary and Germany. He invited me to join their group and have some of their Hungarian goulash, which boiled away in a large pot suspended over an open flame (Friar Tuck style). He taught me a few key Hungarian phrases, such as how to say cheers and gave me some schnapps and polinca to try. One of his colleagues, who had had a fair bit already, spilled a large portion of the goulash out of the pot and onto the ground. In his frustration, he kicked a nearby coolabox and then a camping chair which knocked over a guitar and was heading straight for me. I don’t know how, but Aram with spider-man like reflexes caught the chair in mid-air just before it hit me. He took his colleague to the side and reprimanded him. I decided it was a good time to take my leave and headed back to my tent.

Just when you think the day has been dull, there is always something that happens that makes it memorable.”

Matt Krog

Read all of Matt’s posts on his website. All of the posts about Matt on CyclingEurope.org can be found here.