I have been cracking my head the night before on trying to find a place to stay between Krems and Linz as its really a bit too far to ride all the way. With the grey and cold weather it is also not so fun to be on the road for so long hours. All the campsites along the Danube River is closed for winter. Wild camping could be an option but I wasn’t that keen.
Suddenly I had a brain flash. I have a host in Linz. Perhaps I could consider taking a train from somewhere mid way between Krems and Linz. That way I get to ride and then train to Linz where I have a host. So I contacted the host to ask if this would be ok. It was and so I started planning for it.
This morning I woke up at 430am and was thinking of catching Robert my host in Krems to ask him about taking the train and also if bikes are possible on board. He told me he leaves the house at 530am or so. However it’s past 6 am and no sound and sign of him. I realized that he has left for office already. It must be that I have dozed off as I am in and out of sleep as he leaves the apartment probably in a ninja kind of way. Oh well never mind I will check the internet on train connections to Linz and also taking bikes on board. My host in Linz also have been very helpful and have given me a ton of great information about the train and connections and also what to do while in Linz waiting for her to return from work at 6 pm.
My plan was to ride to Melk which is around 40KM away and then train to Linz. So I left Roberts apartment in Krems around 930 am and I should arrive Melks at around noon and then go to the station to buy the train tickets to Linz. It seems that there is a train connection to Linz every hour.
The weather is still much the the same. Foggy, grey, slightly cold and around 8 or 7 C. The scenery however is much nicer that yesterday. The route to Melks passes by several quaint villages in the famous Wachau valley. Also passed by many vineyards. I am told in this region, the vineyard on terraces are famous and the white wine is famous here. I also pass by a very beautiful town called Durnstein, which has a beautiful church and castle.
I arrived Melk around 123opm and proceeded to check out the famous Melk Monastery. It was truly magnificent and huge. You can basically see the whole monastery all over the Melk old town. After checking out the Monastery I proceeded to the Melk train station. I plan to take the 2:22 pm train. I need to change train twice and the allow bikes with surcharge. Total ticket cost around Euro 22. Expensive but beats staying in a guesthouse middle of nowhere.
I had some time to spare so I went to a cafe with wifi and idle myself there until time to take the train. Actually as it turns out taking the train was not that straight forward. First you have to see what train it is. For old train the bike carriage is in front and for mordern ones its in the middle. For the old one, you can’t roll in the bike as there are steps to get on the carriage and the new one you can. Of course I didn’t know that. For the first train I completely missed the first carriage and was thinking there is no special carriage and had to haul up my bike together with my panniers. Thanks to the help of some passengers I managed. The second one I could roll in and the third one lift up again. Interesting experience.
Finally arrived Linz T around 415pm and my host will be home around 6pm. She told me I could hang out at the public library and use the free internet and toilet there. Which I did and it was wonderful to have place to hangout that is warm and with Internet and best of all for free.
Sometime past 6pm, I was at my host Michaela’s home and had a wonderful Austrain meat dumpling soup for dinner. We chit chatted awhile and made plans for tomorrow.
Lions Project : RM 323.20
Reflective Saddle 