Woken at 7 once again by the endless pealing of church bells. How can anyone stand it?! I took another shower, packed my things and, leaving Max (who decided to stay another three days and cycle 210km on Sunday to avoid the thunderstorm), I went to the South Tyrol museum of archaeology. There I saw several exhibitions all about Otzi, the 5000 year old mummy found preserved in a nearby glacier, and the mummy itself. It was odd. It was displayed behind a small window which people queued for. It made me think about death.
After that I got a mango gelato and some dried fruits from a street market, some snacks, including salami, from a shop, and went back to the apartment to get my stuff. Max joined me for the first, and easiest half of my cycle to Trento. That was really nice. We had some lovely chats and the spectacular landscape seemed to fly by. He did, however, have a small hole in the back of his padded shorts. I decided not to mention it. At 34km we stopped. I ate some bread and salami, he showed me some photos of the dolomites, invited me to go to Dresden any time, and we said our goodbyes.
Shortly before we parted he started chatting to some german girls who were also cycling from Reschensea to lake Garda via Trento. Later, after cycling 20km against a very stubborn headwind, they overtook me. I don’t recall passing them. How curious. One told me my Salami skins had flown out of the back of my bag. The wind persisted and the going was slow. I got to Trento around 5. My data isn’t working. I want to move on. For now I simply got a coke and wrote this.
***
I continued on past endless orchards as the sun grew low in the sky, too nervous to camp in any of them. I got my data working and noticed a campsite on my route which I decided to aim for. Leaving the main path I climbed a little way into the hills and reached it at 8:10. Check in closed at 8, but they opened it back up for me. I ordered a chocolate croissant for tomorrow, put up my tent, showered, then cycled back down the hill a little way in search of a pint. Sooner than I had expected I reached a pizzeria. I went in, got a pint and a spicy salami and tuna pizza. After that I cycled back up the hill in darkness, and went to sleep.
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