The first 48 hours!

So my last night (Saturday) was spent in London after a particularly nausea inducing national express ride from Mansfield bus station. A tearful farewell was made with Mum and Dad and very kindly Sharon and Stuart were also there to see me off. My backpack never did manage to make it below the 20kg mark or to loose the additions to the outside of my sleeping bag, mat, pillow and, tent all secured with bungee cords. Final dimensions…..vast! Any concerns I had regarding getting to my hotel were soon dispelled when the lovely guy sitting next to me on the bus offered to help me carry them to the hotel, amazing. Already the serendipity of travel is evident.

The potential plan was to meet some of the group for a few drinks to allay a few pre-trip nerves however the mutual decision turned out to be that it was probably best to all get an early night (if sleep at all was possible) to ensure that we were all bright eyed and ready to begin our adventure the following day.

So the morning arrived and I managed to make it the short distance from the hotel to the truck (it’s not a bus!), and the group of people I was about to spend the next six months of my life with. Slightly nervous of course, but more a sense of excitement of what lies ahead. At this moment it is all in front of me, all the experiences to have, things to learn, friends to make, culture and life to learn about and engage with. I had waited a long time to get to this point.

So first off was a short ferry ride over the channel- Dover to Calais the usual route. First conversations were had with people and it was such a relief to finally hear, voiced by others, all the things that I had been hearing within your own head for the last few months! Talk was rife with thermarest thickness, sleeping bag seasons, torches and general gadgetry etc. I had furiously worried that my pack would be the largest and heaviest and I was relieved to discover that, though one of the larger, it wasn’t actually ‘standout in a crowd’ big!

The drive through France and Belgium was a few hours to our first camp for the night in Tournai at an organised camp- site and therefore hopefully a guaranteed shower in the morning! Our crew (Tim and Cheryl) helped to set up camp and erect tents, tables and get the evening meal on. Though tents are provided I have decided to use my own 1-2 man tent, as on a trip of this nature/length I feel that my own space at the end of the day is important for keeping my sanity! It pitched up beautifully and I was quickly ‘installed’. The first meal was a tasty soup and spag bol all washed down with a couple of glasses of wine from the truck bar. Which was ironically from a box of namaqua!!! For those that don’t know me so well, me and namaqua are well acquainted. Managed to sleep ok, though awoke early, as I appeared to have drawn the short straw and had first morning cook duty! Being up so early did however have its advantages though as I managed to claim one of only 5 or so hot showers before the hot water ran out on the campsite.

Second day was a 5 hour drive to Cologne and onto out 3rd country already! Views were limited due to lots of fog but the time in the truck allowed me the opportunity to teach two people how to play backgammon so now I have people to play with me! Our campsite for the night was on the River Rhine and once again camp was established quickly and with a minimum of fuss. A quick lunch and off into town.

We were given maps and advice of where to the catch the tram to the town centre. The main site of Cologne is the Dom cathedral, a huge Gothic structure taking over 600 years to build and at one period claiming various titles of largest ecclesiastical this and that in Europe. So in a couple of groups we set off making this our site seeing aim. We had been told that a walk to town would take approximately 45 minutes…..2 hours later and the silhouette of the church tower on the horizon had still not become any larger! But still we marched forth through the annual Cologne bike race finish line complete with TV camera’s and circling overhead helicopters. Made a quick stop at the Lindt chocolate museum which of course has a large gold bunny crowning it’s doorway.

When we finally made it to town the cathedral it was indeed impressive. What could not be guessed is that the highlight of Colongne would be the visit to the toilets in an adjacent café in a ‘Tea at the Ritz’ style. For the bargain price of 50 cents you could visit the pristine basement toilets complete with attendant, opaque doors at the turn of the lock and beautiful sensor control sinks. Heaven after the awful loo's and no hot water back at the campsite due to current refurbishments. After numerous visits from the group we managed to tear ourselves away to a beer hall for the local sausage ‘by the meter’ and beer combo. After another night under canvas we set off for Bamberg which is where I sit now trying to fathom out how to layout this blog, there should be some photo's to follow!