It feels like ages ago that we last went away with the camper. In reality, it has only been a couple of weeks since our van broke down in Berchtesgaden, and we were towed all the way to Freising. For some time we had no mode of transportation, while the Nugget was undergoing substantial repairs. We got it back about two weeks ago and haven’t used it since, other than for the odd grocery trip.
Today we drove to Passau, a Bavarian border city, known for being on the place where the Danube, the Inn and Ilz rivers merge into the more majestic Danube that flows into Austria towards the east. It’s also where all the Danube tourist ships dock. I had never been to Passau, but one of my team members used to live there and always told me it was a nice place. It was a nice place indeed, with a lovely old town with typical Bavarian architecture (which I quite like, to be honest). However, it was also a bit of a ghost town. I don’t know what it is with Bavarian shop owners. On Saturday, many of them close at 2pm, leaving entire city centers deserted. Typically this is even true for the medium large cities. We walked around in Passau old town for about two hours, and during the last half we couldn’t even find a place that served coffee or some snacks to go. We won’t even try a visit on Sunday. If you want boring, try a Bavarian city trip on a Sunday.
After Passau, we drove half an hour towards the Bavarian forest. The flat peatlands quickly turned into hills, and the landscape soon was covered in a layer of snow. Some of the piles of snow along the roads revealed that a much thicker blanket of white must have covered the area over the past weeks. It’s quite beautiful here. We found a camper lot with only a few spots, placed in a beautiful location with a wonderful view. Not another soul in sight. Perfect. The place gets fantastic reviews, and I can see why. I get the feeling that they are much friendlier towards camper owners here than for instance in the Alps. I’m not sure why we never drove this direction before (although the mountains are hard to beat in any season…).
The announcement board on-site has some pretty interesting-looking hikes or day trip locations, and I think we will explore one of these tomorrow for sure.
It feels good to be on the road again.
Robin Heinen 