The Ausonious Way begins, and nearly finishes.

I left Bingen early, 7.10am, by bus, three days ago.  The forecast was for temperatures in the low 30's, and added to that, I had descended the river bank to reach Bingen,  and didn't much feel like ascending by almost the same way.  Thus the reason for my 50 minute bus ride, by a circuitous way, to Reinböllen.  

Reinböllen

It took me several attempts to leave town, with a very quick lesson learned for this way - its easy to get lost.  At times the way marks are few and far between, which in turn meant regular stops to check.  This kind of walking doesn't make for steady progress - stopping, starting, retracing steps because a turn was missed.  All this made it quite tricky.

The waymark

The path is not always clear

On reaching the first big town, Simmern, having completed about 20kms, I decided I would stop there.  I went to the tourist office to ask for help in finding a room only to be told that she couldn't help because it was too late in the afternoon (2.00pm!), but if I went around to Hotel Moxy I would certainly get a room - at €120!  I mentally changed the m for a p, and said thank you, but no thank you.  The same girl suggest I catch a bus to the next town where I could stay in pilgrim accomodation.   I did, but was disappointed that I couldn't stay in Simmern as it looked a really interesting town.

Simmern

Simmern

Cheering myself up!

Catching the bus to Kirchberg was where the fun began!  Somehow my purse fell out of my pocket while I was trying to juggle my pack on my lap.  I didn't discover that until I went to buy a drink!  Panic from me and Edith stepped into the breach by ringing the bus company.  Several hours later I got a phone call from the bus company to say they had it.  The next task was to get to the lost property - by bus!  Having collected it, with all the money in it, I then had to firstly, walk about 1.5kms to the bus stop, and then sit and wait for the last bus to come at 10.40pm.  Staying in pilgrim accomodation that night I broke all the rules, but I had the place to myself as the host was away.  I got in after normal curfew at 11.00pm, then I turned lights on, and had a shower before hitting the hay at 11.30.  I was pooped, and walked over 39,000 steps.

Kirchberg

The wonderful pilgrim accomodation in Kirchberg.

The next day was another hot one, not pleasant at all, and having knocked off around 22kms I knew I would be hard pressed to make the remaining 9!  I decided to hitch, but on reaching the main road I decided that was not a safe option.  There were lights at the intersection and so I bailed up every driver who put their left indicator on.  Eventually a bloke in an Audi, with his hand hanging out the window with a cigarette attached said he was going my way.  He had no option but to give me a lift, he had to take pity on me.  We drove in silence as we had no common language,  and he drove around the village looking for my hotel, only, after checking his phone, to discover it was the wrong village!  He insisted on driving me to the correct place, for which I felt both guilty and grateful. 

On the way to Gonzareth there were diversions.  The path was meant to go straight down the middle of this paddock,  but the farmer had just mown, and then windrowed it - had to skirt right around it!

The church in Gonzareth 

The yellow building was my hotel.

Hopefully those two days have put an end to the sagas for a while, because today has been a delight.  Pleasant walking, through pasture land and through forests.  It has been pleasantly cool, with a breeze keeping the pesky little black flies / insects away, until the afternoon.   I had to resort to putting on my fly net, which worked a treat, but restricts things like having a drink, or using my brow mopper!

A field of wildflowers 

Sometimes the path was by guess or good luck!

Today I was also following a path called Jakob Maria Mierscheld way.  There are stories about him on plaques along the way, seats where he used to sit with his wife, verified by his 4 children.  Even a wonderful shelter to sit and rest in, complete with a mirror, because he said that the world looks different through a mirror.   He is a member of the Bunderstag, but his salary is not mentioned on the public listing's.   It is said that he has walked to Santiago many times,  and if you are lucky you might meet him on this path, though he is now a very old man.  This is all tongue in cheek, as he is fictional character.  The irony is, that this is one of the better paths!

A resting spot where Jakob and Helene would sit

A shelter, with a mirror to see the reflected world!!

The last two days I have been following a street called Romerstrasse, yes a roman road, some with old stones, but VERY straight,  except for a few modern kinks.  The walking has been relatively  easy on these stretches - though tomorrow promises to be a bit tougher.   Hildergard's path was to me a lot tougher - steeper, and even more paths on long grass etc.  Only two days to Trier, all going well.

A Roman building - couldn't work out if it was a reconstruction or repaired original. 

Rocky roman road.