without the wolf

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This post is about a 24km walk from Neuburg to Leimersheim. We walk through a town that prides itself on a dead wolf.

We stayed in Neuburg for two days. The guesthouse was clean and quiet, and it was run by a friendly lady who really liked to talk about Mongolia. Her daughter-in-law was from Mongolia, her son loved it there, and it was a pity that I hadn’t visited it on The Longest Way. Mongolia was so green and beautiful! Besides, it was democratic, unlike many of the other countries on my way.

True.

the last wolf

When we arrived in the next town, Hagenbach, we noticed a sign saying that it was THE TOWN WITH THE WOLF. This was not further explained anywhere. I asked a few people about it, but nobody seemed to know anything specific. When I looked it up online I found a (German) article talking about a forest spring that was supposedly located in the exact same spot where the last wolf of the region had been killed a long time ago.

So apparently Hagenbach really wasn’t The Town With The Wolf but rather The Town Without The Wolf.

Cruel irony.

where to camp

We walked through Wörth am Rhein, and then we passed an industrial zone that turned out to be the largest Daimler Truck production plant on the planet. It was mostly hidden behind the trees, though. The only thing that gave it away was a fence with a sign that said it was private property of Daimler. We sat and had lunch there, next to the private property of Daimler.

Then we entered a forest. It was close to the Rhine and dotted with little lakes. There were little fishing huts on some of the lakes. We thought about pitching our tent next to a cabin in the forest, but as we were waving clouds of mosquitoes away from our faces we dropped the idea.

And so, once again, we found ourselves walking through the darkness. When we reached the next town I went into a gym and asked if anyone knew a place where we could camp. A swole dude named Stefan appeared, congratulated us on our adventure, and advised us to go to a farm nearby.

“Go to the corn maze,” he said, “they are kind people there!”

pictures

the walk from Neuburg to Leimersheim:

the way out of Neuburg

Hagenbach

HAGENBACH – THE TOWN WITH THE WOLF

Wachthaus Hagenbach

old house in Hagenbach

I sit in a supermarket parking lot because I am a car.

graffiti in an underpass in Wörth am Rhein

my patron saint

church in Wörth am Rhein

show the bottom line to someone who can read Arabic and have a laugh

industrial zone of Wörth am Rhein

The Longest Way near Wörth am Rhein

afternoon fishing

lots of these little fishing huts everywhere

fallen tree in a lake

darkness falling and no place to camp

corn harvest near Leimersheim

swole dude showing us the way