cold + warm

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This post is about a 13km walk from Marksuhl to Unkeroda. I stay at a spiritual commune, then an unknown voice saves me from the rain.

The night before had been difficult. The Caboose and I were in a forest, it was raining, and it was dark, when her left wheel gave out. She made screeching noises as I pulled her through the mud and the gravel.

the commune

When we arrived at a farm, I rang the bell and asked for a place to pitch my tent. Maybe in the barn? I asked the gentleman standing in front of me. Sorry, he told me, they didn’t really have a barn. Some other people appeared. It was explained to me that the barn building had been converted into living space, and that it was empty right now. Did I just want to sleep there?

It turned out that the people living on the farm were a spiritual commune. They were very nice to me. We shared breakfast in the morning, and they tried to explain their beliefs to me.

I thanked them for their hospitality, then I walked out into the frosty morning.

epic rain

There was a small town called Marksuhl on the way. I had lunch in a Turkish restaurant and bought some provisions in a supermarket. The wind was strong at this point, and there was a bit of rain in the air, but it didn’t seem so bad.

A few hours later, just as I was coming out of a forest and into the open fields, just as darkness was swallowing up the land, the rain decided to really start coming down as if I was still in the Vogelsberg.

The wind was still strong, and I could feel the water get into my poncho as I was trying to get to the village of Unkeroda as quickly as possible. There were a few guest houses there that I had seen on the map, so I was sure I would find a place to get dry and warm up again.

no room

I was soaked when I arrived at the first address. It was a large B&B in the center of Unkeroda. I tried the bell: nothing. I tried calling on the phone: nothing. When I noticed a guy in a window and called out to him, he told me that the owner wasn’t there, and that there was nothing he could do for me.

No problem, I thought, and I went to the second place. When I rang the bell, a person opened a very tiny window and told me, out of the window, that there was no room for me there.

I called the third place: nothing. The fourth one: nothing.

There was a restaurant, so I decided to go get warmed up and maybe talk to some people there. But it turned out that it wasn’t a restaurant anymore. It was an old folks’ home, and guess what: they didn’t have a room for me, either.

thanks, Cristina

Help arrived just as I was crashing a party in a communal hall. There were a bunch of old people celebrating someone’s birthday. A few of them came up to me, and I asked them if they had any idea where I could sleep. They didn’t, they said as they were gesturing to the door. Then my phone rang.

It was the owner of the B&B. Her name was Cristina. She said she was sorry that she wasn’t there, and that she was only renting to semi-long-term tenants right now.

“Listen,” she said, “one of the other guys will let you in and show you the common area. You can sleep there, and we have a kitchen you can use as well.”

She didn’t want me to be out in the rain at night.

pictures

the walk from Marksuhl to Unkeroda:

where I stayed near Marksuhl

my room in Marksuhl

cold but comfortable

frost on the fields

the Caboose on the way into Marksuhl

Marksuhl train station

I sit having lunch in a forest near Marksuhl.

The Longest Way in the rain near Unkeroda

common room in a guest house in Unkeroda

my place for the night