Day 99: Geisenheim to Koblenz, Germany: Through the Valley of the Lorelei

August 26, 2012

We quickly realized today that Bingen to Koblenz is the “Passau to Vienna” of Germany. It does not have the same vast numbers of cyclists, or the intense support of so many guest houses and restaurants. But what it does have is a non-stop flow of things to look at, and usually a flat and well paved path by the river. Like with the Loire a Velo, the whole length is a UNESCO world heritage site, something touted and explained at information boards along the way.

Accolades from the U.N. did not stop the valley from being a real bug today, in that it started with high head winds, then moved to on and off rain that had us dizzy with putting the rain gear on and off. Then it got serious and poured for an hour, and finally repented, not with sun but with an absence of rain.

The things to look at include a constant flow of boats of various kinds up and down the river, gorgeous towns, and steep hillsides covered with vineyards. Perhaps the main attraction is the “fairy tale” castles (and churches) which are in unbelievable numbers all along the way.

“Fairy tale” perhaps is, or is not, a good description. On the one hand, any one of these could easily support a cast of knights in armour, spots for Rapunzel to let her hair down from, or rooms for Cinderella to attend any number of balls in. On the other hand, these castles are here because their builders wanted to control river traffic, and collect tolls – not the most romantic of motives.

On the other, other hand, do we suppose that the castle used by Rapunzel was put there just to support her romantic escapades? No, her father was probably a hard nosed castle entrepreneur or power broker like the rest! Anyway, however we think about them, these castles are a thrill to look at today.

Among the boats on the river are those that run people up and down the length of this most scenic bit. There are docks for them all along each bank, and ones that range in size from really, really long to fairly big. We thought about hopping on one of these, to both save time and to see the castles from the vantage point of the middle of the river. We decided against it, and it was a good decision.

Even on the bikes, the whole thing blew by much too quickly. We tried our best to absorb it all – the river, the vines, the hills, the towns. We took 250 photos (not all of which you will have to look at!!) Maybe we should have walked it instead. Anyway, the boat – no way – too fast!

The centrepiece of the valley is at St. Goar, where the river is quite narrow and steep hills rise on the right bank (and less so, on the left bank). The hill (cliff) closest to St. Goar (i.e. at the downstream end of the gorge) is the Lorelei (Loreley on local maps) rock. Here, mythic sirens would lure sailors to crash on the rocks.

We did not spot any sirens at St. Goar, but we did spot our friends the Asian tourists. This is the sure sign that we are at a world class place. The tour operators would not bother with a second rate spectacle, right?

We arrived at the outskirts of Koblenz, finding wide pathways with large trees, and stately homes. Closer to “Deutches Eck” (German point) where the Mosel River joins the Rhine, the people became very thick. No use “dinging” at them, we just had to thread our way through and around.

The camping is one the Mosel bank, almost exactly where it enters the Rhine. The tent zoo is right by a sanitary block, and in that block are lights and power outlets, in rooms nominally for cooking or for pot washing. That means there are also counters. So, 80% of what is needed for hassle free computing. Good enough!

There is also a restaurant on site, that is where this is being written from. We have cookable food our packs, but we are short on fuel. It turns out that none of the German grocery chains carry fuel. To replenish requires an outdoor store, and that means searching one up in a reasonably sized town. We are not good at navigating towns.

Tomorrow, though, we may have a crack at Koblenz. We could try a relaxed walk or bike ride around. No charging off to some remote corner to find an obscure statue. Oh, oh. Dodie just said “let’s try going on the cable car”. Well, we should be able to find one thing like that – especially since we passed it on the way in!

Here then is the "Middle Rhine", as we saw it from Bingen to Koblenz. Without a map, the castle and town names will not mean much. No matter, I probably got them wrong anyway, and it is only the idea of the castles that counts. The photos also do not much capture or cover the amazing steep hillsides of vines, but they were a constant companion during the day.

Dodie pays the fare for our ferry from Rudesheim to Bingen

One view of Bingen. I'm sure others are nicer, but we did not go in to town.

Firefighting foam at a building in Bingen. Given yesterday's experience, fire fighters have been busy.

The path as we first started down from Bingen. We were starting to think we should be on a boat, but the views soon opened out.

Near Bingen, a few oncoming cyclists. There were a fair number in the day, but not hoards.

Ruin Furstenburg, nearing Bacharach, 1/4 of the way down to Koln

Burg Stahleck as it appeared on my cartoon map

One of the 7 jungfrauen - rocks just upstream from the Lorelei

Heading into the gorge. The train uses a tunnel.

Fort Grampies is designed to fend off tourists, especially smokers, at lunch time.

Burg Maus. There is also Burg Katz, just beside!

Schloss Liebeneck and Ruin Sterrenberg across the river from Boppard

Ford has a surprisingly strong presence in Europe. How about this small, sporty model?

Schloiss Marksburg. I think this is the one they always put in postcards about the Rhine castles.

Schloss Stolzenfels approaching Koblenz. This ones has pulled out all design stops!

Across the Rhine at Koblenz, it's Lahnstein

Today's ride: 77 km (48 miles)
Total: 4,944 km (3,070 miles)

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