It has rained hard all night, the edge of the lake is a quagmire in places but I've escaped. It's the coldest day so far and I have to don my waterproof jacket and my waterproof socks to keep the chill out. The road out of Tumlingen to Horb is not as bad as I had feared and before long I pick up the cycle path into town. This is excellent news as long as the signposts don't mysteriously disappear and I have a new spring in my step or should it be panache in my pedalling? No water has meant nothing to drink this morning and power is low so I stop at McD to see if the wifi is free here too. For the first time on my trip I pay for a coffee instead of making it. But this enables me to talk the staff into showing me how to get online. Unfortunately you need a german mobile phone because the hotspot provider texts you a code to type in for 1 free hour. Unlike France or England where it is 24hrs. The nice lady lends me her phone so I can get online, however no one can work out how to do it. Ten minutes later of tippity tapping and we are on. I catch up on all things www and have a charge up, a warm up and a coffee. They way to Rothenburg takes me through some very quiet villages and the way is strewn with apple and pear trees. I manage to pick an apple from a tree whilst cycling. I try this later on in the day too but end up getting stuck in a fence. Reaching Rothenburg is like a film set. It has everthing you could want from an old German town but everything is shut and no one is around. It's very eerie... Next stop Turbingen which is much busier and lots of people go about the usual Saturday type of things. The Town Hall is very impressive with it's decorated exterior and wooden beams. I pop into a Photography shop to enquire about a charger and amazingly they have not one, but three for me to choose from. Unfortunately ranging from 40 to 55 euros. Mine was £3 from ebay. I show it to the man and he is very impressed (even if it is broken) and starts to take photos of it. When I say his chargers are too dear he asks how long I'm in town and offers to charge my battery for me. He also comes up with an idea on how to bodge myself a working charger. Thank you Steven at Foto Platz, super helpful guy. Go there and buy stuff. Whilst waiting for the battery to charge I find a shop selling maps. I have a look round to see what ones I might need next but there are too many. I have never seen so many maps in all my life. With no one to ask and not knowing the regions it is too big a task so I leave empty handed.
Onwards down the Neker Valley towards ??? and I meet a German couple out on a little cycle tour. They have a guide book for this particular cycle path and each page has a very detailed map and a little piece of info of each place you visit. Oh if only. They are lovely and give me some tips on not getting lost. I mention the annoying signposting and they say that other people have said this to them before, so I dont feel so bad. Carry along Neker river and then things get a bit blurry??? Think I got lost ended up in a forest and went to bed?
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