September 13, 2010
Petronell Carnuntum: The end of stage 4 and we have done 2000 km
We had been a bit concerned that getting through Vienna would be really difficult with all the different waterways through it. We crossed on the Dam to the North side and found everything reasonably well marked. Then we met Matthew. He is from Sydney and one of those addicted cycle tourists. He flew into Iceland in May, rode around there for a month or so and since then has been riding through eastern block countries and plans to finish in Istanbul. I gather he mainly wild camps. He had spent the previous night camped in a swamp with mosquitoes. Our hotel was more comfortable I think. He turned off into Vienna and ken and I continued on the North bank to bypass it. It seems terrible not to have gone into Vienna as it is such a lovely city - we have been there several times before and the thought of getting lost there with bikes was not appealing.
Now we really didn't have any useful maps and just had to follow signs and with a good deal of luck arrived at the ferry at Orth. No sign of anyone around but there was a phone number which I rang and the ferryman appeared. The ferry was an open rowing boat with a Honda outboard so he lifted the bikes aboard, lit a fag and off we went on a very skillful crossing of the very swift Danube. From the other side we needed to use the GPS to get to Petronell. I had set it on a very conservative route apparently avoiding any road a car would ever go on so we went on a long and tortuous journey on gravel roads through wind generators. It was a relief to get here and after some initial problems have a roof over our head. Petronell or to give it its Roman name Carnuntum was an important Roman outpost and the town is proud of this, it has a good museum and a preserved ampitheatre.
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Today's ride: 102 km (63 miles)
Total: 2,002 km (1,243 miles)
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