Gmunden to Bad Ischl

August 28, 2018

Train from Linz to Gmunden

When we left off yesterday, things were going from bad to worse and I was actually hating my vacation. Not an ideal solution. Then I got a voicemail from my bank card company saying they had flagged a transaction and that was just one thing too many for me.

I woke up at 4am and couldn't stop worrying about my bank card, so I did an internet chat with them. It took longer than it should have, but we determined that they had merely flagged the transaction as suspect and that the card would still work. Then I went back to sleep, more or less. When I woke up, the hoards of mosquitoes entering through my window had feasted a few times on my right hand and knee. I hope they enjoyed the experience.

My hotel was a cheap one which meant no breakfast. No problem. I stopped at Lidl AND raised the bakery for a variey of breakfast pastries and some blueberries. Cheap, tasty. I ate the first 2 before leaving for the train station. The 3rd, a mohn pastry (no idea what that is, but it was good, I ate while waiting for the train. I'm always worried I'll miss my train so I end up being about a half hour early instead. Plenty of time to finish my nutritious breakfast.

Today's train trip took me from Linz, a city much nicer than I anticipated, to Gmunden via Wels and Attnang-Pucheim. I've been to Gmunden before, but for whatever reason I didn't realize how literally on the edge of the mountains it is. The North end of Gmunden ist gentle hills. Half way down the lake you get craggy mountains. It's an interesting and rather dramatic shift.

The train ride was marginally notable, first because getting my bike on an Express train is a pain due to the steep narrow stairs, and second, because my 2nd train from Attnang-Pucheim to Gmunden involved an extended conversation with a girl maybe in her early 20's whose accent was heavy enough that I understood only a portion of the conversation. I gathered that she has epilepsy and her dad won't help her pay bills or something, and that her brother has a good job and has bought a house. Or at least I think that's what she said. That after her saying she needed to be quiet because she had a headache.

My first stop in Gmunden was Schloss Ort which sits on a small island in the Traunsee. It probably has historical significance, but there wasn't an info sign and I'm too lazy to look it up on Wikipedia. Anyway, it looks cool so I took a bunch of pictures.

And then I was supposed to ride to the south end of the Traunsee. But first I had to stop at every possible vantage point and take pictures. It took a very long time to make my way down the side of the lake. Then I had to set my camera up properly for each photo with the varying light and stuff. Anyway, now I have a ridiculous number of pictures, most of which I won't have access to until I get home. I'm sure they're nice though.

Oh right. I was writing about my ride today. So yes, it was a lovely ride. I stopped in a park area along the lake for more pictures and a snack. A couple kids from a family, presumably of eastern European extraction based on their language, decided to go swimming. So they stripped naked. That ended my snack time. In the areas of smoking and decency, Europe is quite different from the US. And then the dad started filming them swimming. Yeah, time for me to move on.

So yes, I rode, and stopped for pictures, and rode some more and stopped for pictures. Sometimes I more or less rode 2 pedal strokes before I stopped for pictures. It was likely the longest it's taken me to ride 10 miles. The south end of the lake is the part I remember as being so amazing. It actually wasn't this time and that's fine. Maybe the angle of the sun in the afternoon vs the morning makes a difference. Whatever the case, I actually moved along faster in that area. Somehow I missed my favorite scene from the last time I rode here. I considered going back for it, but I had one more stop in mind before Bad Ischl.

There are 2 cable cars serving mountains that overlook the Traunsee, one in Gmunden, and one at the south end of the lake in Ebensee. I decided if the road to the cable car station wasn't too steep I'd try and catch the cable car before it closes at 5pm. I was able to take the 3:30 run and had ample time to take in the heady heights of a 1600m high mountain overlooking the most beautiful lake in the Salzkammergut, or at least in my opinion. It's really fascinating to look out over the surrounding area and see how truly the mountains start there along the Traunsee. You can See way off into the distance how flat it is and then look the other way and see a glacier on top of the Dachstein. It's pretty heady stuff.

Much bigger mountains starting about the middle of the lake

If you zoom in on the top right corner area you can see the glacier

I took thrast cable car down and hopped back on my bike for the final few miles to Bad Ischl. It appears I ended up on an alternative route for the first portion which was fine. It cut along quiet back streets and was actually a nice ride. The rest of the route runs rigth along the busy road on a bike path. While very very safe, it is rather noisy.

The Traun River which runs through the Hallstätter See and the Traunsee on its way to the Donau

I reached Bad Ischl at a very reasonable hour. It took me a bit to locate my hotel, mainly because despite using Google maps, Bad Ischl ist tough to navigate. Either it's a trap to prevent tourists from leaving, or whoever laid out the streets was drunk. Or it could just be the way old towns are. Streets originated from whatever shortcuts people took around town. My hotel tonight is actually a youth hostel with mixed gender rooms for very cheap. I always find that an awkward situation, but options in this area and even the more far flung surrounding area are absurdly limited. As in, if you ever wanted to start a hotel, this would be the place to do it. Bad Ischl ist a spa town and people come here for renewal of their health. Whetehr it actually works or not, I won't be here long enough to find out.

Something something Franz Lehar lived here

Tomorrow I'm headed for the Wallersee. A smaller lake, it along with the Mattsee, Obertrumersee, and Irrsee are all lakes I haven't visited before. I ran out of time and good weather in that area last time so I'll finally check them off my list. I still haven't settled my plans for the weekend, but I have given it some thought and I do have a direction I'm leaning in.

Today's ride: 27 miles (43 km)
Total: 269 miles (433 km)

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