thursday, 17th of july - 60 km (altogether now 664 km) 

happy birthday elisabeth! 

not sleeping in a bed seems to keep me more into the travelling /begging mode. when i got up today i was more relaxed than any other day so far, that might also have something to do with the weather - bright sunshine! washed my every day shirt, which had strange spots, hung it up to dry into the sun, got ready to go, put on the still wet (but wonderful cool) shirt and off i was. earlier than any other day.

only problem - no breakfast. i still had a banana from the other day and one more fruit bar from my mother. 

on the road i was eager to find a place to get breakfast, but there was nothing. i started to have the feeling that i was loosing strength - all in my mind, i think - and took some dextrose, given to me by carla in case of emergency.

one and a half hour later - weiden. a proper town with cafés and all. i checked into the first i liked and yippee! linda, the waitress liked my project and provided a great breakfast. sitting on the terrace eating and drinking green tea was all i needed! 

to build up the good mood i was in, i wanted to solve my other major problem - what is the best way to hof? they have a big tourist center in weiden which should know, i thought. they were nice, but didnt know. but the colleague in neustadt is an expert in cycling routes, i should go there. 

i arrived there round noon, after a nice older lady had tried to put me on the wrong track. found tourist information, no expert, only trainee. she was very helpful and gave me a very good cycling map of the region, but still, i could figure it out. 

since it was noon and time forl lunch, i tried all the restaurants that were open - no one cared (and some explicitly uninterested). only food i could get was three peaches from a turkish grocery. they helped.

the rest of the day was spent cycling through the picturesque landscape with a stop at a bakery in neuhaus, providing enough food for the rest of the day - two softhearted ladies.

after the birthday call with my sister, i only cycled two more kilometres to gumpen - hardly a village. got a hay mattress at a barn, water, toilet and electricity - what more could i ask for?