Day 19 – Biel to Erlach (26,5km) – Wednesday 19.07.2023
Today we went to breakfast at 7:30. Since I was very hungry, I ate a lot and so I didn’t leave the hotel until 9 a.m.
After about 10 minutes I left the city behind me and went straight up some stairs to a viewing pavilion. From there you had a very good view of the city and the lake.
Then we continued up the slope. You could always get a beautiful view of Lake Biel.
Later the path changed into the forest and for a long time I could only guess where the lake was. It continued uphill and in between you could see the lake again in the distance. After a long section of forest, I went down the mountain through a gorge. The water splashed down the slope next to me and when I left the gorge again, I was once again standing in the vineyards and was able to enjoy the great view.
I then followed the vineyards for a long time. At some point I came across a church that was built directly on the hillside. In addition to a stamp, there were also delicious drinks in the church. With the outside temperature now over 30 degrees again, I treated myself to an iced tea while I enjoyed the view.
With the wonderful weather and the lake in view, I decided to look for a spot at a campsite by the lake this evening so I could go swimming for a bit. To do this, I first walked through the streets of the towns of La Neueville and La Landeron, where beautiful colorful houses adorned the path.
Finally I reached the end of the lake and from there turned onto the peninsula where I wanted to look for a campsite. I walked along the lake for a while. Unfortunately, when I asked my chosen campsite about a free spot for a tent, I was told that all spots were full for that night. In order to avoid having to walk unnecessarily from one campsite to another, I called another campsite in advance. He still had a spot available for me. Before I went there, I bought a few things at the supermarket for the evening and then made my way there.
When I arrived there, I was warmly welcomed by the groundskeeper, who showed me a small place in the shade for my tent. Then we talked a little more about my tour and when I said that the area here was very beautiful, he just replied “Where isn’t it beautiful?”. I actually had to agree with him that so far almost all the areas I’ve walked through have been very beautiful in their own way. After a few minutes he wished me good luck on my further journey and I quickly set up my tent so that I could go into the lake. A few minutes later I found myself swimming in the lake. After 26 kilometers it was a nice cool down in this weather, which I really enjoyed.
After cooling off, I prepared my dinner and then sat on a bench by the lake to write in my diary and read a bit. I discovered that after today’s tour I have reached exactly 500 kilometers since I started from home. The little detour to the other campsite made this milestone possible for me. Although I still have almost 2000 kilometers to go, I was very happy that I had at least made it this far.
Later in the evening I enjoyed the sunset. Afterwards I lay down in my tent and quickly fell asleep there.
Day 20 – Erlach to Murten (17,9km) – Thursday 21.07.2023
After being woken up by the sun at 6 a.m., I packed up all my things, had a coffee by the lake and then set off at 7 a.m.
First I walked up to the town’s castle, from where you could see the other side of the lake. I saw the route I had covered yesterday. Then I went back down to the village and walked along the lake through the forest.
I soon reached Vinelz and some time later also Ins. There I bought my breakfast again in a supermarket and then ate it outside of town on a bench between vegetable fields.
The path then led through the forest again for a long time before I came to a river, which I had to cross over a bridge. We then continued along a dirt road towards Sugez.
After a while I started to have slight pain in the lower shin of my right foot. I retied my shoes and took a short break. Unfortunately the pain got worse and worse and I limped a little. So I decided to go to the nearest campsite and relax there to prevent anything worse from happening. After securing a spot at the campsite in Muntelier, just under 3km away, I limped off again.
After a while I arrived at Lake Murten. There the path led through a nature reserve on the edge of the lake. There were always small viewing platforms from which you could look at the lake and the animals in the water.
Strangely enough, the pain in my leg got better over time and by the time I got there it had more or less disappeared. Since it was only 2 p.m. and I now had half a day off, I used this time to take a long swim in the lake and relax. After hiking for a few days, I tried to protect my feet as much as possible and spent the rest of the day alternating between reading and swimming until the sun slowly began to set.
In order to give the body enough time to regenerate, I went to sleep soon.
Where the pain came from so suddenly and why it went away so quickly remained a mystery to me, but I was happy that I could walk again without any discomfort.
Day 21 – Murten to Avenches (18,6km) – Friday 21.07.2023
Today I was woken up at half past seven by a thunderstorm. Unfortunately, a heavy rain started right away and I didn’t have time to take down my tent in the dry. So I just stayed there until the storm passed and it stopped raining. At around 7 a.m. I left my tent and started to take it down, shake it out vigorously and then pack it up.
Due to the bad weather forecast for today and the pain in my leg yesterday, I decided to go for a short walk to Avenches today. Since it was only 18km to this destination, I should easily reach it before the reported thunderstorm at 3 p.m.
First we went back through the forest along the lake to Murten, where I bought something for breakfast and then ate it on a park bench. As soon as I set off again, heavy rain started again. I stood under the roof at the entrance to a swimming pool and waited for about 10 minutes. When the rain calmed down again, I set off again.
The path then went back along the lake to Graug. There he turned away from the lake and I followed the path through the forest. Luckily, when it started to rain heavily again, I was passing a sports field where there was a covered place for me to sit. Here I waited again until the rain stopped. One apple later I went on again. I was accompanied by light rain showers the whole way. Sometimes I took shelter somewhere or just kept walking. The pain in my shinbone from yesterday was no longer noticeable today, which may simply have been due to the slow pace of today.
Shortly before 1 p.m. I saw my destination, Avenches. The city of Aventicum, which was important in ancient Rome, still has many places that are reminiscent of its heyday under the Romans. As soon as I entered the village I passed a dilapidated theater and the temple of the old city.
Further into the town center I visited the magnificent amphitheater. Although I have seen many documentaries and read many books about ancient Rome, what I saw fascinated me again.
Then I took a detour to the Roman museum. As always, I was impressed to see what the Roman people had built and achieved at that time, only to disappear from the map again a few centuries later. After all, almost 20,000 residents lived in the Roman city in its heyday before it was completely abandoned in the Middle Ages and then fell apart. Today’s village with almost 5,000 inhabitants seems relatively small. After all, more people followed the fights in the amphitheater back then than actually live there today.
After my interesting visit to the museum, I continued through the village to the youth hostel, which was to be my place to sleep that night. Since I can’t get into the room until 5 p.m., I sit downstairs in the break room and write on my blog.
Later that evening I had dinner at the youth hostel with my roommate and then rested for the rest of the evening. Since I only did smaller tours today and yesterday, I didn’t really feel broken. But these smaller tours will definitely be good for the body and give it more time to recover. Although I no longer had any pain while running today, this little break will definitely be beneficial. So I hope that I can continue to run without pain in the coming days and cover more kilometers again. The weather should get better again at least in the next two days, before thunderstorms are reported again at the beginning of next week.
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