– Salt mountains to Haren –

From the feeling of an early riser, a haphazard Swiss and a fascinating spectacle.

Although I don’t leave the tent for the first time until half past eight, we remain the only awake people doing their thing for quite a while. Of course, it is still unstructured, but that will certainly improve tomorrow. Just because of the reason that it is already very warm at ten. After a good half an hour there is a muesli bar break, but after that we continue without any major interruptions to Lingen for a proper lunch break.

When we look for the bike path from there, we find that the map is probably outdated, because that’s where we meet the Swiss. Like us, he wants to go to the North Sea and was confused that Meppen is excellent in three different directions, as Lingen did before. So we stand three at this strange intersection, when a policeman on the bike asks down from the bridge where we want to go. Funnily enough, he consults a passer-by which way is more beautiful. We will meet the Swiss more often.

Arriving in Meppen, it’s time to buy water and have dinner. After that, we are both not particularly motivated to continue, but it is not late and our goal is 20 km further. Actually only about an hour drive, if it weren’t for the lock… And of course a ship is coming. Even a large canal freighter, on one of the first truly navigable sections of the Ems. So we watch as it empties, opens, the ships enter (a small motorboat to it) until the ships at the upper end can leave the lock again. Fascinating.

The last kilometers we walk along the old Ems, through floodplains and fields, until we reach the campsite in Haren after a small lap of honour through the city. We quickly set up the tent, took a shower against it and ate.

Now we sit comfortably by the water again to end the day (on a bench with backrest) and to write this text, but it is time to sleep and escape the mosquitoes.