Bonn to Duisburg

Cycling to Duisburg would also mean I’d reached the 1100km point on the return journey.

Today I left the hills behind and I’m not going to see them again as it will be flat all the way to Rotterdam.

The approach to Dusseldorf was interesting.  The cycleway southern approach was on a flood meadow and little could be seen of the city as it was obscured by the flood bank.

Over the past week I’ve seen several of the towers similar to the one in the above photo.  They look like airport control towers and my thought is they are river traffic control towers?

My butt was starting to get sore so I stopped and rested it for 30 minutes in a park on the northern edge of the city. Nice cycle path!

Initially I thought both towers in the photo below were part of the same building.  After further investigation I realised one was the cathedral spire and the other on the town hall.

The city Rathaus  (Town Hall)

Obviously the remains of an earlier tower, likely part of the city walls.  My understanding of German wasn’t good enough to read the plaque

Just north of Duisburg I found a quiet camping ground beside the Rhine.  Most of the residents appeared to be permanent, but the lady caretaker indicated they did provide tent sites for passing cyclists.  The cost was 12 euro with a further one euro to gain access to the showers.  These were on a timer (5 minutes). 

After establishing my campsite I went for a refreshing shower before sitting in my folding chair to rest. 

Within 30 minutes five more cyclists had arrived.

That evening I walked to ‘Gretchen’ the local pub/restaurant where I found yet more cyclists (mostly locals) enjoying an evening drink.

I settled on another pork schnitzel with chips and a side salad.  Washed it down with a coke!

Afterwards I watched the sunset over the river as several large barges and a cruise boat went past.

Another early night.  However it was quite noisy because of the river traffic.  The barges sound like approaching and departing jumbo jets.  I should have realised there would be continuous river traffic.