Day 9: That’s Germany

Deggendorf to Passau (62km)

It was a tense night in the tent, fortunately it didn’t seem to affect my sleep. I woke with the rain still falling, but most importantly, the tent still standing. I packed up and headed off for my last full day in Germany.

The picture below shows a shuttle service that crossed the river, mostly used by cyclists, there were a few of them today. I took a photo of it (and a family of swans) because well nothing else really happened today. For most of the day, there was absolutely no current as is shown by the picture of the buoy and as a result, progress was quite slow.

There was a lock just before Passau and once again I had to exit the water. This time however, the trolleys were there and made shifting my water based form of transport far easier. The lock also meant that the last few kilometres into Passau were quite fast and I arrived in the early evening. I was staying in a place very near the river’s edge, but the fast current, the multiple large boats and the steep concrete banks meant that finding a suitable place to exit was proving difficult. I eventually found a place, confident that I wouldn’t find a better one, I exited the water and dragged the kayak out.

Only a few kilometres from Austria, Passau is the last major town of the German section of the Danube. From the tiny stream that petered out into nothing, the Danube has transformed into a bustling thoroughfare for ships the size of castles. It has been a great introduction to the river and for me personally, to kayaking. The German section of the Danube has proved to be quite eventful and I am sure that many more adventures await, but for now, it is time to enjoy one last German Schnitzel before I transfer onto their Austrian counterparts.