My hotel was pretty budget and resided on a road called Reepbahn. Unknown to me this is the red light district of Hamburg and pretty sleazy it was too. This is the old port area and the sailors would come round the Pauli district for beer and sex, and nothing has changed since then, just no sailors and a lot more sex shops. Once you get away from this area and walk into the centr
e of Hamburg it’s a lot more pleasant. A third of the city was destroyed during the war so there aren’t many historical remnants but it is a nice city to walk around.
On the first night I got decided to have a walk around the Pauli district and check out a few bars. I got hassled so much buy prostitutes, literally pulling me to one side, that I decided to cut the night short and have an early night. I picked up a flyer for a three day rock festival on in the centre and thought I’d check that out the following evening. I stayed until halfway through the last band before I left. It made a change to see some live music, it was good.
This morning I left with waterproofs on yet again. It had stayed mainly dry for the previous day but the rain had returned. To leave Hamburg I had to cross the river Elbe. There is a tunnel but it is only open to pedestrians so I had to cross to the industrial side a few kilometres further down river. I used the GPS to aid my route and this is where it all went wrong. It took me the wrong direction, deep into industrial estates and into two or three dead ends. Then I got a puncture in my back tyre that resulted in me swapping for the spare inner tube. So far so bad, although the rain had stopped.
I did eventually get back on track, but I had been cycling for an hour and a half and got five miles up my root. So I pushed really hard t
o make up the lost time. This paid off in the end and I managed to claw some time back.
I arrived in Bremerhaven tired and a little damp. Pitched my tent and went and got some fuel for my stove and food supplies.