I had a good nights sleep at the monastery, and went down to a good, but very quiet breakfast. There were more people at breakfast than at dinner last night, but nobody said a word. I hadn’t finally decided whether I would split today into two parts, walking ca. 25km and doing the rest tomorrow, or taking all 38kms today. It would depend on my legs.
I left around 9am, and it was cloudy and fairly cold. Rain was forecast, so I decided to follow the Rhine biking route, instead of the official route that also follows a number of dirt paths, which could get wet with the amount of rain promised. It meant that I would be walking on tarmac all day.
I left Ilanz along a very quite road, with a gradual climb towards Castrisch and on towards Carstulien. It looked more and more like rain, and it finally came in Carstulien. I stopped and put on my rain cape, hoping it would soon stop again. The mountains were partly hidden by low lying cloud, but there were still some nice views. The rain intensified as I reached Carrera. I stopped to change shoes and put on my rain trousers under the watchful eyes of a group of sheep, which ran away when I opened the umbrella.
I continued towards Versam as the rain started falling heavily. A bus stopped and the driver asked if I wanted a lift. I declined but thanked her. In Versam, Google Maps indicated that there was a cafe and supermarket. The cafe was closed on Monday’s whilst the supermarket was only open until 11.30 – it was 11.35. At least there was a clean public toilet.
I reached todays highest point at 950m and it was more or less downhill from there. There was a steep descent from Versam, with hairpin curves and an old bridge across the river. I continued along a small road with four tunnels and roadworks along the road. There were some great views over the Rhein Alteriur and the gorges below.
It was raining more than ever now as I walked towards Bonaduz on a 4km long straight road. Super demoralising at the best of times, even worse in the rain. Thankfully the cars took a wide berth of me, so they didn’t drench me.
In Bonaduz I looked for a cafe, but couldn’t find any. A Coop supermarket was open, so I could buy a sandwich and something to drink. The rain stopped as I left town, passing through open countryside, eating the sandwich whilst walking.
I came to a junction in the river where the Rhein Alteriur merges with Hinterrhein and becomes the Rhein. I sat down and took my wet socks off and changed my shoes, back to the dry shoes I’d started the day with, and of course dry socks. The rest of me was perfectly dry, so it was like starting anew, with 25km down and 14km still to go. I felt fine, so decided to continue towards Chur.
Another climb to Tamins, from where I followed a path next to the Rhine for several kilometers. The sun was shinning, at times, and people were out walking their dogs.
As I reached Felsburg, a suburb of Chur, it started to rain again. I managed to find a bench undercover outside a kindergarten. I sat there for 15 minutes watching the school children leaving the school across the road. And the rain.
The combination of the umbrella and rain cape kept me dry. I crossed the Rhein and followed the railway track into the outskirts of Chur. Through and industrial and commercial areas, passing a barracks and car dealers before walking through a residential area close to the centre. I, unintentionally, took the long way through town, and could possibly have saved a kilometer or so if I’d taken the most direct route. The rain lightened and stopped before I reached the centre of town.
I checked into my hotel in the old town, tired after 38km, with ca. half of it in the rain. Not the perfect end to my trip through Italy and Switzerland with rain, but at least I have a day off tomorrow to explore Chur.
I had a good nights sleep and walked around Chur the next morning. It was cold, only 2 degrees when I left the hotel at 10am. I left my pack at a locker at the station. Chur is a charming city, with a car-free old town with many picturesque and well kept buildings. I visited the cathedral, a local bank to exchanges 30 francs that were no longer valid, and a massive hiking and climbing shop.
I ate lunch and took the train to Zurich Airport before flying home to Copenhagen.
