Day 4 – June 29, 2025

It was our pleasure continuing our chat with Peter - we shared the breakfast, then we packed our stuff. We contemplated for a while whether we should cross Grossglockner, but due to various reasons (it was quite late and we had a bit too much luggage to carry), we decided against it. We did agree, though, to take a dip in the lake next to us. On the way there, Levente yet again experienced some grumpy locals - he was signalling he would turn, when someone from across almost ran him down, saying some words in German not worthy for this blog.

Still life at the campgroundBlue skies await us

The beach looked wonderful - but the water was anything but. It was shallow (like the southern shore of Lake Balaton) and full of seaweed. Hmmm, a good question for AI, is there seaweed in fresh-water lakes. Apparently, yes. We decided to dedicate half an hour to the beach vacation, we overachieved the target.

Shallow waters

After a detour (which was my bad), we found the bike path heading west, taking us to Kaprun. A tourist paradise, but once it was also hell. Some 155 people died in the year 2000 in a terrible disaster in a tunnel fire of a funicular leading to Kitzsteinhorn glacier.

The bike pathKaprun castleChurch on a rock - with Levente in frontLeaving townWhat a way to live!

For the majority of the trip, we were cruising together, following each other. At one point on the road, I noticed that Levente was nowhere close. Still, I was not really worried, knowing he is much faster than me - he would catch up. My phone suddenly rang - it was Levente, informing about a "slight" issue - namely that his chance had broken. While he was busy repairing the parts, I took the opportunity to cool down. Right next to my location was a lake - where you normally have to pay a couple of Euros - I convinced the lady to let me in for free. Mind you, after all the bashing of the locals, she was also Austrian...maybe this is the reason Austria is just the second unfriendliest country.

A technical issue...

The Austrians may not always be friendly, but their country is truly wonderful. Here are some impressions from that region.

What a beautiful countryWow...Even the wells are pretty...

In a small town, we did some cherry-picking - literally...it did not get noticed, so we were not scolded.

Cherry pickingViva la liberta!

In the afternoon, we reached a small settlement called Waldl in Pinzgau (BTW, just to confuse you, there are 5 Gau´s in Austria, these are Flachgau, Tennengau, Pongau, Lungau and Pinzgau). Here there was a bit of a confusing fork in the junction, but there was only one road where we were headed to - this was to the Krimml Waterfalls. WIth a total height of 380 meters, this is the tallest in Austria and one of the tallest in Europe, falling from 1,470 - 380 = 1,090 meters.

In the evening, we climbed a couple of hundred meters to the foot of the waterfalls. We made sure we had accommodation - and we (thought we) got lucky. There was a campground and they had vacancy. So far so good.

Me arriving at the campground about 20 minutes after Levente

Reaching the so-called campground, the following became clear:

1. This was not a real campground, it was just the garden of an outdated 4-star hotel
2. There were no toilets, the only ones were in the hotel, but that in turn was closed from 9 pm to 7 am
3. There was (following #2) no showers, only in the hotel, but that cost €3.50
4. (Of course) there was no electricity, at least not officially

For all this, they asked €46 from the two of us. Oh, and there was a pool, but using the outside pool would have cost €11, the inside one another €11. But that was anyhow closed for the night.

We talked to a Danish family of five, they literally cursed the owners. For providing a spot to spend the night, they were charged €63. For the entire family to take a shower, just once each, they had to pay €17.50 more.

On the positive note, they did not steal our bikes which we left at the entrance of the hotel, as we wanted to enjoy the waterfalls at night. Things such as food and pitching the tent could wait.

So we took a dash to capture the campground in the daylight, we still had an hour and a half. There were some benefits with us visiting at such late hour - there were hardly any tourists and there was no entry fee to be paid (which was anyhow included in our camping fee, but no one was checking at this hour). Interestingly, out of the few tourists we did see, most were from Arabic-speaking countries - and this was confirmed by the Arabic signs for taxis. Yes, you can also take a taxi up to the top, instead of hiking. Later, I learned that the Vienna - Zell am See - Salzburg - Munich route is now a beloved destination from the Arab world - with AI telling me that Zell am See actively marketed itself as a place resembling the paradise described in the Quran — with its blue lake, green meadows, and snow-capped peaks. The town itself receives over 300,000 Arab tourists annually. Hmmm, interesting.

Well, we decided to hike and what a hike it was! We did have a bit of trouble finding the trailhead, but once we did, we were awestruck. It is difficult to describe in words the ferocity of the water tumbling down (not sure if water can actually tumble, but whatever), the noise, the vapor it creates - very, very impressive. For whatever reason, I have lived 35 years in this country without visiting these waterfalls.

Force of Mother NatureWater, water, everywhereTowards the topJust a small section...Getting wet

There were three main section, we only had time to hike to the second one - it would have been really dark if we had hiked to the upmost section. On the way back, a mountain biker overtook us. We were told biking there is prohibited, but at least for the lower part of the trail, it would actually have been fun to bike it. Then we met two young ladies speaking Hungarian - with the few words we exchanged, it became clear they were there after work - probably in some restaurant.

Talking about restaurants, we were mildly hungry and upon the insistence of a Czech waiter, we sat down to enjoy some quite good soup, served with a pizza bread. We were sitting at pretty much the only table facing the falls - and while the view was impressive, the food good - the experience was offset by the large amount of flies. When we complained, they told us we were on a mountain and that would be normal. My a$$.

The view from the restaurant

Now it was time to pitch our tents. To our understanding, the lady at the reception (who, by birth, was from Chicago) told us we could place our tents pretty much anywhere, we chose a flat ground next to the pool, behind which was a wooden lodge with a porch - and even electric outlets! That was a welcome change. As we were busy with the set up, the owner came and started yelling at us that we were not supposed to sleep there and we would need to go further. I yelled back that it was his wife who told us we could, that made him shut up. But he was firm that there could be swimming in his pool - whatever.

This is how our fourth day ended.

Here is the link for the route of the day: Day 4 - June 29, 2025 - about 73 kilometers.