E11: Eisleben – Zappendorf

Friday, March 30: Sunny but very cold to begin with; becoming somewhat warmer during the day

Hiking: 24.6 km

Nico’s

As breakfast was not on the menu here I decided to be up just before 8:00 to see if I could make sense of the trams to get to the station, buy some breakfast and a ticket & leave on the 8:57 to Eisleben.

Almost immediately there was a tram waiting which I took. First stop on board was the ticket machine which coughed up a reasonably priced ticket. Then to make sense of the maze of lines and work out where to change for the station. There was a relatively good guiding system (complete map with diodes lit in various colors to highlight the route) and conclude I would have to change after two stops at Franckeplatz. There was a longer wait there (practically a Sunday) or the last three stops to the station. A tram to the station pulled up eventually and just before getting on I checked the ticket & realised it still had to be validated! Did do immediately but it might look strange to an inspector. Fortunately there were none.

At the station the choice for breakfast was between Macca’s and a bread roll place; got two salami and two cheese rolls and packed them away for a bit later, bought the train ticket and realised that I could almost catch the 8:34 – but it had left by the time I had hurried to the platform. Spent the rest of the time having a look around and waiting on the cold platform. Train was on time and at around 9:45 I was in Eisleben. Took a street down to the main road where in the meantime a couple of supermarkets have set up shop, and along that to the center of town where I found a bank for some cash and the fried rice place from 2014 whose fried rice was still only €3.2. Made my way back to the track, taking a hunch at the Metaxa that the track went past there and it did. But there were very few isolated X11 signs, usually just the composite Luther Path/X11 which I then had to rely on, even if they weren’t everywhere.

Kind of misremembered the embankment the track goes along. At the end of it the track is very clearly signed to the right, and after 100 m to the left again, which would have saved so much agony the last time. Was soon in Unterrissdorf, then up an alleyway by the church and down to a road and the next village, and finally down to a turnoff at the edge of the village to the path along the Fresh Lake, with Seeburg signposted @ 6.9 km, getting me there just after 12:00. Groups of hikers and bikers passed in a steady stream and I was soon in the camping ground just before Seeburg. At the road entrance the signs were again unmistakable with Höhnstedt signed @ 2 km and Zappendorf @ 11. I forged on to Höhndorf, up the last hill towards the village (had passed a turnoff to Rollsdorf, so there was no need to take the road). In Höhnstedt the Luther Path does appear to split off, but the signage was clear (and remained clear for some time) that a right turn was necessary. Soon at the bus stop I took a seat for the remaining two bread rolls for lunch (I had had the other two for breakfast on the train), took off my jacket as it was beginning to reach about 10°, and then continued on to Zappendorf. The track is now quite high and goes along a set of vineyards and orchards, with a couple of cars that needed to be dodged. The exit to leave the hill was missing an X11 sign, but I could see no where the track could have departed, and in any case the next sign was complete. The track now meanders along various fields, arriving in Langenbogen, where there are signposted distances, even if the track – which now turns into the Brown Coal Track – was negligibly signed. With just on 4 km to go to Zappendorf and it being still early afternoon I was in no need of hurrying. The path now follows the Salza Creek with its billabongs.

Just before Zappendorf the Luther Path signs (many of which had the X11 posted over) reappeared, together with a map that I did my best to interpret. Seems like the E11 does take an arch to the north at Höhnstedt, and indeed I met it on the way into Zappendorf, complete with all the painted “X” that had been missing for so long. But why all the Luther Path signage? Obviously the tracks are identical from (just before) Eisleben to Höhnstedt. Here it might have helped to have had internet access last night and put a few images on the camera, or at least make some notes about the track. In any case I was now back on track, with another task in another four years.

OpenStreetMap

Found the bus stop rather quickly and notice that in addition to the scheduled buses there were on demand buses that could run hourly – I was there just before one of them might have arrived but it didn’t – so that left me with an hour to sit in the sun.

Friendly gent in a gym car asked whether he could take me anywhere – he was heading in the direction of Hannover (!) – really Celle – and was originally from Hannover himself, a brewer at Wülfel to begin with & then with htp before moving east. Genuine surprise that I, too, was from Hannover, but then he had some guests he had to deal with, although he later returned and said he could go via Halle, but by then my bus was just minutes away, so I thanked him and we left it at that.

My bus could be seen on its outward journey and I got on with another passenger when it returned. Ticket could also be used on the tram in Halle, so I reckon I’ve nearly got the transport system sussed out. We took on passengers in a number of nearby villages including Köllm where I spotted the track (again with the Luther Path signs – will have to watch out tomorrow). Then in town we went past those huge apartment blocks at Steintor/Neustadt, two of which looked to be in ruins. And we were soon at the main bus station which at least appears to be well organised. I went down to the station to await a tram and there was a ticket machine on the platform so I figured out how to it to issue me with a ticket back to Zappendorf.

Back at the flat there was no sign of Nico, so had a shower, washed the sox and then headed out to dinner. The one place I had eyed for schnitzel was closed which then involved a longer walk to see if I could find a Turkish place for a döner plate. The first one wasn’t opened but Antalya Bistro was and for €7.3 there was a huge plate of meat, chips & salad, and a beer. Hope that was worth it.

Might make it an early night tonight.