It is getting light when I have folded my tent and leave with a full backpack at 5.30am. The sky is unclouded and the first sunlight feels comforting.

I walk parallel to the Thaya northbound. After an hour I pass through the small village named Thaya. It is surrounded by hills and fields. Further north the route leads through woods and along fields and open land. Near the settlement named Radlmühle the path changes its course to the southeast. After some time I pass the town of Karlstein (south of Thuma). I have been looking forward to this for some time, as this is the town where the only clockrepairman school in Austria is situated. Between 1920 and 1925 one of their students was my own grandfather. It is strange to walk here and to realize that he, at that time a teenager, walked these streets as well. The weather is cloudy, and the path continuous southeastbound. The final 5 km of today’s hike take me across the banks of the river Thaya, as the river twists its way through a steep valley. It is very pretty and quiet, but after a while all the curves look endless to me. At the end of the day I arrive in Raabs, where I check in at the local hotel as there is no camping site. The restaurant has made a big mistake in its planning: tonight they have a dinerbuffet with all kinds of cold and warm dishes. I do my best to make the buffet as much empty as possible.