http://www.overlandtales.com A wintry overland odyssey travelling through Europe and across Russia and Mongolia into China and beyond. Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:08:57 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en INSERT_MAP If it's convenient, listen to this song whilst you read this entry. Cheers!I was determined to replace my paperweight of a laptop with something more functioning, so I used Munich's great public transport network to buzz me over the river and to a branch of the German electronics store ... http://www.overlandtales.com/in-muenchen-steht-ein-hofbraeuhaus/ 48.141807 11.580276 INSERT_MAP The chuckling landlady was still just as full of relentless serotonin as I lumbered down for breakfast, joining the only other guest, a middle-aged German lady of a greasy yellow appearance whom I shall call Frau Wachs. She was also incredibly friendly and probed me politely about my connections ... http://www.overlandtales.com/munich-beerhalls/ 48.141807 11.580276 INSERT_MAP On paper, Liechtenstein is utterly beguiling. Apart from its aforementioned surprising world-leading denture industry, I'd also read the thirty-five thousand strong country (just a shade more than my own one-horse hometown) was ruled by a meddling Prince (no, not the singer formerly known as) who lived in a castle ... http://www.overlandtales.com/backpacking-southern-germany/ 47.546466 9.682045 INSERT_MAP With a long ride ahead of me I set off bright and early, picking my way down to the southern shore of Lake Zurich and following the road that hugged it, taking in the houses located with prime position on the sloping northern shore. Soon the buildings started to ... http://www.overlandtales.com/backpacking-in-liechtenstein/ 47.14443 9.521713 INSERT_MAP I joined the Koreans for breakfast in the common room and we all stared mutely at the TV screen showing the views from the Jungfrauhoch, which were greyer than ever. They had decided to stay on for a few more days - as long as their supply of satsumas ... http://www.overlandtales.com/backpacking-zurich/ 47.37836 8.53775 INSERT_MAP Everything seemed to be going swimmingly, so it was about time for something to go wrong, and it did so in a pretty spectacular fashion today. Pulling out my laptop from my bag this morning, the screen fired up with a bright and cheery row of multicoloured parallel lines ... http://www.overlandtales.com/have-you-tried-turning-it-off-and-on-again/ 46.686543 7.855911 INSERT_MAP With my arsebone fully repaired from the day before yesterday's forty mile cycle ride I set out to get another thirty under my belt, aiming for the backpacker-friendly location of Interlaken, the gateway to the Swiss alps and the apparently jaw-dropping Jungfrau region of craggy, snowy mountains. Once again ... http://www.overlandtales.com/backpacking-interlaken/ 46.686543 7.855911 INSERT_MAP I awoke with more complaints than a British Gas call centre, which immediately decided that my trip to the little German-speaking Swiss capital of Bern would be by train rather than by bike. I bagged an expensive but pretty looking train ticket - a rather fetching blue with white ... http://www.overlandtales.com/berne-backpacking/ 46.950028 7.448044 INSERT_MAP Approximately three-quarters of Switzerland is mountainous, so at first it might not seem the most appropriate country in the world to tackle on a pushbike. Mountains do, however, tend to go hand-in-hand with rather more traversable valleys and lakes, and it was the latter that interested me most in ... http://www.overlandtales.com/backpacking-switzerland/ 46.519717 6.632116 INSERT_MAP I try my best to extract the good from any unfortunate situations I end up in. In this case, the sole upshot I could think of from sharing a small, unventilated room with a garlic-breathing pensioner with a penchant for sleep-pissing into sinks was that at least no vampires ... http://www.overlandtales.com/geneva_convention/ 46.204146 6.139963