Day 5 - Duisburg to Cologne

The sleep I needed did not come easily and I woke at half six to have breakfast with Petra, having slept for only three or four hours.

After breakfast I walked down to the industrial port to take in the scale of the operation and try to get some good shots. This was not altogether successful as the port was far too large to view in a morning and much of it could be seen only from high bridges.

Returning to Petra’s at about 10, I found that no one was in the house to let me in, as I had expected. Suspecting that her kids, who had recently finished exams, were still in bed, I stubbornly rang the bell for around forty five minutes before conceding to walk to the nearest high street to find a computer and phone to contact Petra. On the walk through the quiet neighbourhood I noticed an open garage door, under which a man of about seventy was sorting and packing his various effects. In two minds, I gingerly approached the man and asked for his help. Within ten minutes I was set up in his office armed with laptop, phone and coffee. Seeing me studying Petra’s profile, the man asked her family name and on being told, announced that he played tennis with her father. The latter lived just across town and had a spare key for the house. A further fifteen minutes and I was lavishing praise on my slightly embarrassed helper and being led away by Petra’s friendly father. I packed up my stuff while he fixed the letterbox and soon I was ready to leave.

Leave I did at noon and made good time to Dusseldorf, averaging 17-18mph. The road I was on became a tunnel in central Dusseldorf so I had to find a back route. The path along the Rhine took me through parks and cool, clean riverside developments and, though slow, was very pleasurable. I came out along a track which followed the back fence of a compound which I later discovered held the higher regional court of law. A bevy of cameras and correspondents was gathered around the back gate to the compound to record the transit (in a Transit) of the ‘Sauerland cell’ of German Jihadists, who had been sentenced earlier that day. At the time I was, of course, not aware of this and passed across the background of several newscasters, no doubt spoiling the sobriety of their reports with the silliness of my spotted jersey.

The convoy of police vans then caught up with me at the junction where the track met the main road. I asked directions from the van at the front of the convoy and, apparently unmindful of the gravity of his day’s duties, the policeman happily gave me directions and pulled out alongside me, ahead of the rest of the convoy. There then followed a slapstick scene where by way of several miscommunications I played leapfrog with five police and one unmarked van as they failed to come to a common position on whether they should overtake or let me go. I can’t speak for the police or the fundamentalists but to me it was all very amusing.

Leaving Dusseldorf a little later than expected I made my way towards Cologne and the house of my fourth hosts, Barabara and Nils. They were into climbing and immediately took me to the local park to try slacklining. My tired legs failed to conquer the shaky slackline but I was quite impressed by Nils’ efforts and it was nice to let some local children play along the line as the sun set over the housing estates of north Cologne.

Distance covered 45 miles