Hiking from Witten to Bochum

I don’t think anyone was expecting the current decree was to be eased at the end of its validity, which would be the coming Wednesday. And indeed, it is apparently going to be extended. Well, at least this winter we can go hiking, which is already a huge difference to last year’s one.

Download kml / gpx

Just like always, as the rules were extended, or probably are going to be tougher, there were more people joining in this group. Today, there were probably something like 40 people. Part of the reason must have been the location, since we were in the middle of the Ruhr area, and this is the most populous area in whole Europe. No wonder that there were so many people joining.

And I have to say Witten is also one of my favourite places in VRR as well. It’s very different from the massive forests in the Sauerland. There’s a beautiful mixture of pastoral fields and well maintained post-pollution Ruhr forests. To be honest, as an experienced hiker I might be criticised for not going for sauvage places, but I really like this comfortable area.

At the train station, I had to control the vaccine pass of everyone. I did it partly in Düsseldorf, but with this shear number of participants there was simply no way making it shorter. When I finished doing it, the first ones who passed were already so far away that I actually didn’t see them anymore today.

When we come to Witten or Wetter, we usually cross the bridge over the Ruhr to go to the other side. It’s a pity that the railway line on the other side is not in service anymore (at least not for passenger trains), because there are still so many possibilities to explore. There was first of all this place this one hotel on the way where there was an exposition of random statues. We sort of got stuck there.

Then along the hiking path, there were also historical artefacts of the Ruhr area, which are related to the remnants of the industrial revolution. Today’s massive population in the northern area must have once worked in this area, although now it’s mostly covered in nature.

Well, I said a lot of good things about this area, but still it was just a winter hike – there was hardly any up and down throughout the day. Just a nice walk through the nature.

We had a break in this small city called Herbede. I stayed in a restaurant with a few other people. Today, in contrast to last week, my plan worked (essentially thanks to Zaman), which was to make everyone have their own break wherever they wanted. So I was in this small Greek restaurant with maybe 5 other people, which was legally totally fine (since we were less than 10). Apparently it was a good idea that I wasn’t in the first group, because there was no particular person they could have followed. Maybe I’m gonna do the same in the next ones as well :).

After the break, we crossed the Ruhr again (going over this ugly bridge). We then went along the Ruhr, which is a common place for the people from Bochum to enjoy their pastime. For us, maybe it was a bit too dull.

We then walked up the hill towards the university (behind which there’s a beautiful forest). As it turned out, the path I chose was extremely complicated. I wonder whether the first group took the same path.

Today, since we ended in a tram stop there was no ice cream there, but at least we had one at Bochum Hbf. Yes!