The BCT Day Three - Vernayaz to Salgesch

We strolled through the gorges of Vernayaz before getting back on our bikes this fine Sunday morning. Sometime, we agreed, we'd come back and hike up the old diligences route towards Chamonix.

Cycling alongside the Rhone again, we stopped for coffee in Fully, and for a swim in the very popular lake of les Iles. In Sion we feasted on pizza and beer, and farewelled Gary and Scott, off home to Küssnacht by train.

Sierre's ode to cycling

The remaining three of us now rode on to Sierre and up through little country lanes lined with vineyards to Salgesch, our destination for the night. Plenty of caves for the degustation of the famous local wines - but it was Sunday! So instead we took the train and the vertically challenging bus ride up to Leukerbad, where we wallowed in the thermal baths under threatening clouds. Heavy rain eventually cooled our heads as our skin wrinkled in the 30°water. Limited opportunities to eat on this sleepy Sunday night saw us eventually being served a meal of sorts by a linguistically confused but friendly Albanian. And then it was back to Salgesch and our quaint but noisy hotel, about a metre from the busiest railway line in the country.
56km, 1174 calories, 4hrs 30.