Day 16 – 115km – Milan to Piacenza

Canal Plus

The good thing about today is that unlike yesterday when I needed my malfunctioning GPS unit to work, today was easy navigation.

For 50km I basically went in a straight line south along a canal connecting Milan with the river Po at Pavia.

Then it was eastwards asking the dykes which keep the Po contained. Even though they were easy to follow, they weren’t as straight as the canal, weaving a serpentine path which significantly increased the mileage. It was also unrelentingly hot up there. No shade, no breeze.

The route seemed to avoid all towns, but even when I ducked in to try to find water I think even the crickets were hiding. Not a soul about, anywhere.

Increasingly desperate to slake my thirst I was delighted to finally spot someone in a garden. Not only that, he was pressure washing – meaning water! He disconnected his hose and filled my bottles, even asking (through universal sign language) if I wanted a dousing. I did! Well, on my head at least.

Refreshed, I was able to power through to Piacenza.

Tomorrow I’ve decided to change my route. The original had me heading east then due north. I’m going to try to use the hypothenuse instead, hopefully to get somewhere near Lake Garda by the end of the day.