Here we are in Austria!Full of energy, we put our 2 wheels in Austria, towards the capital, Vienna. But before reaching the Music Capital, many obstacles were placed on our way.

Nota Bene: our Versailles roots makes us eager to learn more about the birthplace of the Habsburgs.

But before we had to go through many places: rising in front of our two Himalayans, the Großglockner Hochalpenstrasse mountain, a 3,798m of altitude monster; the highest peak of Austria, between the Carinthia and Tyrol mountains, was calling us to reach its summit.

The 30 or so curves winding through the pass put our young Himalayans to the test. With 27cc and loaded like sherpas, our Himalayans struggled, but did not flinch. We also managed to improve our mountain turn skills to be at the necessary driving level: the importance of the eye direction towards the end of the turn, having the correct gear at the correct time… At the top, the valley stretches as far as our eyes can see. The colors, marked by the end of summer and the beginning of fall, gush into our tired eyes. After going through another mountain pass, we discover with surprise, a glacier covering the top. We can state, with confidence, that this road is one of the most beautiful that we have ever taken.

On the following days, we discover Austria and its flat and infinitely straight roads, going through countryside and natural parks. We find on our road welcoming, warm and benevolent locals. We found Joseph, an Austrian farmer who welcomed us like kings, by letting us enjoy his swimming pool, but above all giving us long minutes of interesting conversations about the Austrian culture and its vision of life. An example for two young men at the dawn of their adult life.

We finally arrive in Vienna.

Happy to arrive in this beautiful capital city, we took this as an opportunity to rest our bodies after two intensive weeks of travel. After some visits and couch surfing encounters, we hit the road again, with our first mechanical setback coming right at us. Indeed, while driving Arnaud’s clutch cable splits in two, causing an emergency stop next to the Viennese airport. After paying a lot of money for an approximative repair at a questionable garage, we found “Hookie”, the manager of Royal Enfield garage in Vienna, who put the damaged Himalayan back on its feet.

After this stop, we hurried back on the road, passing through the monotonous roads of Hungary towards Romania.