Day 6: Today the sky cried

It was a bleak and cold 9 degrees this morning as we woke to a 6am alarm and packed to leave Oberammergau, destination Munich. At the bus depot we met the United nations; an Aussie South African who turned out to be the person who had missed the bus from Munich a few nights earlier, three elderly Japanese ladies, a couple of American backpackers and a husband and wife who were from great Britain and New Zealand respectively. We chatted and joked to take our mind off the cold whilst huddled together in the tiny shelter trying to keep our stuff dry. Bus came on time and back off to Munich. So lucky that the bus driver took pity on us in the rain and suggested that he drop anyone who wanted to be dropped in at Central at the main railway station. Hooray!!!!

Our hotel is literally a few paces from the station and it meant that we didn’t have to struggle up and down station stairs with our bags for only one stop! As we were there before 11 the room was not ready so we dumped the bags and headed back over to the station to review or Munich activity options.

We decided on a tour of Dachau with a small company that uses local train and bus to run their tours. Our guide Jason is actually American but has lived in Germany for 7 years with his German wife. His knowledge and sensitivity were amazing as we toured the “first” of the Concentration camps. I knew that this would be one of the most moving experiences of the trip, but I wasn’t quite ready for the overwhelming sense of sadness that overcame me as we went thru the steel gates into the prisoners area, the gate emblazoned with the Nazi message “Work brings freedom!!” Dachau holds an interesting place in Nazi history because it was the prototype for camps. It is where the SS did their training before being moved eastwards and it was established in 1933, only 2 months after the rise to power of the Nazi party. The horror of its development between 1933 where it was a reeducation facility for opponents of the Reich, to the awful scenes at the time of liberation was saddening beyond words. At the end of the tour we were both exhausted and soaking wet as the rain had poured all day and we were out in it wandering thru the camp. It was as though the sky was crying for the inhumanity and the loss. The sky wept... and we wept too.

Back in Munich, a warm shower and some dry clothes did much to warm us as we were now allowed into our room to unpack and head back to the railway for dinner on the concourse. It will be an early night tonight... Just so tired… in every way.