Turning land inwards also meant that the hike will become a more strenuous than before. A quite hilly section of about 8 kilometers with elevations between 0 and 400 meters was ahead of me.
Though this does not sound very difficult it was actually this range of elevations that sometimes are the most tough ones. At these elevations you often encounter swampy wet places and places that are dry but which are very soft. Moving on that very soft ground especially when moving uphill is very energy consuming and it becomes even worse when the sun is shining (or if it is raining), sweat is running, and bull flies and other insects start to tease you vigorously.
This was actually the case. I refrain from using chemical repellents as long as possible using a cap with a fly net instead and keeping legs and arms covered. This works quite well for even more than reasonable waves of attacks. Beyond that, chemical warfare starts.
Unfortunately, especially the bull flies tend to creep below trousers to bite you at places of your skin not directly exposed otherwise. These bites start to itch strongly and itching may last up to two weeks which is a bodily reaction I do not experience for mosquito bites.
Reaching a level of attack beyond what can be responded to by physical means requires the last resort: chemical repellents. There are different kinds of chemical repellents that are advertised to be of help: the ones claimed to be biological/ecological or whatsoever and those that work. I went for the ones that work and used one that I bought in Finland. The trade name is OFF-Extreme or similar. It is not sold in Germany. For safety reasons I was told.
This chemical repellent works very well for bull flies. I used it on my face, my hands and legs. Bull flies do not vanish completely. They are still around and even sometimes land on your skin but -main point- they do not bite anymore. Mosquitoes have vanished at that time of the year so bull flies were my only airborne problem.
The situation at hand required the use of the mosquito repellent. The situation at hand, however, was unfortunate not only because of the sheer amount of bull flies attacking me but also due to the strenuous ascent on soft ground and in particular due to the strong sun shining on me.