Back on the Mainland
Of Belgian Hospitality and Cow-ards
In this blog post
Jana gets some weird looks from locals in France, we get on much better with the Belgians and get attacked by a cow!
A Glimpse behind the Shower Curtain
Back in France, we quietly ride side by side on the empty feeder road to the harbour for some time. We both feel a bit blue – I miss the hilly and diverse landscape of England already! Here, everything is suddenly flat, rather barren and run-down (well, Dunkerque is probably not one of France’s most prestigeous cities). We stay at the Unicorn campsite again, mainly because of the unbeatable price of €9.50 per night. While the campsite was deserted during our last stay, the place is now full to the brim when we arrive in the late afternoon. There are mainly motorhomes and campervans from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.Â
The site has a large sanitary building with two separate areas – one in pink, the other one green. During our last stay, we had already wondered why there was no signage to distinguish between the men’s and women’s areas. “But well”, we think, “the French have always been a bit more relaxed about that sort of stuff, they must be unisex sanitary facilities”.Â
Just like during our previous stay, I walk straight through the green doors to the showers and am eyed with irritation by an older man who is washing his hands. I don’t think anything of it at first, but as I’m also being eyed rather hostilely by some of the surrounding gentlemen as I leave the shower cubicle, it dawns on me that I’m probably in the men’s area. Oops!Â
I could have sworn that during our previous stay, judging by the smell of shower gel, a man had showered in the pink sanitary facility in the cubicle next to me (and Joel on the other side…)!Â
Belgian Hospitality
The day that lies ahead is quite the challange: We have over 90 km ahead of us to the Onderdale bivouac zone, where we plan to spend the night.
Bivouac zones in Belgium
A bivouac zone is a designated area where overnight camping (with or without a tent) is allowed free of charge for 1-2 nights. Bivouac zones are located in the middle of nature and cannot be compared to a campsite: There is no drinking water and only in a few cases a dry toilet or a pump for washing water.Â
Larger groups and motorised vehicles are not allowed.Â
Important rules that should be observed: No noise, no open fires outside designated areas and no littering.
Do not leave anything in the bivouac zone except your footprint!
For some bivouac zones you have to register in advance by phone/mail for free.
What do we say about the bivouac zones?
We think the concept of bivouac zones is brilliant, as it allows hikers and cyclists on a budget to experience Belgium without having to stay in expensive hotels. Campsites are rare and overpriced outside the Antwerp- and seaside area. If you prefer to spend the night in nature rather than in a crowded campsite, this is definitely the place to be!Â
Further information on and descriptions of the individual bivuac areas is provided on www.bivakzone.be (belgian/english).
After 10 kilometres we leave France and are back on the unique Belgian cycle paths (we even suspect there are more cycle paths in Belgium than roads…)! The wind is starting to become an enemy to us. Although everything is flat, we have to pedal hard to make progress.
45 km on we are pretty exhausted and take a break on a narrow strip of grass between the road and the forest, which gives us a little shade. It is Sunday, so there are hundreds of cyclists on the road. Some greet us, some eye us sceptically as we set up our camping chairs by the side of the road.
Just as we are about to unpack our lunch, a car stops next to us with screeching tyres. A middle-aged man grins out the window and holds out a plastic container to us. “Do you want a strawberry?” or something similar, the man asks in Flemish. Joel replies in English, “Sure, brilliant, we love strawberries!” Curious, the man parks his car and we chat for a while about our journey and the route ahead. Bram, that’s his name, has a lunch date with his parents. At the end of the conversation, he gives us the whole pack of strawberries! We take another selfie, then Bram jets off. At this point, an apology goes out to Bram’s parents, who had to do without their dessert because of us! Sorry guys but those strawberries were delicious!
We still have 30 km to go. It’s 4 pm and the sun is blazing hot. We have a few litres of drinking water with us, as there will probably be no water in the bivouac zone. During a short break, Joel notices that my backpack is completely soaked – one of the water bottles had leaked. We survey the damage and dry our belongings as best we can, but our drinking water supplies are now really running low. Â
In a small village we ask an elderly lady who is watering her flowers for water. She only speaks Flemish, but we can understand each other reasonably well with English, German and Flemish. She invites us in and we chat at the dining room table with her and her husband, who speaks a few bits of English while she fills our water bottles. The two have lived in this village all their lives, their daughter lives in the house next door. He remembers that many years ago a couple from England had come by the village on a motorbike. They had asked him for help and together they had repaired the motorbike.Â
An Unscheduled Stop
Refreshed, we cycle on. We move from cycle paths along major federal roads to a picturesque tarred cycle path along a river. On the other side of the bank, canoes bob up and down in the water, a family with a dog splashes in the shallow water, which can be reached via a small bay. The cool water looks so tempting, but we have to keep going because we want to reach our destination before sunset if possible.Â
The path is perfectly flat, yet I find it increasingly difficult to pedal. My speedometer shows me only 14.5 km/h, although we don’t even have a headwind at the moment! Joel calls out, “Come on, Beanie!” But I gasp: “Sorry, that’s all I can do.” I take a look at my front tyre, then I understand: Not again! The second flat tyre in a fortnight!Â
But oh well – we pull off to the side of the road and change the tyre. We are too tired to look for the hole in the tube, so we just replace it, done. Well, not quite, because Joel bought a new (“really great!“) air pump, but didn’t read the manual beforehand. Now we have a new pump, but it just won’t fit on our French valve (note: in the meantime we know how the pump works and it is really quite good…). Fortunately, the old air pump is still in our luggage – at the very bottom of a pannier bag.Â
After a lost hour we continue. Another 10 km. Another 5 km. It feels just like dull pedalling. Finally we branch off onto an inconspicuous forest path and – tadaaa!Â
Don't be a COW-ard!
We have found the bivouac zone, in the middle of the forest in a small clearing. It is really beautiful. The last rays of sunlight shine through the leaves of the surrounding trees making the tall grass rustling gently in the wind look like a green ocean. There is a small firepit and a wooden platform of which some of the beams have broken off. There is no sound but the rustling of the forest and the chirping of the birds.Â
Unfortunately, the water pump actually doesn’t work. We use some wet wipes to “wash” ourselves after a hot and sweaty day, put up the tent and I start cooking while Joel sets up the tent.Â
Suddenly we hear noises as if someone is moving through the tall grass. More travellers?Â
No, as we peer through the thicket, a couple of cows appear in the distance. Cows in the forest? Joel checks the situation and is reassured: the animals are separated from us by a fence. Two minutes later, a cow steps into the clearing and innocently munches on a few blades of grass. A hole in the fence? Well, I think, it’s only a cow, it won’t eat us. But Joel is visibly worried. (Especially about the cow chewing on our tent or lying on it during the night…). The cow curiously comes closer and examines our tent, but at some point it turns around and disappears again in the same direction from which it came.Â
After a while, the other cows get bored too, turn away and trudge off through the forest. Our new friend is the only one left behind – and starts to panic. Apparently she can no longer find the hole in the fence through which she escaped. She starts an attempt to jump over the fence, but fails and gallops away, further into the forest. When the hoofbeats are no longer to be heard, Joel inspects the fence in search of a defect.Â
Then the hoof stomping gets louder again – Mrs. Cow comes galloping back and Joel has to dart out of the way to avoid being trampled to death.Â
One can only hope that our tent never stands in the way of a cow panicking. A loud crash: The cow has completely destroyed the fence while trying to cross and is now back in the circle of its kind. An exciting encounter.Â
We eat our risotto at dusk while 1000 mosquitoes and flies buzz over our heads (we don’t have mosquito spray – Joel said you don’t need that sort of stuff in England). As we brush our teeth and climb into the tent, some deer cross the clearing about 10 metres away. Enough animals for today. Good night.
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A Bucket of Rain
I slept amazingly well, no cow nibbled our tent or stole our food. The sun is shining and we pack up our things. In the distance we hear the rumble of thunderstorms.Â
Almost everything is packed (luckily also the tent), when suddenly it starts bucketing down so hard that within a few minutes our towels, clothes and everything else lying around (including my cap, Clementine) are completely soaked. Two minutes later the sun is shining again. Thanks for nothing! Today I ride without my cap, while Clementine dries on the rear of my bike.
On and On through Belgium
As our water supplies are running low, we go to a small shop in Ursel to get some more. When we arrive, an employee is cleaning up. She calls out to us that she is closed on Mondays.
After one look at our bikes (and our desperate faces) she finally says: “Well, what do you need? I can sell you water and biscuits!” Great, that’s all we need! And with full water bottles we continue towards Ghent. A green sign at the side of the road shows us the way: Ghent 10 km. After another 5 km along the same canal we see the next sign: Ghent 10 km. Joel shouts in exasperation: “If there’s another sign that says “Ghent 10 km”, I’ll tear it out and throw it into the river!“ He hadn’t had a coffee yet today.Â
When we arrive in Ghent, almost all the shops are closed (Monday seems to be a popular day of rest here…), but at lunchtime we find a fritterie near the trainstation where we get a huge load of chips, coffee and Coke for less than €10. Great! We eat our fill and head off – the area is a bit dodgy and the people around us are drinking strong beer (7% at 12 am!), burning 20€ banknotes and (presumably) shouting insults at people of colour.
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After 20 more kilometres with ever the same scenery (but almost no headwind), we arrive at the Groenpark campsite in the early afternoon. I’m pretty tired and take a short midday nap in the tent.Â
I wake up and Joel’s bike is no longer in front of the tent. Didn’t he say he was just going to take a shower? No way,I think, someone must have stolen the bike! While I was sleeping in the tent! How could this have happened?Â
A few minutes later it turns out that Joel was actually just out shopping.Â
We drink beer in our camping chairs by the river and relax a bit, we really need it after yesterday!
Belgian Chocolates
What we remember when we think of Belgium? The many vending machines on the side of the road. There are vending machines (automaats) for everything: mostly for bread and strawberries, but also for eggs, cheese, sausages and chocolates. Chocolates? “Hold on a second,” I call out to Joel, “there’s a chocolate vending machine! Didn’t we want to bring Luise and Eric something from Belgium?”. And what could be better than Belgian chocolates from a vending machine?Â
So we stop in front of the Valentino shop and it takes us a while to figure out how the machine works from the Flemish instruction manual. Too long, apparently, because the saleswoman comes out of the shop and asks us if we need any help (since we’re videotaping the whole thing, we’re probably acting a bit strange…) and the saleswoman disappears back into her shop after we’ve assured her that everything is fine.
After a (successful) chocolate purchase, we go into the (wonderfully air-conditioned) shop to explain to the shop assistant why we were standing in front of the vending machine for so long. A huge selection of chocolates is waiting behind the counter! We just have to try one (as a little snack…). I take one with “Apple Pie” flavour and Joel Crème brulĂ©e. We want to pay, but the shop assistant waves us off and says: “It’s on the house!”
Back to Square One
After another night on a (somewhat run-down) campsite and another one in a bivouac zone (this time with a working water pump – wonderful!) we head back to Germany after 5 days in Belgium. For the hen party of my friend Maggi.
And so, on Thursday morning, we race up the 50 km and 500 metres of altitude difference from Hoeselt through Maastricht to Aachen in 3 hours 20 minutes. At 12:40 we are back in Germany!
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