thats the Dutch / Belgian border above – where the hedge ends. Story below.
After the late night, it was a late morning with breakfast and coffee. Once again, it was just wonderful to catch up with Eric and Petra. We should go riding some time, but I think they love hills too much 😁
Out of Waalwijk, I followed bike paths all of the way to Tilburg, and then I took the Bels Lijntje the which is an old tramline which I followed for 25kms or so towards Turnhout. It was very well used by all sorts of cyclists and walkers.
i felt peckish so I stopped at the next bench and made my lunch. It turns out that I was about 50m from the border. A guy walking his dog asked me a heap of questions and told me a few stories.
Apparently, this area was well known for smugglers. The station behind me was huge with nearly 50 tracks. In the nearby town, there was a pub (which is now a Zeeman department store, where they had a billiard table that straddled the border. To escape the police, you just had to stand on the other side of the table.
Now, the border is nondescript. I’d love border crossings to be signposted more often. I think they’ve lost some atmosphere by removing everything. But that’s just me. The only way I know I’m in another country in central Europe is that my telco sends me a message.
As I approached Turnhout, the rain came down and it got steadily heavier. I thought I’d wait it out in a bus shelter… if I could find one. A big tree did the job for a while but the rain kept coming down. I rode past a petrol station and turned back and stayed there for at least half an hour until it became just a drizzle. That’s why today’s post doesn’t have many pictures.
Also, an old guy on a bike asked me if I was camping and where. He said there was better camping about 5kms closer. I went to a campground that sounded like his recommendation but I’m not sure.
When I arrived, the place was huge but very quiet. Schools had gone back this week and their customers had too. I could see rain clouds all around, and the caretaker expected more rain tonight. He offered to unlock a common room for me, but for some strange reason I said I’d prefer to pitch my tent.
As it turned out, it only drizzled a little bit and although the next morning was damp, I’d made the right decision. It didn’t look like I had, for most of the evening.
I had stopped by a Lidl supermarket and bought a couple of salads for dinner. I sat out at the table near my tent and ate my dinner and tried to catch up on blog entries until dark.
It was a nice feeling to be back travelling rather than visiting. The visits were so much fun and important to me from a social perspective though. It’s things like that which can break up a long trip and make it more enjoyable. I’ll have two weeks on my own before the next set of social engagements – all with Blundells this time 😁