Antwerpen (pilgrims house) — Lier (community accomodation) — Londerzeel (camping) — Ninove (pool camping) — Doornik (warmshower) For Belgium, I took the route to Antwerpen instead of following the standard Jacobsroute for bikes, and passed the Dutch-Belgian border without any notice. The weather was sunny and the landscape in the beginning was beautiful. Soon it […]
The Netherlands
This time, I started my journey from Zaandam. A place I still call home in my heart. A place where I grew up. Before I could get on the bike, a few curious people came and asked where I am heading to. Some were amazed of the 2k kilometers that I may take towards Santiago. […]
Day 9 Ninove – Doornik (68km)
Today started as a beautiful day. Sunshine, hilly landscape, wide view. Just took my time to enjoy. So different than the comfort at home, which is also an imprisonment in some way. Gerardsbergen is a big settlement that I came across. With a nice center, city hall, market. And they have their ‘Manneke pis’ too! […]
Day 8 Londerzeel – Ninove ( 45+ km)
This morning I woke up with rain. Weather forecast showed raining the whole day. I tried to stay in my sleeping bag a bit longer as it will be a short biking day. Yesterday, I found a pole camping space at 30 kms from where I stayed. I am quite curious to that! And on […]
Day 7 Lier – Loenderzeel (31 km)
This morning I got breakfast served at 8am, and had a late departure. I went to the Sunday morning church service. The lady from Antwerpen albergue recommended the lithurgy performance of members from this community. They had a rehearsal at 10am, and the service started at 10:30am. Though I am not religious, I found it […]
Day 6 Antwerpen – Lier (17 km)
A short bike day today, from Antwerpen to Lier. Here I stay in de Brug, a community that allows pilgrims to stay for one night, for free, as a service. They also take the refugees. I hoped to experience a glance of their community life. Unfortunately, due to covid, they have to settle the visitors […]
Day 5 Ulvenhout – Antwerpen
This morning I took the route to Antwerpen instead of following the standard Jacobsroute for bikes, and passed the Dutch-Belgian border without any notice. The weather was sunny and the landscape in the beginning was beautiful. Soon it became the standard lowlands landscape and I started to practice Vipassana while bicycling. This is doable as […]
Day 4
Woke up this morning, I hear raindrops on my tent. Weather forecast predicted rain the whole day. So I decided to take a ‘rest’ day today, as this camping has also this nice hut with many books to read, and a place to relax. When I ask whether prolonging my stay is possible, the father […]
Day 1 Zaandam – Haarlem – Noordwijkerhout (+/- 45 kms)
I started my journey again this morning, from Zaandam. A place I still call home in my heart. A place where I grew up. Before I could get on the bike, a few curious people came and asked where I am heading to. Some were amazed of the 2k kilometers that I may take towards […]
Day 3 Barendrecht – Ulvenhout (+/- 50 kms)
Weather today started cloudy. Fortunately no rain. Biggest part was to get out of the greater Rotterdam area, with all those industrial zones. Came across Barendrecht and Zwijndrecht. Last year, I got 2 interview rounds there for a job. One of the few. At the second round, my mind was excited, while my body was […]