Since we came back from our France trip - unexpectedly - we found a home in Leuven to stay for a couple of weeks. The home was Bart and Babs' place (thank you thank you!), who were on holiday themselves. So, no concerns about covid restrictions and bubbles and all that, we could safely stay there without disrupting each other's daily lives... From their home, once they came back, we had another place to go but there was about a week in between. So, what do you do at that point? Hey, why, you go cycling of course!
Because of all the covid stuff, we had already decided to not leave Belgium anymore (well, not really) until things got more stable - or until we'd go back to Malaysia of course. So we made a tour through the south of Belgium, the long way from Leuven to Bentille via the Ardennes. What could have been about 150km or so if we did the short journey, became almost 600km in 8 days, with lots of elevation added to it - the Ardennes are not flat... We even came close to the highest point in Belgium (which is not a shocking altitude at all, but still).
Before diving into the pictures with more details, one thing: we absolutely loved cycling in the Ardennes and will definitely go back! In terms of cycling it was really good: lots and lots of great cycling trails through beautiful natural landscapes. In terms of camping it was much less - see pics.
We initially followed the system of "cycling nodes" (knooppunten https://www.fietsnet.be/routeplanner/default.aspx, a simple but wonderful network of cycling routes), until after a while in Wallonia where the system is not (yet?) systematically used. Then we followed both Randovelo and Ravel networks, or just Google Maps if there was no good alternative. These provided great routes, just a pity it's not a single system which easily helps to plan your journey - like the cycling nodes in Flanders do.
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Ready to leave "home" in Leuven. We first went by train to Hasselt, where we visited family, and then started cycling from there next day. Our plan was to cycle through the Ardennes, without a more detailed planning at that point, and definitely to camp. So: we had fully loaded bikes!
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In Hasselt (or rather, near Hasselt, in Kermt) we stayed at a natural campsite, only available during this summer season as one of the ways to compensate for the covid travel restrictions. It's called Buitengewoon Kamperen and is a great way to get out and get some fresh air in a green and peaceful environment!
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We cycled through Limburg and crossed the river Maas (Meuse) near Eijsden. So far for our "not leaving Belgium anymore": Eijsden is in the Netherlands... As you see, with the masks on, it's all covid proof... In Eijsden we had a cold drink, then cycled a little while through Holland and soon back into Belgium.
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Once in Voeren, the terrain was more undulating, and with the warm weather climbing became a sweaty affair - but so much worth it!
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Leaving the campsite in the morning, my bicycle felt very audacious to mingle with the big bike brothers.
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Day 2. We had seen rain clouds and showers around us, and at the end of our coffee break it was our turn to get a downpour. No heavy rain, but enough to get thoroughly wet if not wearing any rain protection...
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A wet, misty look over the Weserthal dam, a huge water reservoir.
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Quite an impressive dam - and I had never heard of it before!...
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From Eupen it was a long (20-ish km), gradual climb up towards the High Fens (Hoge Venen), at more than 600m altitude. With a light drizzle, the temperature was very nice for uphill cycling.
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Fantastic forests for miles and miles without any concrete or bricks, something you can hardly find anywhere else in Belgium.
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Great cycling, pleasant weather and beautiful nature equals happy cyclists!
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More of the superb Ardennes nature!
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Closer to the higher regions of the High Fens, the road became a track, slightly more demanding and technical cycling but even more rewarding!
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Near the highest point of our trip (and yes, it was definitely a highlight)
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On the long and pleasant downhill, time for a lunch break. With the rain not subsiding, even though it was only a drizzle, we were lucky to find a nice shelter at this hunting cabin.
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The end of a beautiful cycling day, after a long and nice descent, and some more up and down hills, arriving at the lake of Robertville.
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Setting up our camp. This campsite setting is typical for Belgium. While the environment is really nice, your tent is surrounded by big campers and caravans - or even worse as you'll see later. It just kills the feeling of being out in nature.
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The lake of Robertville was very nice however, with a short evening walk as a desert after a (very typical) pasta pesto camp dinner.
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Late evening sun reflecting in the lake.
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| One of the best times of the day to enjoy the scenery and take some pictures: golden hour! |
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Just a few photographs to paint the picture, with colourful wildflowers among lush greenery.
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More golden hour...
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And the final one; I'm not the cow photo guy, but really liked this one, with the beautiful light and long shadows!
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Back on the road, on a Ravel now. Ravel means something like "slow travel network", often using old railways which have been converted into walking and cycling trails. No cars or other motorised traffic, no steep inclines, just great cycling!
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And the views are as great as any!
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On the Randovelo routes, when not using a Ravel trail, roads are generally rural, quiet backroads, still perfect for cycling. In this region we touched Luxembourg, it was literally on the other side of the road, but at least we kept to our intention to not cross into another country...
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End of day 3, Bastogne campsite (Le Renval). It may look nice, on a green pitch next to a little forest, but when you look the other way...
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... this is what you see. Basically, a lot of campings in Belgium have these permanent dwellings, and often it's quite a random, messy, unpleasant settlement. In this case, the camp fee was high, the campsite surroundings not nice, not well maintained at all, the washrooms dirty and smelly... This is such a pity, as there is so much beautiful nature in the Ardennes where we could have ideal "back to nature" campsites. Reality is, there are hardly such natural campsites, too many have this kind of mess unfortunately (although Bastogne was particularly bad).
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So, this last picture kind of sums up the lesser side of our trip. While the cycling has been absolutely great and worth repeating, camping has not been that nice. In part 2 there will be some improvement in this, but still...
