Through the Water
Netherlands & Belgium: Stage 10 – Maastricht to Hasselt 47 Km (Fri 15 July 2022)
Weather: 12⁰C min – 23⁰C max, glorious blue sky with fluffy white clouds
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever” ~ John Keats
Perfect weather again and I couldn’t wait to seize the day. After breakfast and an interesting chat with Hamid I set off at about 8:45 am, following the Meuse river for the first 14 km. Under a blue sky with fluffy white clouds the river took on a different complexion today. It helped too that the bicycle path was smooth, hot-mix, bitumen and was lined with white, yellow, and pink wildflowers on both sides.
After 4 km I noticed a signpost with the word “België” inside the 12-star Eu circle, and below it the yellow dragon-like Flanders flag. This is the only indication I had crossed the border from Netherlands 🇳🇱 back to Belgium 🇧🇪, no border control here.
After 14 km I left the river and passed through pleasant countryside and a couple of sleepy little villages. Then at the 24 km point I came to the smart town of Genk where I did a short detour to check out the town and indulge in a cappuccino and pastry while sitting outside in the sunshine. The lovely Molenvijverpark at Genk added some serenity, but I had to be watchful to avoid the ducks and geese wandering across the path.
Clearly the highlight of the day (and perhaps even the tour) was De Wijers pond in Bokrijk. Is it a boat? Is it a submarine? No, it is my Cannondale Tourer cruising through the water, giving me a duck’s eye view of the world. Riding through the water has to be experienced to be believed!
De Wijers is said to be the land of 1001 ponds and the ones I cycled past were incredibly beautiful, as was the surrounding natural parkland. Make sure you include this in your itinerary whenever you visit Belgium.
Hasselt seems a nice town, with lots of interesting places to eat. The two-bollen ice cream cone I bought at “Australian Homemade Ice cream and Waffles” was delicious. They certainly make good ice cream in Australia, and fancy shipping it all the way to Belgium. Hard to believe isn’t it?
Haha – Kevin’s Bike Corner! Hasselt certainly delivered on the artistic graffiti front – it rivals that in our Inner West.
Just had to take a photo of that bike shop!
Oh how exciting a bike shop