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Published: June 16th 2006
Tick Forest !
Elpter Wald turned out to be a haven for ticks! We were picking them out of each others skin for days!Day 14, 14th June.
Tessenderlo - Leopoldsburg - Roermond (HOLLAND) - Elmpterwald (GERMANY)
Woke up early, had breakfast and set off the same time as yesterday. There was blue sky and good cycle lanes ahead of us. After passing Leopoldsburg we went through a huge military area of Belgium before getting to Bree where we used up all our Belgian francs at Aldi and ate in the town square. My appetite was back with a vengeance! After then it was a straight ride to the Dutch border and coffee shops.
We just cycled in, past an empty border station and along confusing cycle ways to Roermond where I managed to post my Barbie card off to Kathryn. Afterwards, Scott, Rory and I found an internet coffee shop which sold Colombian ‘specials’. We had one and checked email. Rory had an email from Natasha* saying our double-entry Russian visas will be no problem - yeh! I had loads from Kathryn I read - but (cry) no time to reply to them. We set off later with two old guys who led us on the cycle way to the German border. Once at the border we stocked up with water
Nudie sign.
Scott coudn't believe it... nude boobies on a sign for ice-cream! and spent our very last Guilders on some tomatoes and asparagus for dinner.
We cycled past the border stones and were in Germany - the road instantly went uphill, the first uphill we’d had to do for some days! At the top we spotted a track going into the trees and followed it to a spot where we could free-camp. We all cooked while picking ticks** off our legs (Yuk!), and the hoers d’oerve was asparagus pasta in a cheese sauce with salad. A van spotted us in the trees and stopped - we’d been noticed! Ooops! But he carried on. I shot my catapult at Rory in a wooden watchtower, and all along, Leslie was freaking out over the ticks and other insects.
*Natasha - a friend of Rory’s family who lives in Chelyabinsk, Russia. She is able to ‘invite’ us to Russia so we can get the visas we need to cycle across Russia. Our Kazak transit-visas will allow us to leave Russian territory and re-enter again.
**Ticks - we have all had vaccinations for Tick-borne-encephallitus, which is common from Austria eastwards.
Total Miles: 625.53 Todays Miles: 53.97 Average speed: 11.0 Time on bike:
Holland
Just a page from my journal. 4:52
Day 15, 15th June.
Elmpterwald - Mönchengladbach - Düsseldorf
Slept well in the forest, Elmpterwald was really a haven for ticks, Rory had the most over his body, I had none. We packed and left, passing the German passport control office where we did manage to get another passport stamp. To the right was RAF Brüggen, so the Brits still like to keep an eye on the Germans. In the town of Elmpt we stocked up at Plus Markt and had a breakfast stop before carrying on east to Mönchengladbach and then to Neuss on the Rhine.
When over the Rhine we called at Urs’s place to say Hello! Scott had his camera waiting, and me - my letters and T-shirt from Kathryn. The afternoon was spent going around bike shops getting bits before setting up camp north of the city opposite the airport.
Toby was at the hostel and glad to see us - his leg was much better. We all headed off to the Altstadt later, leaving our bikes at Mark’s place - and getting very drunk there. We all arrived back in a taxi from Ballermann* at about 3am!
Germany
Passport stamp for Germany at KREFELD customs point. There's also an Andorra and Monaco stamp from a 2000 trip. Ballermann* If you ever get to Düsseldorf you must go to this crazy disco in the main pu and club street - Bolkerstrasse.
Total Miles: 680.02 Todays Miles: 55.49 Average speed: 10.3 Time on bike: 5:16
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Tot: 0.343s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 26; qc: 107; dbt: 0.1235s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
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