Diary of the GR5 Walk in 1999

I didn't sleep well. The hotel is on a busy intersection and it seemed like every truck in Belgium went around this corner last night. Breakfast is at 7:00 am and is again rather small. This really isn't a problem this morning because of the huge dinner I ate last night. By 7:30 I am on my way.

The path again goes through farmlands and forests. Birds, squirrels, cows and guard dogs are the only animals I see. A new bonus is the appearance of cherry trees. I pass through a grove of six trees and have a feast of ripe cherries. What a treat!

By midday I have walked 13.6 km to Bolderberg and my feet feel really good. In fact this is the first time since the start that I have felt no pain at all. I take a 30 minute rest and eat an apple and a tomato for lunch. There is still another apple for later. I still have quite a way to go but at the moment I feel I can finish without too much trouble.

3.4 km later and I am once again next to the Albert Canal. Time to take a rest. I find 60 BEF near where I sit, enough to buy a cup a coffee. The GR5 continues along the canal for another 1.5 km and then heads off through nature reserves, lakes, and forests eventually meeting a major road, the N74, at Kiewit. I still have about 5 km to go but now the dreaded "chaff" has come back with a vengeance. No matter what I try, nothing stops the irritation to my skin.

I hobble along very slowly, at probably less than 2 km/h, through another nature reserve and finally reach the youth hostel at about 7:30 pm. I have had enough for the day. I book in, head straight to my room, and lie down to give my feet and ankles a rest. I am too late for dinner and there is nothing else nearby. Anyway, I am not in the mood for food. An hour later I hobble off to have a shower. Thirty minutes later I am sitting at the bar drinking a Duvel beer. What a marvellous recovery mechanism has the human body. The beer is followed by a coffee and is accompanied by a small bar of chocolate. Then it is off to bed.

Tomorrow I plan to walk 23 km to Zutendaal and I drift off to sleep worrying if I will recover enough during the night.