Diary of the GR5 Walk in 1999

Today, I plan to walk to the outskirts of Maastricht and catch a bus about 4 km into the city centre. Today is only a 16 km walk and I am taking my time getting started. After all, it is Sunday! This is my eleventh consecutive day of walking and I am really looking forward to taking a rest day: a whole day without a destination, without a backpack, without a� I consider having my day off in Maastricht but stick to my plans for a rest day in Liege, which is only a day or two away.

I eventually start walking at 11:00 am. Today is going to be another very hot day because the temperature is already over 30�C. It now seems so long ago that I was walking on cool days along the dykes in the Netherlands without drinking any water. In these hot conditions, I can barely walk for two hours without drinking the entire contents of my 1.5 litre water bottle. I try to balance the need to have water against carrying the extra 1.5 kg load of a full water bottle. I usually opt to carry less weight to reduce the strain on my feet. This means timing my breaks so they are near sources of water such as houses or caf�s. Interestingly enough, I have found no public water sources. I either fill up at shops or caf�s or wait until I pass a house with someone working outside.

The GR5 continues through wooded forest and there are some small hills, barely noticeable ups and downs. I am looking forward to reaching Gellik where I intend to stop at a caf� for a break. The town centre is almost a kilometre off the GR5 path but I can organise a detour and get back to the GR5 later. It is now very hot and I head to the first, and as it happens, only, caf� in town. I order a large glass of Coke, get my water bottle filled, and sit on the terrace to enjoy my cold drink. The 'large' glass turns out to be only 200ml. So I take small sips of Coke followed by large gulps of water.

I now manage to do all the communication without using English. The fear of walking into places and not finding anyone who speaks English has long gone. I have only a few words of Dutch, but I seem to be able to use them with maximum effectiveness.

A large group of middle-aged cyclists arrive and take over almost the entire caf�. A man sits near me and in very good English starts to talk about the walk I am doing. Where am I going? Where have I been? I always enjoy these chats. Although I can't always write down exactly what is discussed, I get a greater appreciation of the people whose land, homes and towns I am walking through. Somehow I get some insight into the way they live, what they enjoy, and what they consider to be important. This man is an electrician with the Belgian railways and works with signals and points; all low voltage work. We talk about the advances in electronics in this area. Yes, it is coming, it has to, he replies.

My next stop is Lanaken, just on the outskirts of Maastricht. I don't like this town. It is busy and seems unfriendly. I can't quite put my finger on it. Then I understand. This is almost a suburb of Maastricht, which is a large city. I have already found from previous experience that people in large cities are too busy to be friendly. I don't linger here and plot a path that will get me back to the GR5 somewhere near the Albert Canal.

I walk past a small lock that hasn't seen much use. Then I pass a huge timber factory that has extensive port facilities so the canal must be being used. The path follows alongside the canal although it is now 30 or so metres above it. It is now through farmland along the Dutch-Belgian border. It is still very hot and I am looking forward to getting out of the sun. The path is not shaded. I eventually reach a bus stop near a bridge over the canal at Veldwezelt. It is 40 minutes until the next bus and, since it is only 3-4 km to the centre of Maastricht, I consider walking there, but my feet overrule me. So I lie down to wait for the bus.

The bus arrives on time and I use the last two strips on my Strippenkaarten to pay the fare. I get off at the Markt stop because there appear to be a few hotels here. I book into the "Hotel la Colme" and pay the outrageous price of 110 Hfl. I take a shower and then lie down and rest my feet. Then I head down stairs to find somewhere to eat. Here, this is not a difficult task as I have arrived in restaurant heaven. There are sidewalk tables along many streets and I find a quiet, but not too quiet Italian/Turkish restaurant a little way from the main tourist area. I have a rather good mixed grill and a couple of Heineken beers to aid the digestion. I head back to the hotel after exploring the churches around the main square.

My intentions of having a good night's sleep are not to be. My window faces out onto the square and the noise from the caf�s keeps me awake. The noise continues well past closing time and keeps me from sleeping. It is too hot to shut the window. As it is, I am towelling myself with cold water to keep cool. At last, people go home and it quietens down. Then, in the early morning, I am woken by the noise of the trucks cleaning the square and emptying the rubbish bins. So, in summary, I have spent a miserable night in an average but expensive hotel.