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Veluwe - Day 4 : Calm day with a tough start

Around 2:30 at night, I woke up because I almost died from the smell in the tent. It was super warm, and the stench was unbearable. I don't know who could be responsible "Cough cough, someone who only wore two pairs of socks during the entire trip." I continued sleeping, so we all got a good night of sleep from 20:00 to 10:00. 

 

When everyone woke up, it was time for breakfast. Yesterday Koen had mentioned that today would be a Sunday so most stores would be closed. What he (and also Bram) did not think of was buying extra food. Upon inspection, we found we only had half a kilo of cheese left and some peanuts. Hmm, tasty... Carefully we took down the tents and prepared to go. The farmer came by to check in again. When he left, Koen and I wondered what he had said. I thought he asked if we slept well. Bram, who is used to speaking in a dialect, said the farmer had said it was a good idea to sleep in the backyard. Well, that was close enough.. :)
 

Around 11 o'clock, we had already cycled 10 km on an empty stomach. In Apeldoorn, Koen bought an ice cream to supplement his breakfast. On a terrace, Bram and Koen also ordered a piece of apple pie while I ordered an expensive sandwich. First, I regretted this because it took an eternity to prepare while Bram and Koen were already eating. However, it turned out worth the wait. I got a large sandwich with ham, ragout, pineapple, and cheese. They had also put ketchup inside the pineapple pieces. Bram was getting increasingly upset because I was teasing him, and he was still hungry. At the local cafeteria, we got fries to supplement our breakfast. 

Today would be an actual day off. We planned to find a campsite close to the Veluwe and rest the entire day. In the town of Beekbergen were eight campsites. We passed a few that seemed too small and then turned into a 2 km dirt road that went steep uphill towards a larger campsite. Some annoying girl there said, "We don't accept traveling young people," so we could cycle back down again. At the next campsite, not Bram and Koen, but Koen and me went inside to ask if there was space. This time there was plenty, I wonder why that would be... :)


We pitched the tents, bought pancake mix and 3 bars of chocolate, and made pancakes in Stefan's nonstick pans. That turned into a lot of burned pancakes. However, they didn't taste bad, and "That's what we did at the boy scouts," Bram said. The sun shined the entire afternoon as we ate our chocolate in front of our tents. There were again a bunch of girls at whom Koen couldn't stop staring. When we later went to the local pool, there were again many of them, and, not kidding, these also asked if we smoked.

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At night we cycled some more because we couldn't get enough. Fortunately, we didn't have to carry our gear. We hoped to see some wildlife in the forest at night. It was really quiet there, but we didn't see any animals. In total, we cycled around 40 km this day. Afterward, we had a beer at the campsite's bar, where we were the only guests. We went to bed around 23:00.

route4.jpg

A short route this time. What we cycled in the evening is not shown because that was only a quick trip through the forest.

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Distance cycled: 40 km.

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