Around the Adriatic Sea 2026: Dubrovnik – Durrës (Albania) – Bari
The second leg of my cycle tour around the Adriatic Sea: the Balkan countries, probably as far as Dubrovnik in Croatia, perhaps even further…
Burbling deer, two days of rotten weather, tough Ardennes climbing and having to turn back once because too steep and too long. And a visit to a very special underground museum.
5 Oct: Gerouville - Habay-la-Neuve (38.45 km - 453 m climb)
Last night, whenever I woke up briefly, I heard a strange mooing. There were many cows in the surrounding pastures and I thought maybe the farmer had forgotten to milk them. In the morning, I said Eleonor me that they were burling deer. How silly that I hadn't thought of that! After all, it is the period to be able to hear this.
The morning ride went OK, although the climbs back got a bit steeper. I had to detour past Virton to buy a warm jacket. On Sunday morning, when I had to leave the youth hostel in Bouillon in a hurry, I forgot my down jacket in a locker and they didn't find it. Without a warm jacket, it's too cold in a tent here at night.
Between Virton and Habay, where at my 'Welcome to my garden' host Marc from last year wanted to deliver a thank-you card, it started pouring. With the wind at my back, this wasn't too bad after all, and the alternation of climbing and descending kept me warm. Seeing a stone shack next to the road, I decided to rest there and check if Camping Beau Rivage in Fauvillers, where I stayed for two nights last year, was open. Unfortunately Petra and Philippe Not back from Flanders until Wednesday.
I was happy not to find myself standing there in front of a closed gate after a long and wet bike ride, but now I was left with a small problem, as there are no campsites open in the wider area and the day's 'Welcome to my garden' Garden contact is quite disrespectful. The hotels in the surrounding villages were closed or very expensive. Fortunately, I still had the phone number of Marc in Habay-la-Neuve. A short phone call sufficed. I was able to join him again, in his children's party room where I also spent a very comfortable night last year.
Some five kilometres before Habbay I saw a Delhaize. Yes! Getting some more provisions for tonight, another good opportunity to escape the persistent rain for a while. A wise decision, because when I got back outside it was no longer raining, but pouring! Next to Delhaize was a tavern that was open - the first I came across today - and I ducked in for a lait Russe.
When the downpour was over about half an hour later, the sun came back through and eventually I arrived at Marc to.
Because of the rain this afternoon, only one photo today.
6 Oct: Habay-la-Neuve - Fauvillers (18.75 km - 285 m climb)
Shortly after my departure from Marc I still kept it dry, but half an hour later the gate was up, rain-wise.
The 13km-long, straight and sharply hilly 'P11' road through the beautiful wooded nature reserve Forêt d'Anlier I cycled all the way in the pouring rain. P11 is a lovely lonely road with little traffic and the forest gave shelter from the wind, but in the sometimes long and fast descents I got a very unpleasant cold feeling. Haha, in rainy weather it is actually more pleasant to climb gently, but that 'gently' was hardly there today. I'm stuck with the steep Ardennes hills again.
The first village I passed was Fauvillers, where I stayed last year in Camping Beau Rivage. There is no catering establishment there to take a break and warm up. The church, often a suitable shelter, was also closed. So I hoped that Petra Pissoort and Philippe would have returned by now from their family visit in the 'Vlaanders‘.
Thankfully, it was. I parked my bike under their large terrace tent to eat a small snack and meanwhile had a nice conversation with Petra. She told me I could stay in a caravan at the campsite if I wished, but actually I would have liked to continue cycling up to Bastogne. I hoped it would pour a little less after noon.
However, this was wishful thinking. It kept pouring and the cold feeling didn't go away from my damp clothes, so I texted to Petra That I would take up her offer anyway.
I do not regret that, as I am now snug and warm on a comfortable sofa writing this report. Petra also brought a packet of frozen steaming greens for me from the shop. Such lovely people!
It was few but intense kilometres today. Tomorrow it should remain dry. Then, as planned, I hope to get to Vielsalm 70 km but with only 439 altimeters over the whole distance. That should be doable if I can leave early enough - after all, I'm not sitting with a wet pack now - and I don't have to spend energy keeping my body warm.
7 Oct: Fauvillers - Vielsalm (72.54 km - 491 m climb)
After a wonderful afternoon and night in the warm caravan of Petra Pissoort and Philip at Camping Beau Rivage I was well equipped to get to the 70-plus to Vielsalm to begin with.
I left with drizzle, but after about an hour the sun broke through the wetness, resulting in a beautiful rainbow.
The first part of the route to Bastogne was on a fairly flat gravel road. Because of the excessive rainfall of the past few days, it was slippery in places and I was a bit apprehensive not to go against the crust. On the very muddy parts I got off.
That gravel road was a former tram bed and at regular intervals there are info panels. At the former stop of Sainlez I read that residents of the villages Honville and Sainlez had to make a steep climb through forests and marshy grasslands to return home from the tram stop. That climb during a bleak winter became the priest of Sainlez fatal: he suffered a heart attack en route and died on the spot.
Some distance away, at a little bridge, the municipality made a kind of staircase for the trout. There used to be a 1m40 waterfall there, a height that trout cannot overcome to return to their spawning grounds. Trout sometimes travel distances of around 80 km to spawn.
In the last six km to Bastogne I was again presented with some longer calf bites.
After a lavish lunch at a wok restaurant in Bastogne, I was back on the road for another 40 kilometres or so. I had reckoned on a four-hour ride excluding breaks, but unexpectedly it turned out well: the first 25 km to Gouvy went along ravel 126, a beautiful tarmac path along the border with Luxembourg that offers beautiful views of the vast landscape. Pedalling so gently on a gently undulating trail in the sunshine, I felt my leg muscles begin to relax and recharge with new energy. What a contrast to the chilly crisp rain rides of yesterday and the day before. After Gouvy Some tough climbing followed, but the last 10 km to Vielsalm were almost entirely downhill. I will have to pay for that tomorrow, I fear.
Around 17:30 I was in Vielsalm, where an event with hot air balloons was going on. Around and above the home of Mauricette, my 'Welcome to my garden' hostess, hung about 20 of them.
After the morning drizzle, it remained dry and quite sunny.
8 Oct: Ville-de-Bois (Vielsalm) - Liège (80.14 km - 557 m climb)
After the, on the advice of my 'Welcome to my garden' host family Gérard and Mauricette, gently descending section through the Salm Valley to Trois-Ponts and Petit-Coo the climbing began. At the waterfall in Petit-Coo, there were some people, but not at all the crowds seen in high season.
A little after Petit-Coo followed a first climb over several hundred metres from the Amblėvedal, followed by several kilometres of delightful bollocks on a gently rolling course with beautiful views of the hills around Stoumont across the valley.
Ten turns of hope
At a crossroads at Moulin du Ruy began my '10 turns of hope'. First, a steep climb with gentle hairpins through a cool forest. After every turn, I thought this would probably be the last one. After the forest followed a rural section with fields and meadows. That would be less steep, I hoped. Nothing of the sort, my gear stayed in the very smallest climbing position, i.e. a snail's pace of 5 km/hour. During such long climbs I take comfort in the fact that this was my maximum speed on my step trip around Belgium last year....
So I plodded on for about seven kilometres to the highest point under a high-voltage power line. From there, I took a nose dive, sometimes at speeds of up to 50 km/h, to Spa, where I thought I had well deserved that Brussels waffle with whipped cream on a sunny terrace at the Thermes.
Sitting next to me on the terrace were two motorcyclists from Verviers. I asked them if the badly hit Vesdre Valley between Pepinster and Liège was possible by bike. On GoogleMaps for cyclists, which is usually well up-to-date on diversions, there were prohibition signs on a section of that road. Nor could the bikers assure me. I had to ask again on the spot....
On the descent to Pepinster, I saw a turnoff to Chaudfontaine. I was going to take that one, then end up right before Liège. That was not a wise move. Suddenly I was faced with a long super-steep climb. One straight wall uphill, with no mitigating turns. Normally I get there when I can stop now and then to de-acidify my leg muscles. However, that was not going to happen. For cyclists there was only the white line, with a crash barrier right next to it. So all traffic had to swerve ahead of me on the other lane. And they drove bumper to bumper in both directions: rush hour and all traffic from the Vesdre Valley Now also took this route. I would cause a mega congestion....
On the other side of the road I saw a strip that was supposed to pass for a footpath. I followed that, pushing my bike because of the many potholes. After some 200 metres this too came to an end, but the end of the climb was not yet in sight.... So I turned right, having climbed 70 metres in altitude for nothing...
In Pepinster, I asked three different locals if I could go through the Vesdre valley. I didn't want to cover more fruitless kilometres, they began to quietly weigh. The alternative was a diversion with 280 altitude metres. Not a fun prospect around six in the evening. All three firmly confirmed: 'pas de problème en vélo'. And so, without any further climbing work, I arrived in the fiery city of Liège around 19:30. After a ride through the valley that was less ardent....
The atmosphere in the villages along the Vesdre Valley, the worst-hit valley in the floods, was horrifying. Although a titanic work of clean-up was already underway, the traces of destruction were still strong. A few kilometres past Pepinster, I passed the damaged bridge. There were still car wrecks lying on the verge and in meadows. All the bushes and trees next to the road were still full of plastic and rubbish. Porches had been partially washed away. All ground floors had been flooded. The windows and front doors of many houses were broken or boarded up. Many properties were uninhabited. Piles of sediment and stone dust beside the road. Demolitions. The villages had a desolate smell of damp vacant properties.
At Trooz soldiers were doing a water bedding operation. So the water supply there has not yet been restored. I also saw a shower container on the street there. The gas pipes are also reportedly not yet repaired. No heating and winter is coming. At night, the temperature here already drops to freezing point. Besides the Ourthe Canal in Liege, people still lived in tents. I rode those 20 kilometres with a very thick crop in my throat and an uneasy feeling of disaster. However, the people on the streets all greeted me kindly. Perhaps thanks to my solidarity flags.... What fear and misery they must have endured, and are still enduring now.
Although I cannot be there myself on Sunday, I hope a lot of people flock to the climate demonstration in Brussels....
9 Oct: Liège - Maastricht via Eben-Emael (42.31 km - 223 m climb)
Before I left Liège, I was sitting on the little square in front of the youth hostel checking my e-mails and cycling route. A local resident walked by with his Malinois shepherd, a playful dog who immediately jumped on a large boulder lying some three metres in front of me on the square. The man looked at my bike flag and I responded with a flyer. On it he told the story about 'l'aveugle du quartier' (the blind one of the neighbourhood) who was very visually impaired, but had seen every pretty woman pass by.... Well...
To Eben-Emael I first followed the towpath next to the Albert Canal and then that of the Maas. Judging from the debris still hanging in the bank vegetation, the floodwater here must have been just against or on the towpath.
Near Lanaye I crossed the bridge I had crossed in the other direction in June, after leaving the long dark tunnel from WW-ll
Now I first had to overcome about 80 metres of altitude difference and then, according to the Komoot map, the roadway was almost parallel to the tunnel. Only many metres higher, because the tunnel went right through the mountain and was completely flat.
In the afternoon, I wanted both the Fortress of Eben-Emael if the Stylus tower by artist/writer/ poet Robert Garcet visits. I am a bad planner when it comes to tourist attractions. For the fort, I was 15 minutes late. The last tour started at 14:00. I didn't know you could only visit the fort with a guide....
In hindsight, this was a windfall, as it would never have been possible to do both sights in one afternoon. The visit to the silex tower took a long time. Robert Garcet was a very society-conscious artist, philosopher and humanist. There was a lot to read and there was also a temporary exhibition in the park around it. A separate report of this visit will follow, probably after I return home.
10 Oct, Maastricht: Museum Caves Zonneberg and flash visit Bonnefantenmuseum Once again, cultural planning for my rest day in Maastricht completely in the soup. In the morning, I planned a visit to the Bonnefantenmuseum, which is just opposite the Stayokay hostel on the opposite side of Maas. On the internet, I saw that a curious cave museum also existed at the St.Pietersberg, about 4 km outside the city. I wanted to go there too, but it was only possible with a ticket purchased in advance.
Diligently, I set to work: there were two time slots:12:30 or 15:00. A tour takes two hours and I was in at 17:30 Stayokay agreed with my 'Welcome to my garden' host family Maddy Jans and Mathieu Coenegrachts from Lafelt, so it became the 12:30 tour. Then I could spend two hours at Bonnefanten in the morning, then the caves, and another hour or so Bonnefanten in the afternoon.
Unfortunately, the Bonnefanten did not open at 10 am, but only at 11. I established this after buying the ticket for the caves. I had to reduce my morning visit to less than an hour.
The guide to the cave tour had not brought enough lamps and therefore started half an hour late, delaying the tour until after three. In caves it is chilly; when we came out I was rattling with hunger. Even the quickest possible bite in Country estate Slavante, a moody tavern near the entrance to the caves, would not leave enough time for Bonnefanten part/2. My blitz visit by minute became my most expensive paid museum visit ever
Fortunately, the history of the origins and cultural use of the giant cave system under the St Peter's Mountain, very much worth it. A detailed report on this will follow. I took many photos and notes during the 4 km underground walk.
Maria and Ludo from Zutendaal were travelling, I dropped the thank-you card in their bus and drove on to Hoeselt for the next card stop at Tania Emmerechts and Kris Berden.
Tania and her mum Hortentia were at home, Kris came over briefly a little later. All was well with them, although it was slightly quieter in the house than in June after the two corona lockdowns, the two sons are back in digs in Leuven and Kortrijk respectively. And cat Ginger continues to lead her princely lazy life as usual.
After Hoeselt I only had 19 km left to roll until Hasselt, where I joined my former colleague from the Humanist Alliance, Monique Sevens was allowed to stay overnight.
12 Oct: Hasselt - Sint-Antonius Zoersel (79.92 km - 121m climb) After a delicious smoothie-with-oatmeal breakfast at Monique Sevens I left the Hasselt large market in drizzling weather. Once well and truly on the towpath next to the Albert Canal, it started pouring harder.
A few times I had to leave the towpath and take a slight diversions, either to ride around industrial sites or because new bridges over the canal were under construction. In café The beer barn I received a warm and cordial welcome, the other detours unfortunately did not take me past any nice cafés. Just at the onset of a gigantically fierce downpour, I was fortunately able to join Dovy Kitchens in Ham 'throwing in'.
From there it headed towards Yellow. As I approached the Grand Place there, I saw another jet-black curtain of clouds surrounding me. I played it safe and settled on a terrace before it started dripping. Wise decision, because five minutes later my poor bike got another free wash....
In Yellow, I saw that Elke Van Rulo from my last thank-you address in Beerse had let me know that I did not have to come by because they were both working. A pity, but actually this was not so bad, because due to the many rain breaks, it was getting close to 5pm by now. With the diversions along Beerse I still had 50 km or just over three hours to cycle, and now there were only 35 to Saint Anthony of Zoersel. Shortly after darkness set in, I arrived at Els van Vlimmeren, where a hot shower and a delicious fresh vegetable meal awaited me. And good thing this did after such a wet day! Thick merci.
On Sunday, I had submitted this intention by e-mail to my contact. When I had not received a response by Tuesday, I called her. It turned out she had been on sick leave for some time, and on Thursday the three-day Brailletech conference, so it was all hands on deck at the Braille League. The final ride to Brussels will be for another time.
For now, I also don't know how much my bike ride around Belgium has raised so far, as that info is also with my contact. What is certain is that I am still a long way from the targeted 6200€ for the braille line. Raising 1500€ a week is a lot, and there were almost no people at campsites along the way. Normally, fellow campers do poke around.
So it will be waiting for the return of my contact before I can plan the final Antwerp-Brussels-Antwerp ride.
My odometer now stands at 1093 km with 6300 altimeters. This is 200 km less than my hike around Belgium. The hiking trails apparently meander much more...
For the time being, my yellow aluminium steed may be stabled for a while and I have been sleeping in my own bed again since Wednesday night 
.
The second leg of my cycle tour around the Adriatic Sea: the Balkan countries, probably as far as Dubrovnik in Croatia, perhaps even further…
On my travels, I meet so many friendly, helpful and hospitable people.
They deserve a hall of fame.
