10th of February, 2022.
I have to make my camping. The church is closed (of course) and when I buzzed the building which is connected with it, nobody answered. So I walk towards this park I saw in the map before.
When the sky is getting ready for rain it is not so dark. I think it is because of the slightly orange clouds. Why they are orange anyway? So making the camp without a flash light it is not so difficult. At the beginning, I am even using my flash light. I am thinking who the hell would be passing by this park, which does not have any lights, and it is so much out of town? Well, when I started to put my tent up, I see two people jogging. One in front of each other. They were carrying a flash light. I think the one in front it was receiving some kind of training. Anyway, they crossed the park a few times while I am making my camp. Plus some people in their bicycles. Just so you know: don’t do that in Brazil! Crossing a dark and secluded park in the night? Nope! We don’t do that. Ever! We are even scared of crossing illuminated parks. Parks in the middle of neighborhoods. So don’t you do that either!
My head is hurting so much. It is because I haven’t eaten anything apart of yogurt for lunch? It cannot be the yogurt. Did I drink enough water? I cannot figure what is it. But it is cracking me. I have got this amazing good looking bread for FREE in a bakery in town. Pumpkin seeds dark bread! It smells like haven! When I talk with the ladies in the bakery, they all got amazed by my travels and told me I could choose any loaf bread I want. And I chose my favorite: pumpkin seeds dark bread. I promise that next time I will chose a different one. So the bad news is I cannot eat my lovely bread because of my migraine. It has messed up with my stomach already, so I even though I am starving, I cannot eat anything! Well, I would love to know if I could eat pop corn. You know, because it is my favorite food…
With a lot of effort, I arrange everything inside my tent, mattress and sleeping bag, then with even more effort, I get changed and finally I lie down and try to get some rest. I already tied up my scarf around my head and I am trying to drink some water but not too much because I don’t know if I will manage to go to pee. I am just hoping to not throw up this time.
I have such a deep rest that when I hear the train, I have the delusion that it is coming straight to me, so I try to open my tent to escape, but because I am still sleeping, I cannot find it. It sounds funny now but at the time it was scary. In a few seconds, luckily, I wake up and realize I am going nuts, the train is passing quite far away so no worries. My head is a bit better so I go to pee and after I eat a few cherry tomatoes and try to eat one slice of my precious bread but I manage only half.
Later on, I am so sure that I hear someone walking nearby but it does not really makes sense because I heard strong and noisy steps, as someone walking in the streets, but the paths around me are all soft, like just soil covered with wooden chips, so it couldn’t be for real. I think I was dreaming again. Anyway, when I sit up to listen what is happening outside, I am sure I heard some animal walking around my tent.
I wake up again a few more times but only with the rain. Well, actually early morning for two times there were people passing by and talking.
When the sun rises, I am wondering if I should stay in a bit longer or if I should take the chance that the rain it stopped and leave as soon as possible. I decide not to take the risk and move on. I had a long night of resting anyway, even with all the disturbances, so I better not get wet now.
Luckily it does not rain again. In the gas station just nearby I have (finally!) a sandwich, brush my teeth and make my sing to Kinderdijk.
In a few minutes, Peter stop his car and tells me he drive me a bit closer to Kinderdijk. He used to hitchhike a lot, since college, so now he is happy for be able to help another hitchhiker. Peter tells me he does not have a permanent address but he has many places around the country where he can stay. I think that is awesome! We agree that hitchhiking is a dying art, unfortunately.
Peter drives me straight to Kinderdijk. He actually drops me right at the entrance to the windmills. Amazing! Then he offers me some food but because I have some I kindly refuse. After taking a photograph, with the promise of sending me via email, he gives me a hug and leaves.
I read that the entrance to the park, or the selling of tickets it was closed, and for that I thought they meant crossing through the windmills. Before coming here, I had even made a plan of entering from the other side, which on Google Earth it looked open, so I could take a photograph of the windmills. Good thing that Peter drove me all the way to here, because now I can see that it is open for the public! Of course it is, it is a natural path for people from both villages, Kinderdijk and Alblasserdam. The tickets you can buy are only for visiting the inside of the windmills.
The whole area is so amazing! And not only for the windmills. The canals reflecting their images, the ducks and other birds, the plants, the bridges, everything fits. And everything contributes to form this beautiful landscape. I only wish I was here in a day with a better light. Or during a season where the sun strike the windmills from a better position. I also wish I had spend some more time around them. I walked slowly, true, but why haven’t I sit and remain among them, admiring their beauty and splendor for a little longer? Well, whenever you have the chance to visit Kinderdijk, please make sure you give them a good dose of your time. They surely deserve.
It is a long way back to the nearby town, Alblasserdam, where I will ask for shelter in a church. Since I arrive in the Netherlands, all the churches are already closed whenever I come to them. So today I have decide to come earlier, and try my chances.
The church is closed. The building just beside it is closed too. I put my backpacks down and wait to ask someone for info. A lady with her kid pass by and I ask her if the church will be open at anytime today. “No!” – she answers me. Is there any building nearby where maybe the priest, pastors or nuns live? “Yes!” – she say, “This one right here”, and she is pointing to the house in the other side of the church.
I ring the bell but there is no answer. So I wait. In a few minutes, Rob makes an attempt to enter the house so I talk to him. He seems surprised and a bit doubtful about what to do. But he seems to believe on me. Rob says he will check with his wife. I wait. He comes back saying I can follow him. Going around we encounter his wife, Wilma, and she seems very kind. I tell her a bit more about my travels while we walk towards their laundry. It is just in the basement of their house and they tell me I can spend the night here. It is warm and dry, so it is all I need.
It is only noon, so I tell them I will go for a walk around the town and I will be back in about one hour.
During my walk, while I am admiring some gorgeous houses, a lady comes out of one of them, and keeps saying hello to me. I don’t recognize her, so I keep walking. About one hundred metres ahead, she reaches me. I first ask her if we have met before. Nope. But she says she would like to walk a little bit with such nice person like me. That’s new! She also asks me if I would like to come over for a coffee or something, but I tell her I have to come back, so we could walk a little bit. She says she is cold. So I tell her if she wants, I can wait for her and she can go grab her jacket.
Fenix is a lovely Chinese lady, whom unfortunately has some kind and level of autism. It is a bit difficult for her to speak and she also moves quite slowly. She tells me she has just arrived a few days ago in Alblassardem, so she cannot walk too far otherwise she cannot remember how to come back. I suggest we just walk a few blocks, cross the bridge, no turns, so she can just walk back then. She tells me her husband is working and they have three kids. She left China when she was 25 years old, now she is 39. It seems to me that she just wants some company. She is very lovely and kind ended, but I am sure not so many people treat her well or have patience with her because of her condition.
When we reach our destination, I try to make sure she knows how to go back. She try to talk with a lady who is going in the same direction as her, trying to explain a little bit that she would just like to walk with her, like she did with me. I even try to explain to the lady that, but she does not seem to much interested on Fenix story.
When I come back I organize all my things: I open up my tent so it can dry, also my sleeping bag, I wash up quickly in the toilet and I also wash a pair of socks and my underwear. I do some writing and when I am organizing my photographs, lovely Hilde come downstairs. Hilde is the youngest of six sons and daughters from Rob and Wilma. She is a beautiful girl, very smiley and we talk for a while.
Later on, Wilma comes to invite me for dinner, telling me she is preparing something she had never done before: tortilas! She is so cute! So the four of us have a delicious dinner together, and for desert we have vla! It is a lovely evening for me, so great that I can even forget how much suffering I had last night.
