Sunday, August 9, 2009

The Gourdiaan Route



This route (http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=yduwhezfehzivcva) is a walking route which should start on the little town of Gourdiaan and be a round trip of 23 km around some beautiful Dutch landscape (channels, windmills and similar).
However, the indications are almost missing, the road is sometimes just disappearing right in front of your nose and there is no place to eat anything along the planned route.
Once you arrive to Gourdiaan you will find a place called Het Raadhuis cafe. The place looks fine and the parking area is empty early in the morning, at least it was empty this morning around 1140 local time.
Directly there you will see one of the markers of the route, look carefully to it because is one of the few you will be able to see :(
To begin with the walking you should go over the bridge and to the left, there you will see one marker. After a few meters you will see another marker like the one in the picture. The direction of the arrows is supposed to be followed. We didn't and skip around 3 km going directly to Ottoland.
This little place has nothing except some very nice houses and a church with a nest. Even if you miss this marker and follow straight ahead to Ottoland as we did, you will eventually connect again with the route way, but you will be at the wrong side of the channel without a bridge to cross it...
One you manage to arrive again to the N214 you will be back in business.
The road will take you to Giesen. A nothing in the middle of nowhere, without any place to buy food or water, at least as far as we were concerned today, maybe you have more luck...
The surroundings are very quiet and not so crowded. Around only fields with cows, sheep, and horses. A lot of cows.
After Giesen the planned route will lead you into a dead end or best said to the garden of a private property. A huge garden, that is true, but still a private and closed property.
The shortest way that we found to come back to Gourdiaan was heading to Hoornaar and then turning direction Noordeloos.
Good news are in Hoornaar there is a kind of cafe, bad news the food is not so good even if you are already quite hungry.
The way to Noordeloos is very pleasant and full with channels and shadows.
From Noordeloos to Gourdiaan there are still some kilometers. This is not really the route indicated in the book or on the internet, but as the markers where more or less never there and the road was not really following this, we didn't care too much at all.
It was anyway a nice trip, even the weather was great, sunny but not too hot.
If you try this route, good luck with the indications ;)

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