Travelogue of the adventurous five-day hiking week

The first week of August there was a special walking week on the Walk of Wisdom. Co-developer of the route Manja Bente and board member Thomas Hontelez came up with this special tour with the theme of reflection on the relationship with the earth. Manja wrote the report below.

 

It was exciting to leave. I knew Thomas – with whom I accompanied the group – but had never been on a trip with him. Moreover, they were all unknown pilgrims who went on the trip. Furthermore, I had never guided a trip before. All ingredients for new adventures on my path.

We had arranged to meet at café De Bruijn opposite the well-known statue of Mariken. Of course, Thomas and I were the first and we could see everyone coming. A nice sight, because of everyone who came with a backpack, we knew for sure: it will come with us.

The backpack that went with me on the trip was the conversation at the first meeting and someone who had very little with him said: packing my backpack was a trip in itself.
Here we went! A special departure ceremony was organized for our group, where everyone expressed their intention for the coming week. A wonderful start and then we left … in silence. We walked the whole trip in silence. After all, there was plenty of time left to talk to each other during the breaks and evenings.

Letter to the Earth

Everyone had written a letter to the earth at home in preparation: how his/her relationship was with the earth and what you might want to change in your life to live more sustainably.

Every day a few letters were read aloud and because of this I noticed that there was a deepening in the relationship with the earth. It’s wonderful how you can describe this in different ways. We have cleaned up rubbish and everyone has left an unfired clay tablet somewhere along the route with a resolution for the earth.

Connection

It was a special experience to notice how quickly the group connected with each other.
For some, it was also a path full of challenges: it was hot that week!! A few days even above 30 degrees. At one point, one of the pilgrims could no longer carry her bag. Together we looked for a solution so that she could finish the trip to the end. Someone else had a lot of blisters and was lovingly cared for by group members. Some of them were emotional. All those things that are sometimes intense on a trip also make for beautiful, deep experiences. We were taken care of by each other.

Spend the night

We slept in very different and special places. From a luxury hotel (where the church bells rang every half hour as if they were rung next to your bed) to a teepee on a romantic landscape campsite. Slept on camp beds which was far from luxurious. On a farm we spent the night in a real garden bird sanctuary with the four of us in a room and the last night we slept in a monastery where everyone had their own room. Everyone admired each new place and the small inconveniences were borne like a real pilgrim: it was part of it and the next day it was different again.

The food was fantastic with a regular vegetarian 3 course meal. At the campsite, a cook came especially for us to cook with organic local products decorated with edible flowers.

Here are a few memories that have stayed with me:

• The first day of swimming with a number of them in the Bison Bay in the Ooijpolder was wonderfully liberating.
• The pleasant silence during the break at Kranenburg, everyone lying exhausted on the grass. We could talk but no one wanted to.
• Sleeping outside by the teepee and looking at the starry sky.
• There was no coffee at the tipi in the morning. During the groceries in Mook there was a coffee party in the supermarket, everyone enjoyed that cup of coffee.
• Early in the morning at 7 o’clock in silence stand on a hill and look at the beautiful fens.

Endpoint

After five days of 28 degrees and more, we walked the last kilometers in the rain, it was so good. This brought us to our provisional destination in Ravenstein. The journey was over. We wanted to finish with something tasty in city inn de Keurvorst, but unfortunately the inn turned out to be closed. In front of a window across the street, an older lady waved if we wanted to join her.
It was the local tourist office, where we could use a meeting room and even get a cup of coffee. I bought Bossche bollen from the bakery (Ravenstein is Brabant) to celebrate. These are now real pilgrimage events, plans cannot go ahead, but there is always something in its place and sometimes it is much better than you had imagined.

Two people went to finish the trip immediately and the others still have it in the offing. We said goodbye with a satisfied feeling. Thank you pilgrims and dear earth: it was beautiful!

Carol

Photos: Thomas Hontelez