Sol Entry 5

Namur and Dinant. 08/18-19/2021
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More rain, more clouds, more pedaling. Stressful at times, but the road calls me forward and I keep going. We reach Namur, where I stay in my first hostel ever, and sit down in the communal area for a nice evening over an entire package of crepes and a jar of nutella. I remember passing a sketchy bridge and a fortress, but it was too high up and we didn’t have the energy or the time to climb it. I’m still trying to figure out how to waterproof my instrument. So far, I’ve managed to cut and tape a few garbage bags together (which I asked for in French), but I need more. The included breakfast at the hostel is delicious and abundant.
We follow the river, and I enjoy greeting and being greeted by passing cyclists. Actually, the younger the friendlier, it seems. We even pass a couple different groups of kids on bikes, probably from summer camps, but with panniers! We also run into another family of bikepackers, also musicians! We chat a bit, take a photo, and part ways. Then we make our way to Dinant. We continue down the river, with a few detours into the highway or small neighboring towns due to closures on the bike path–probably because of the disastrous summer floods. Though they had felt far away, no longer. Behind the stop signs and barriers, I could see a muddy mess where a road had once been, or no road at all–just land that dipped completely into the water. That’s the thing about being on a bike–you feel vulnerable sometimes, small, and close to everything. It’s wonderful. 
We arrive in Dinant, wash up, and go for a lovely evening hunt for food.