Apeldoorn Hotels
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And so the silence descends
Entry 14 of 17 | show all | print this entry |
The brighter of you may have noticed that we have put some pictures up. It took bloody ages, so please take a moment to check them out, and im sorry we havent put any more up but we're on a bit of a budget!
Now theres aming use of unlimited train travel, theres taking it too far, and then theres what we're doing. Being a liability. 3 trains to get to Apeldoorn. Its in the middle of nowhere, and having successfully boarded the right train each time, despite some minor panics we made it. Then we hopped on a bus, and took the bus out of the middle of nowhere, into a forest. Not your traditional location for a hostel, but after a short walk and the now usual cheery greeting from Dutch people as they flew past us on bikes as we staggered on complete with giant bags we found our place. I was sceptical, it has to be said. But i've never been more wrong in my life, or at least since Innsbruck. This was a hostel-campsite combo, and it was awesome.
We checked in, and were only sharing the room with one other guy, so peace and quiet was more or less guarenteed. We decided to make this a chill out day and so apart from a quick trip to get money and dinner, which largely involved sitting in a park, eating, anyway, we didnt leave the campsite. And what a good decision that turned out to be. They had good beer available, a pool table and plenty of seating both inside and out, and we were graced with practically perfect weather - warm with a cooling breeze that faded as the sun set. We made several friends, notably a young Dutch girl who didnt speak a work of english, but we kept each other amused until she disappeared off, only to return with her father who said to us 'i thought she said something about a clown...' before disappearing off in hunt of a Euro.
This was clearly a place where the Dutch came on holiday, and for good reason. Ifanyone wants a cheapish camping kinda holiday then I can recommend the stayokay hostel in Apeldoorn. Later in the evening we were befreinded by a Dutch family, the mother initially, who was interested in what card games we were playing. One by one the rest of the family joined us, and rather amazingly, even the 12 year old son spoke good english. We spent the evening playing a variety of games all of which we were good fun, and I didnt even come close to winning any of them!
Now I know it doesnt sound like the usual thing you do when backpacking, but after 4 consecutive days on the trains, in big cities, being constantly vigilant about everything, it was really pleasant just to unwind and not have to think about anything. Well nearly anything. You see when we arrived and we went out to get dinner, I thought I would take my camera with me. Could I find it? Nope. With the wallet fiasco from Cologne fresh in my mind, I turned my bag upside down and inside out. Then I remembered that I had put it on the floor of the locker room at the previous hostel, and proably just left it there. I fired off an email, and when I had a chance later in the evening I checked to see if they had replied. they had, and they didnt have my camera. Screw. Thats not clever at all. Slightly dejected I returned to the games table to play a game that was like Yahtzee, but with worms involved. Having been soundly beaten at that, despite leading at the halfway stage (a classic British collapse) and having conferred with Vicky about possible plans of action, including scouring Utrecht on our way to Rotterdam, we finished our drinks, thanked the family for all their help on things to do in Holland, and where the major train lost property collection point was, and retired to bed. (What a sentence! sorry!) And there I found my camera, laying on my bed.
In my defence I was on the top bunk, and it was partly hidden by a pair of my shorts, and by the plank of wood that stops you falling out of bed in the middle of the night (though it works just as well during the day) and I am generally a bit special. All of those factors considered, I still got another 'look' and was accused of trying to kill her through worry! Apparently I have some awesome photos, but I would have been genuinely gutted if I had lost that camera, its amazing, and it was a 21st present, so probably cost a small fortune!!
Needless to say we slept so very soundly that evening, and were in for another surprise the following morning. Havent soaked up some rays and played a bit of table tennis, we missed the bus by minutes, waited for half an hour for the next one back into 'civilisation' before arriving at the station to find there is a direct train to Rotterdam (via Utrecht). I preferred getting all those trains though, makes it much more of an adventure! And so finished one of the more random, but definately one of the more relaxing, stages of our trip.
S + V
Latest Comments (1)
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We've been to Appledoorm (reply)
Jul 20, 2007 15:36 EST by kimboss
This is Grandpa writing, not your Dad who set this up for me. We very much enjoy your travel blogs and never cease to be amazed at your escapades. Yes, we have been to Appledorm from Deventer which was the film set for 'A Bridge too far'. The Deventer bridge is almost the same as the bridge at Arnham - it isthe same design but a little smaller.
Congratulations to Vic on your Degree success,... show all
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