Quasimundo's Border by Bike Tour

When going to another city, I try my best to look for tours that can show me the peaceful life in the countryside or will bring me to an exciting experience with nature. For my Brugge trip in Belgium, I found this through Quasimundo's Border by Bike Tour.

Here is the tour description as taken from the site: 'Border by Bike' is a fun countryside ride, north towards the Dutch border. It includes a trip to the wonderful little village Damme while enjoying the view of Oostkerke castle, canals, windmills and bunkers. For this trip we leave the city and escape into the silence and beauty of our flat countryside whilst enjoying the tranquility of tree-line canals. We will visit some quaint Flemish villages strung along peaceful country lanes and beautiful polders farmland dotted with windmills. This tour takes about 4 hours including a half an hour stop for a Belgian beer or a Belgian Waffle in a local cafe. Join us for an exciting and memorable afternoon, expertly guided and entertained in English.

With the exciting promises of the tour, I sent an email to them and reserved a slot. Another good thing - they don't require any deposit. All I had to do was show up at the Burg Square at 10 minutes before 1PM to meet Danny, our guide. He then led us to the Quasimundo office which was 10 minutes away from the square. The office was full of different kinds of bike for adults, children and families. They even have free helmets. Danny then explained the basics of the bicycles and let us choose ours while collecting the payment of 28 euros.

Danny explaining some things about these bicycles for adults

When everyone was ready, we all set out to the street to start our tour. There were 11 of us in the group - 2 couples from England, a family of 4 from Belgium, an Indian, me and our guide. We made our way out of the city and just after 5 minutes, found ourselves enjoying the lovely view of a creek on our right and windmills on our left. There are only four windmills left and the most famous one is called the Sint-Janshuis Mill as shown below.

Sint-Janshuis Mill on top of a hill

According to our guide, this mill is the only original piece in the place. Before, there were a lot of them but due to the presence of trees in the surroundings, they were rendered useless and owners started chopping them down as firewood. Later on, they realized that they were so beautiful and purchased three more from other farms and put them near Sint-Janshuis Mill.

A huge boathouse just in front of the windmills

We resumed our tour and on our right was this 800 square meter boathouse resting peacefully on the creek. After 10 minutes, we found ourselves on the open fields and went past through grazing sheep, horses and cows. The view was really relaxing.

The open fields was the start of Damme - a picturesque medieval Flemish town. There were stretches of fields and unending flow of creek lined with trees. I bet the view would be more spectacular during the spring and summer when they would all turn green.

Thirty minutes more and we found ourselves in the city center of Damme. We stopped in front of the Town Hall where Danny shared us the history of the town. In the 13th century, it was one the most important ports because of its strategic position. All the products coming in and out of Brugge are transferred here from the wide open sea to the river Reie that connects Damme to Brugge. In the next century, the sea silted up and the town lost their importance in trade. Buildings were brought down and the population reduced to a current size of around 11,000.

Statue on the main city square, in front of the Town Hall

Despite the sad history of the town, you can't help but thank the low population density for the wonderful scenery. At around 4PM, we arrived on this canal that has a mechanical boat to transfer people and bicycles to the other end.

At 5PM, Danny brought us to a local pub in Damme where he treated us to a glass of drink our choice. I don't drink beer so I just ordered Coca-cola but others tried the authentic beer that came highly recommended by our guide. We stayed there for 20 minutes sipping our cold drink and chatting. I really loved the group - everyone was so friendly and lighthearted.

As soon as we resumed cycling, I started to have problems. I was not used to cycling for hour and we've been doing it for almost four hours now. Adding to my agony was the wind blowing against us. I was tired and everyone was getting ahead of me. That was when I realized that I was with the best bunch. Danny pushed me and at other times, instructed me to ride behind him so I he could receive the wind for me. Sharath, a friend from India, assured me that he would stay behind me even if he could pedal faster than anyone. The others were telling me when to change gears that I knew nothing about. They kept on motivating me.

A photo taken by Sharath Marathe showing how Danny helped me to finish the tour

With the help of my wonderful friends from the tour, I managed to finish the tour. We arrived at 5:20 PM in the office and I was just thankful to everyone. Cycling was never famous in the Philippines and I only do it for leisurely strolls so I couldn't believe that I actually did the tour! If you love nature, countryside and willing to go for challenging tours that take away the busy vibe of the city, Quasimundo's Border by Bike Tour is for you! They also have Brugge city tour on bike, which, according to Sharath, was more relaxed but equally enjoyable.

I really loved Brugge with all its cute medieval houses, canals, fields, windmills and friendly people. I am actually planning to return to see the town during spring or summer.