I rode a Dutch bike at Netherland's Beautiful National Park Hoge Veluwe

12:32 PM

Yes, I live in Holland. No, I don't regularly bike. I am terrible at it. I am not built for this vehicle. I don't have the stamina to keep paddling. My thigh muscle will give off, and it f*cking hurt. But, since I'm going to a National Park called Hoge Veluwe , nestled in Otterlo, as big as 55 square kilometers, I have to explore it with a bike. To get there, you need to go to either Arnhem, Ede-Wageningen or Appeldoorn. From there you take two buses to arrive at the Otterlo entrance. The ticket is EUR 9,15 and it is worth every cent. My advice? Buy the ticket on the bus, alight at the Kroller Muller Museum to get the bikes. The bikes on the Otterlo entrance is usually scarce to none.

I went online to find out if their bikes have hand brakes. Nope, they do not. Typical Dutch Oma fiets does not have hand brakes; you reverse your pedal to stop. It was crazy hard to get used to, especially because the majority of bikes are tall. I needed 10 seconds extra just to get on my bike. BUT IT WAS SO FUN. My legs didn't give way. It was blissful. The landscape changes from pine trees to low bushes to freaking Savannah in which we had to recite some songs from The Lion King. I think we biked over 3 kilometers - that's a record for me. In the city, I will already get terribly lightheaded after 2 kilometers (mostly due to my kid-size bike and its low height, so it relies too much on my thigh muscles, making it sore very quickly).

I am fairly sure Indonesia has more, many more picturesque parks compared to Hoge Veluwe. I was a bit ashamed that I was giving my money to building the Dutch nature and not to my country. Determined to be better, I promise.

We had a picnic and ate cake. We did all sorts of humiliating but fun photo session. I was freaking out over walking on the perfectly mowed grass. I've never felt so peaceful in the forest. It wasn't scary. I was biking in awe of this opportunity.

However, the highlight was the visit to the Kroller Muller Museum, the second largest home of Van Gogh's painting. This museum's entry is free for Museum Card holder. I get to see Cafe Terrace at Night, the painting I've seen only on postcards. It was magical: the contrasts between colors was superbly eye twinkling. I think you can still find the same cafe in Arles now.

Van Gogh was truly one of a kind. Maybe he did suffer from some sort of mental disorder, which led to his self-mutilation and suicide; but his works are something a commoner eye cannot even imagine producing. You can gaze at them and create stories. Sounds and motions seem to come alive. Look at the tree picture below, Cypresses with Two Figures. Those trees appear to be in motion like the wind is blowing them. The sky was rolling. It was magnificent. Maybe I'm filled with too much imagination.