How to reach Sint-Alpaca-Rode by public transport: The nearest railway station is Pécrot which is about 1km away connected by a well-paved, stroller-friendly road. The Leuven <=> Ottignies train S20 stops at Pécrot. The nearest bus stop is Sint-Agatha-Rode Vijverstraat which is only 500m away. This is connected by the DeLijn Bus route 349 from Hermann-Debroux metro station. It runs only about once every 2 hours. The shortest route from Sint-Agatha-Rode Vijverstraat to Sint-Alpaca-Rode is through Dijlestraat which is not stroller friendly; if you have a stroller, go on Vijverstraat and turn on Rue de Rode which is only 50m extra!

Sint-Alpaca-Rode Prices per tent, per night: €75 for 2 persons (breakfast extra)

Going Camping at Tranendreef Boomtenten is something I had been wanting to go since the last 3 years. Somehow every time I plan a trip, book a tent much in advance, the day turned out to be super rainy and I ended up cancelling it time & again. Finally, I made up my mind to go here once atleast, before I bid adieu to Belgium, even if it was rainy. The weather forecast did mention rain and I was gearing up with my rainboots & raincoat and a ‘let’s do this no matter what’ attitude. Luckily, the rain turned out to be a mild drizzle for some 30 mins! Lucky me, yeah!!!

Every year Tranendreef Boomtenten is open only from May to September and the weekends (& public holidays) are the first to get filled up, pretty much as soon as they open up. There are only 4 tents available which means, unless you’re really early to book, you might miss out on weekends/holidays. They are cancellable till a week prior, so you could take some chances. I had managed to book for a weekend.

It was quite an experience to go here (more info on how to reach below), but was totally worth it. I had already visited the town for one of the top things to do in Borgloon, to see the see-through church! So I knew the way till that, train till Sint-Niklaas and then a bus to Borgloon. The key to the tent was to be collected at the Tourism Office of Borgloon located in the heart of the city. As many a time, now too the Tourism Office (where I went to get the key) was surprised that I had come there by bus. From there, the tents were located about 5km away and it was a short bus ride. 

Tranendreef Boomtenten is a true blue camping, like Druif….., where you are not provided with any facilities apart from the tent itself and the beds which are a part of the tent. It was awesome to just see the droplet-shaped tents hanging from the tree. There were ladders locked to the same trees as well. The keys were to open the tent and to unlock the ladders from the trees. 

Once I managed to unlock the ladders & fix to the tent, it was time to enter the tent. Here’s a tip, bring a bag, ideally waterproof, to hang your shoes outside the tent, because you can’t leave it on the ground, coz some insects/animals might take shelter in your shoes or it might just get wet! The tent had 2 crescent shaped beds and a little platform/shelf to keep your belongings. There are 2 large windows, one made of net and the other flexi-plastic; if it’s too cold, you can close the net window and sit have a wonderful view outside through the transparent plastic; if you need more ventilation or if it’s a warm day, the net window can be opened as well. It was slightly drizzling the night we went and was cold as well, so we had the net window closed. Should I even tell you about how pretty the rain drops looked against the transparent window. As I mentioned, this is a true blue camping experience where you’re not given anything, except the tent itself and the bed that’s attached to it. So, I had carried my sleeping bags and extra blankets.

Very soon as we drifted into the night, the rain stopped, so we headed to the campfire area. The campfire area is at the end of the passage that has the 4 tents, which also has toilets and picnic tables. The toilets here are bio toilets which means there’s no water here, but there are tissues and chemicals to decay the bodily waste and kill the smell as well. However, the sink has water, but is connected to barrels of water behind it. So, it isn’t fresh water, so don’t drink it!

We are in the wooded area and there are logs everywhere, but there are logs stored in a box beside the campfire area. The storage box also has match sticks and fire starters. Unfortunately the matchsticks had gotten wet and we couldn’t start the fire! But again, fortunately, one of the other fellow campers, had a lighter and we began the fire. Atyudarini was over joyed and we had our packed dinner (if you’re an Indian reading this, we had packed some nice Tomato rice, Veg Pulao, and Potato Bhaji/Poriyal). To sit in the middle of, what feels like a forest, and have proper Indian food with the roaring fire beside, it was absolute awesomeness. The best part, we had it all for ourselves! The drizzle earlier in the night had dampened some spirits and the other campers had already retired for the day. The entire bonfire and camping space was all ours for as long as we wanted! After spending several hours there, we too retired back in the tent, which means, shutting down the bonfire, walking a bit through the passage in the woods, climbing the ladder to our tent, zipping up the tent and staring at the sky & trees through the window!

The next morning, I woke up early to stroll around in the area. One of the walking trails of the region goes through this passage and followed it, to go via some fields and it was truly a breath of fresh air. Soon, a car came into the passage (normally, cars aren’t allowed to enter here), which would only mean 1 thing - breakfast! As I mentioned earlier, there’s an area for bonfire & picnic tables. Here, the car came and delivered the Breakfast boxes. It was a very simple breakfast of breads, fruits, yoghurt and coffee/tea. There were also some cold-cut meats which we requested not to include. That said, to eat in that area is an absolute delight. 

By 12 noon, we had to return our keys at the Borgloon Tourism Office. We could take the bus, but we wanted to walk. Actually, both these tents and the picnic area are parts of the larger-than-life art installations spread across Borgloon. Borgloon Tourism Office has a map of the many such arts in the locality. We checked out and headed to Twijfelgrens, through some gorgeous Apple Orchards, then via Doorkijkerk, to Borgloon city center to drop the keys and head by home. 

There is no running water in the premises which means you need to bring drinking water for your entire stay. Here’s what we did - when I went to Borgloon Stad to get the keys, I headed to the Carrefour Market which is about 5 mins walk from there to get a 10l water can. Yes, it isn’t too easy to carry it and walk back to the bus stop, but not too difficult too. It’s 10kg afterall!  

The tent is large! I can stand comfortably inside the tent; 3 adults or 2 adults+2 kids can sleep comfortably in the tent; it’s that large. 

Het Neerhof  Prices per tent, per night: €20 per tent spot (veggies, bread etc cost extra)

Provincie Domein HalveMaan Prices per tent, per night: €45 per hut