Day 2: Calais to Zelzate

I don't know Belgium very well but whenever I pass through I immediately know I'm there as everything turns brown (and beige and grey). Houses and cars all seem to be in tasteful but rather dull muted tones. I'm not saying that Belgium is boring, I don't know it well enough to say and there may be all kinds of crazy stuff going on behind the beige doors but aestheticaly, they're not really doing much to counter the stereotype.

The flatness of the terrain and the quality of the cycle paths made for a very pleasant but not overly exciting ride, which was probably for the best given my lack of riding in the months prior to the trip. After passing through Brugge I ended up in Zelzate, a small town north of Ghent. It's an industrial town, mainly steel and chemical factories.

The only bar in town closed at about 9.30pm so a quick beer, a short chat and an early night ensued, which probably wasn't a bad thing.