Battlefield touring

It feels like a long time between posts, but really it has been just over 24 hours.

Last night I went down to the Menin gate in Ypres for a ceremony that happens every night. Back in May it was the 30000th time The Last Post had been played there. There were a couple of hundred people gathered around. Throughout the ceremony nobody made a sound. This poor lady trying to get home from work happened to be wearing her clip clop shoes yesterday and everyone could hear her trying and failing to quietly make her way past.

There were 4 buglers and it sounded amazing echoing around inside the gate where 300,000 lost soldiers have their names etched. They also give a personal account of one of the lost soldiers before a wreath laying ceremony.

There was a group of about 40 grey nomads decked out in green and gold with Australia splashed across the front and back. A handful of them got up with their wreath and although everything else was touching and beautiful, the fact they looked like they were at a cricket match disappointed me a bit. They looked like someone had sent them an invite saying it was fancy dress, but they were the only ones that got that invite.

This morning I rolled out of tent around 9 after a big night of watching a movie on my phone. The tyre was flat again but I decided to just pump it up and go see some stuff.

I rode down to Hill 60 first, which was high on my list of places to see. I managed to find it fairly easily although my ride logger would suggest otherwise. My first thought was that it would make an unreal bmx track. There are craters (read: jumps) everywhere. I had intended on sneaking in there to camp one night but there is not one section of flat ground. It's pretty amazing that those scars are still there after almost 100 years. The site is preserved as a mass grave after some pretty serious mines were detonated there. One sign had an eyewitness description which I can't quite remember, but if you turn "Holy shit, holy shit, oh shit oh shit oh shit" into 2 well put together paragraphs you'll get the jist of it. The main crater, called caterpillar crater, was massive.

After that I wandered the roads for a while before coming across an eco farm that was quite possibly abandoned. I was tempted to steal some radishes but chickened out. The wifi worked so I plotted a route to Hill 62, specifically Sanctuary Wood Museum. This museum is privately owned and I should mention that everything I have seen that is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has been immaculate. Like I said, this museum was privately owned...

It was actually really cool. They had a very large collection and they had it all on display. Everything they owned. They even had a modern British transport police hat which really looked odd. Their claim to fame is the trenches which have remained as they were. I'm a bit sceptical but it was still impressive. Their real claim to fame should be the collection of amazing stereoscopic (3d) pictures taken during the war. It added a whole new dimension when compared with other wartime photos (high fives all round!).

The museum also had a large collection of uniforms, but not such a large collection of mannequins to wear them. Unless there were a lot of lady soldiers wearing fake moustaches in ww1?

After that I decided I better head back to town to get the tyre sorted so I plotted my course and... I'd pushed my luck too far and the tyre was no longer accepting air. So I was given the opportunity to push my bike a good 5km back to town. Which was actually pretty nice. Got it fixed for 11 euros so it should be good to go tomorrow.

This afternoon I rode out to Tyne Cot cemetery. It is the largest cemetery for British and Commonwealth forces from any war. It was pretty big. Absolutely beautiful. There isn't much else to say except I've probably eaten in more cemeteries than anyone else you know.

I'm tossing up whether to stick around another day or move on. I only really want to go to the museum in Ypres so I think I'll pack up in the morning. It's supposed to rain the day after too so it might  be best to ride somewhere it isn't supposed to rain. Like a desert I guess.

I'm a bit cemeteried and cratered out so I'm thinking of cutting straight across to the French coast west of Calais and following that.

So far my bum isn't sore at all. I think the cheese I've been eating has been a bit rich because my stomach has been giving me some pains . I'm going to get some veges into me tomorrow at some point before I get the scurvy. Argh matey.