ASIANOVERLAND.NET KATHMANDU TO LONDON  DAY 164/76: AMSTERDAM TO OSTEND, BELGIUM

2 December, 1980

After another huge night in Amsterdam, the punters are all a bit hazy, so we stay on-site at our illegal camping ground at Central Station, Amsterdam, for the punters to have loo stops and wash at the free railway station facilities. We then drive back through Utrecht and Oostveen to Belgium, part of the Low Countries, which includes the current Benelux group of states and parts of northern France and western Germany.

Belgium’s name is a Latin word used in Julius Caesar's "Gallic Wars", to describe the region in 55 BCE.

From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, Belgium was a prosperous and cosmopolitan centre of commerce and culture. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, Belgium served as the battleground for many European powers, earning the title the "Battlefield of Europe", a reputation strengthened by both world wars. The country emerged in 1830 following the Belgian Revolution, when it seceded from the Netherlands.

We travel through Antwerp, the capital of Antwerp province in the Dutch-speaking Flemish Region, which comprises about 60% of the Belgium population (the remaining 40% is largely French-speaking. Antwerp is on the River Scheldt, linked to the North Sea by the river's estuary. It is about 40 kilometres north of Brussels, and about 15 kilometres south of the Dutch border.

The Port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in Europe. The city is also known for its diamond industry and trade.

Both economically and culturally, Antwerp is and has long been an important city in the Low Countries, especially before and during the Spanish Fury (1576) and throughout and after the subsequent Dutch Revolt. The Bourse of Antwerp, originally built in 1531 and re-built in 1872, was the world's first purpose-built commodity exchange, founded before stocks and shares existed,

We head to Ostend, for our ferry departure across the English Channel. Ostend occupies a strategic position on the North Sea coast, and had major advantages as a harbour but also proved to be a source of invasions. The town was frequently taken, ravaged, ransacked and destroyed by conquering armies.  The Siege of Ostend, 1601 to 1604, was summarised as "the Spanish assailed the unassailable and the Dutch defended the indefensible", and cost a more than 80,000 dead or wounded, making it the single bloodiest battle of the Eighty Years' War. This shocking event set in motion negotiations that led to a truce several years later. When the truce broke down, it became a Dunkirker base during the Dutch Revolt (1568–1648), for Dunkirk commerce raiders in the service of the Spanish monarchy.

After this era, Ostend was turned into a harbour of some importance. In 1722, the Dutch again closed off the entrance to the world's biggest harbour of Antwerp. Ostend rose in importance because the town provided an alternative exit to the sea. The Belgium area had become part of the Austrian Empire, and the Austrian Emperor granted the town the trade monopoly with Africa and the Far-East. The Oostendse Compagnie (Ostend trade company) was allowed to found colonies overseas. However, in 1727 the Oostendse Compagnie was forced to stop its activities because of Dutch and British pressure. The Netherlands and Britain would not allow competitors on the international trade level. Both nations regarded international trade as "their" privilege.

Armed with ferry tickets for the English Channel crossing, we share a final dinner and some Belgium beers on our last night on the Continent.

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