• JoWi On Tour
  • JoWi On Tour

Fahrradtour Schwarzes Meer

Der Weg ist das Ziel, zum Schwarzen Meer. Read more
  • Food for thought

    July 11, 2018 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    "If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse." Jim Rohn

    To get some input to my brain, I attended the International Conference in Sofia: Digital Skills & Innovation @2030 in the International Expo Center which took place today. Some good speakers make you remember to first find out what is the problem before you find a solution. And it was nice networking. And now I am too lazy to write more here ;)

    Enjoy the game... and pray for Hrvatska!
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  • Boyana spring - Rila Monestary - Plovdiv

    July 13, 2018 in Bulgaria ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    Today should have been a break day. But in the end it was three day trips in one :D Just too much too see here!

    In the Boyana District at the foot of the Vitosha mountain next to Sofia is a free water spring with drinking water. I watched for a while and was astonished how every two minutes a new pensioner walked trough the forest to the spring to fill up several 5l water bottles and to carry them away! So heavy. One old woman took a bag with rolls (in German: "Hackenporsche") to carry the weight. By asking why she takes the water from there, another old woman explained to me, it would be the best quality and would be very good for your eyes.
    So, I filled up my bottle and hoped to digest it well.

    Then, I made it to the Rila monastery (the Jerusalem of Bulgaria). Build over 8000 years ago. 60 monks still live there. It was a place that kept Bulgarian cultural thinking during the Turkish leadership in Bulgaria for several hundred years. The founder of it lived 17 years alone on a rock in the mountains and was a big role model for others... well...

    Then, I made it to Plovdiv after many more hours of driving on really bad roads. A local explained to me that it is the easiest for corruptive politicians to take money from the roads when receiving EU funding. They have the streets build it in poor quality and take the rest of the money. Would it be better to stop EU funds for streets when there's corruption? I thought long about it but would prefer to put better controls in place. There are at least streets!

    The old city of Plovdiv with all its restaurant, bars, students and artists took me into its ban.
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  • Out of comfort zone

    July 14, 2018 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Never hiked a 30km path up to 2400m and slept in a tent in the mountains? I had not - until today!

    Heavily overloaded with 4,25l of water, a tent for three, matress, sleeping bag and food for days, I hiked from the city Kalofer to Ray hut in the way to Botev peak in the afternoon. It took around 4hours.

    Luckily, there were many others doing the same, so next to the hut (that is sold out months ago) a lot of Bulgarians just camped. I was the only international. But I was quite happy about the people, so it was clear there will be no bears.

    The evening went away with a beer, a good conversation with Tanya and very strong cold winds
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  • Botev Peak (2376m)

    July 15, 2018 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    2376 m above sea level, Botev is the tallest peak in Stara Planina in the national park “Central Balkan”. "Balkan" is named by this mountain.

    After a windy night in the tent, I got up early and hiked up to the top. It got pretty foggy and the wind blew icy. The path varied from rocky climbs to a path in flower fields and was breathtaking in all meanings. It took me around 3hours to the top and then 7hours back to Kalofer. Including breaks I was hiking for 11,5 hours and unfortunately missed the path to the right valley because in the end, I followed a path to the neighboring valley. So, another walk and a hitchhike with Peter and Ivan to the city to get a cab/taxi. In a restaurant, it was impossible to find a driver even though the waitress tried, so I watched the first half of the final there, got to know some other hikers, had a beer with them and their drove me to my car during the break.

    I watched the rest of the second half with Peter and Ivan in a hut, another beer and was soo tired but happy to finally go to my apartment and only sleeeeeep.
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  • Resting day

    July 16, 2018 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Today was resting day. Doing a bit of shopping in Karlovo, driving around three hours back to Sofia, tanning an hour at a lake, bringing back the rental car, cycling 45 minutes back to the city, getting to know nice people in the hostel and joining the pub crawl.Read more

  • 7 Rila lakes

    July 17, 2018 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    "Mountains are calling - so I go" :)

    The last trip to the mountains so far, I did with others from the Hostel. It got quite foggy in the top again but was still a beautiful scenery and a small 3hours hike.

    Unnecessary knowledge:
    7 Rila lakes
    Altitude: 2.282m
    Source: German river, tributary of Struma river (wi)

    Nach einem entspannten Flug ging es direkt zum Couchsurfer Stammtisch in Sofia. Dort wurde unter anderem hebräisch gelernt, zumindest ein Wort: Lechaim (Prost) (Jo)
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  • Sofia Mish Mash

    July 19, 2018 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Life in Sofia :)

    Had a food tour. Saw a very intelligent thing to keep in mind in a traditional restaurant: They hang a second table above the first table to put more food on it. :D Best wine: Pelino
    Best spice: Rainbow salt (salt, spices, herbs)
    Most unique: Yoghurt with "lactobacillus bulgaricus", bacteria that have been found in Bulgaria.

    We also took Jos bike, exchanged the special made part with a new original and got ready to continue!
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  • Kopfschütteln

    July 20, 2018 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Endlich wieder Fahrrad fahren! ;)
    Es dauerte 11km bis zum Rand von Sofia und bis am Horizont die Berge ins Auge stachen. Heute geht es gleich bergauf Richtung Vratsa Balkan.
    Gleichzeitig machte Jos Rad hin und wieder komische Geräusche. Eine lose Speiche wurde lokalisiert. Das Hinterrad wurde vor Ort mit dem Leatherman neu abgestimmt und weiter ging's.
    Der nächste Stop war ein sehr schönes Restaurant mit angrenzendem Wasserfall und einer Höhle.
    Hier gab es mit der Bedienung Missverständnisse.
    In Bulgarien ist das Kopfschütteln genau entgegengesetzt. Bei Ja wird hier mit dem Kopf rechts-links, bei Nein oben-unten, geschüttelt, was immer wieder für Verwirrung sorgt.
    Gegenüber das Restaurants gab es die Möglichkeit im Fluss Wildwasser zu fahren. Zum Ärger von Jo werden für das Kajak-Fahren Wildwasser Skills erwartet, (was vielleicht ja auch ganz sinnvoll ist) die er aber immer noch nicht hat. Der nächste Kurs, um diese aufzubauen, startet leider erst Montag, sodass erstmal weiter gefahren werden muss.
    Nun geht es Serpentinen entlang und die Aussicht übertrifft sich an jeder Kurve selbst.
    Morgen geht's weiter in die Höhle Ledenika, die durch Eisfiguren bezaubern soll.
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  • Höhle Ledenika

    July 21, 2018 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Nach einem mauen Frühstück aus 1 Scheibe Weißbrot mit Schinken und überbackenem Käse ging es um 9 Uhr los. Die ersten 5km noch über Asphalt, wo gestern abgebrochen wurde. Anschließend ging es 13km ein Single Trail bergauf, davon wurden mindestens 8km geschoben.
    Am höchsten Punkt des Weges wurde seit sehr langer Zeit der Campingkocher ausgegraben. Wi kochte Couscous mit Bohnen, während Jo die letzten Meter zur Bergspitze lief.
    Anschließend ging es zum Glück erstmal auf einer frisch asphaltierten Straße weitestgehend bergab zur Höhle.
    Die Höhle war mit 8 Grad angenehm kühl temperiert und bot eine beeindruckende Kulisse, als ob das nicht genug wäre, wurde noch eine beeindruckende 20 minütige Lichtershow geboten.
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  • Highway to Zlatna Panega

    July 22, 2018 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Gleich nach Verlassen von Vratsa haben wir es auf die Autobahn geschafft. An dem Sonntag Morgen war wenig los und nur Pferdekutschen verboten. Irgendwie hat es auch keinen gestört. Nach 8km sind wir auf die Landstraße gewechselt.
    Mittags gab es in dem Ort nur Bars und kleine Supermärkte, so haben wir wieder selbst gekocht. Auf der Bank nebenan saßen zwei Halbstarke, die uns interessiert beobachtet haben. Verständigen war bedingt mit Händen und Füßen möglich.
    In Zlatna Panega konnten wir im Guesthouse mit Pool, für 3,5€/pro Nase, campen. Nachts gab es noch eine Überraschung von einem 0,5km entfernten Gewitter, mit >1Blitz/s. jo
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  • Bulgarian village life

    July 23, 2018 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    After a thunderstorm and strong rain in the tent, it takes us until 10am to dry our equipment. The owner of the guesthouse gives us cake and coffee for breakfast, maybe he can see our condition after this horrible night. This leads to a ride trough heat all day. We cycle up and down, up and down and up and down. Wi is quite fed up with cycling upwards. We only have one major second breakfast break and arrive at the only guesthouse in a small village that is along our way around 5pm.

    The russian-bulgarian couple that owns the guesthouse cook together with us. Our communication is hand-foot-russian-bulgarian-german-english-pantomime-based but works pretty well.

    We try pork rind with raw garlic and bring it down with Rakia which will bring us health for the rest of our lifes (Of course we believe that). Saying no to more food or alcohol is not an option. So, after three hours of eating and chatting, we're fully stacked and have unlimited power to go on. But first let's sleep. Nazdrave.
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  • Old capital

    July 25, 2018 in Bulgaria ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Today, we got an awesome breakfast that was too much to be eaten. :) The roads were good, the temperature low (26°), only one hill to overcome. Had two nice coffe and food breaks along the way and we found ourselves already in in the early afternoon in Veliko Tarnovo, the old capitol of Bulgaria until the Ottoman empire came.

    Luckily, today the famous light show took place! It elluminates the whole fortress and a big part of the city by night!

    Before that, a thunderstorm found its way to Veliko Tarnovo which was accompanied by huge amounts of rain that we had to overcome in a cosy, delicious and crowded restaurant with a fair amount of wine.
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  • Sight seeing

    July 25, 2018 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Heute ging es zur Free Walking Tour. Wir hatten einen super Guide, der uns 2 Std durch die Stadt, mit Regenschauern zwischendurch, führte.

    Für abends hatten wir ein Tisch im angeblich besten Restaurant der Stadt reserviert. Das Essen war sehr lecker und der Ausblick einzigartig.
    Morgen geht es weiter nach Ruse, wo wir wieder an die Donau stoßen und anschließend nach Rumänien einreisen wollen.

    Unnützes Wissen: Hangover
    Der Legende nach gab es, während Menschen gehängt wurden, dazu immer ein Fest mit viel Alkohol. Somit hatten die feiernden am Tag nach der Hängung einen "hangover".
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  • 'Wis Magen zurück auf Los'

    July 27, 2018 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    After yesterday we were full of positive energy. This changed during the night as wi needed to trough up several times. (We save on any further details here).
    Was something wrong with the ice cream, pizza or the beer?
    So, we stay the day in Ruse, change the room into a nice apartment, where wi sleeps 90% of the day with fever, chill and flu symptoms...

    In the evening it is already much better. Fever gone. Two plates of homemade Risotto eaten and awake a little longer.

    At least Jo could play beach volleyball with some local (unfortunately no pictures taken) and visit a football game in the evening ;)

    So we will decide what to do tomorrow!
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  • Rumänien

    July 28, 2018 in Romania ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Bis um 12 Uhr wurde auskuriert. Dann noch ein Regenschauer abgewartet und los ging's Richtung Rumänien. Die Tagestour nach Bukarest wurde auf 2 Tage aufgeteilt.
    Abends wurde gegrillt. Die Tochter von den Besitzern der Unterkunft hat darauf bestanden uns in den nächsten Ort zum Schlachter zu fahren: "Dort gebe es das beste Fleisch". Sie hatte Recht. Zum Grillen gab es noch eine frisch zubereitete original rumänische Polenta.Read more

  • Regen und Bukarest

    July 29, 2018 in Romania ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

    Los ging es bei Sonnenschein und 27 Grad. Nach der halben Etappe verfärbte sich der Himmel vor uns schwarz. Es donnerte, blitze und regnete unaufhaltsam. Die Rettung war mal wieder eine Bushaltestelle, in der wir mit ein paar lokalen Fischern mit Bier, Zigarettenrauch und Schweineschwarte, zusammen kauerten.
    Ein paar km weiter stauten sich die Autos plötzlich. Grund hierfür war eine überschwemmte Straße auf 1km Länge. Die waterproof ActionCam wurde präpariert und dann gab es kein Zurück mehr. Der Lenker musste gut festgehalten werden, um sich den gewünschten Weg durch das ungewisse bis zu 40cm tiefe Wellenmeer zu bahnen.
    In Bukarest machte Jo eine Free Walking Tour durch die Altstadt. Zu Beginn führte die Walking Tour ungewollt eine große Demo an, für welche die Polizei die Straßen sperrte. Es wurde dafür demonstriert, dass bulgarisch nicht in einigen Regionen die zweite offizielle Sprache wird.
    Ein paar Schritte später regnete es erneut über 1 Std, was aber bei der Temperatur und einer Zuflucht in einem Torbogen nicht weiter unangenehm war.

    Unnützes Wissen:
    Bukarest hat das zweitgrößte Parlamentsgebäude der Welt.
    - Betriebskosten 4.Mio Euro/Jahr
    - Baukosten 3 Mrd Euro bei 90% Fertigstellung
    - Michael Jackson war der erste, der 1992 vom Balkon winken durfte. Er hat sich mit den Worten verewigt: "so nice to be in Budapest"
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  • Moving on

    July 30, 2018 in Romania ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We decide for a bit of sightseeing and to continue already in the early afternoon.

    Parliament in a closer look is just incredible large. Almost as large as the building is also the local market.

    It takes us about 25km to leave the city and its noisy traffic. Then, the rest of the day is nonstop cycling.

    In average, every ten km, we pass a dead rotten body of a dog on the street. In Bucharest, we did not see many stray dogs. There should be still around 50.000 in the capitol and some of them using even crosswalks and traffic lights. However, in the villages outside, there are plenty of wild dogs to meet. Most of them are peaceful. Between 2013 to 2014 the law allowed to kill them. But it did not help the problem. Our host told us that today the dogs are caught and brought outside of Bucharest. The best method so far seems to be a systematic castration by the animal protection organizations. Unfortunately, this is underfunded.

    At our destination town, we head to the cheapest option (and tent is no option as rain still forecasted). Luckily, this is a hotel villa including pool and luxury interior. Good place to relax.
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  • Sickness nb. 2

    August 1, 2018 in Romania ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    After three days of incubation, now its Jos stomach that turns around. So, my educated guess is that just another norovirus had hit us. Food and water may have been allright.

    We stay at the hotel with pool for another day and night and Jo sleeps all the time.

    Wi continues writing and uses the pool.

    Not much more to tell about!
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  • Statistik

    August 1, 2018 in Romania ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Rückblick in Zahlen des dritten Monats:

    Mai| Juni| Juli

    Reisetage: 29 I 29 I 31
    davon
    Radtage: 27 I 21 I 14
    Tage Pause: 2 I 8 I 15
    km per Rad: 1.786 I 2.031 I 859
    Ø km pro Radtag: 66,1 I 96,7 I 61,3
    km per Auto: 750
    km per Zug: 200
    km zu Fuß: 100
    km per Moped: 1.104
    Max km/h: 85,66
    Min km/h: 6,0 I 3,4 I 5,0
    Camping Nächte: 10 I 9 I 3
    Warmshowers: 7 I 7 I 0
    Pensionen/Hostel: 12 I 12 I 28
    Wasserkraftwerk: 0 I 1 I 0
    Pannen: 0 I 2 I 1
    Rad upgrades: 3 I 2 I 1
    Stürze: 0 I 2 I 0
    Umfaller: 0 I 2 I 1
    Fliegen verschluckt: 4 I 0
    Fliegen im Auge: 15 I 0 I 0
    Schlangen auf dem Weg: 0 I 0 I 3
    Schutz gesucht vor Regenschauer 0 I 3 I 10
    Wi, jo

    *Max. Wert bei Unterschieden von Jo, Wi gewertet
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  • Polizei Escorte

    August 2, 2018 in Romania ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    Nach 36 Stunden Schlaf geht's endlich weiter, Jo wird langsam wieder heiter...

    Wir kamen heute zwei mal an eine nicht intakte Brücke.
    Bei der ersten waren wir gerade im Versuch die 3 fehlenden Meter zu überwinden und abzutasten, wie tief das schlammige Wasser dort war. Wir ignorierten die Zurufe Einheimische gekonnt, bis plötzlich einer hinter uns Stand und uns klar machte wir können da nicht rüber, das Wasser sei mannstief und die Strömung zu stark. Also fuhren wir einen Umweg.

    Bei der zweiten Brücke fehlte wieder ein Stück, diesmal auf beiden Seiten. Wir hatten gerade die Füße von den Pedalen genommen, als hinter uns die Polizei um die Ecke einbog. Uns war sofort klar: hier geht's wohl auch nicht rüber. Sehr hilfsbereit wollten Sie uns zur nächsten 2km entfernten Brücke escortieren und luden dazu ein sich am Auto festzuhalten, das es nicht so anstrengend sei.
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  • Hitting Danube again!

    August 3, 2018 in Romania ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    Today was hot. We had to cycel roads with heavy traffic. We are a bit terrified by the cars overtaking from the other direction and who do not bother if there are cyclists or not. That is how the dogs here must feel... Nevertheless, we managed to make it to Hardova where we hit the Danube again and can follow the EuroVelo 6 to the black sea. In the apartment we meet a nice French couple (one is already in pension) that also cycel from Vienna to Constanta. Nice to know that it can be possible with older age, too!Read more

  • Bite, ASP, mosqitos - but a good day!

    August 4, 2018 in Romania ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Worst thing today:
    Aggressive tall dog bit a hole in Jos bag (a tiny one from his tooth BUT still!) The best deescalation strategy, we experienced so far, is to stop and wait until the dogs get bored and then walk past them instead of cycling. This did not work today as Jo saw the dog too late and the dog saw Jo too late and Jo was already fully in 'the dogs territory'. So he attacked the bag. At least only the bag!

    Weirdest feeling today:
    We crossed two quarantine areas with disinfection carpets when entering and leaving villages. The police made sure that any horse, any car and anybody crossed the carpet. Reason for this is the "African svine fever"(ASP). This virus started to infect wild pigs and is an epidemic that ends mostly deadly for the animal. Infected pigs have been found in Poland, Latvia, Hungary, Ukraine and Romania in 2018. Already 45.000 pigs had to be killed on a farm nearby. Several infected pigs have been found in villages in this Romanian area. End of June 2018, infected pigs have been found in Braila itself. It's an akward feeling and a high economic risk for the pork industry. That it why officials are very alarmed and take preventive controls with the disinfection carpets.

    Best three things today:
    First, landscapes are beautiful again! Many sand dunes, lakes, animals everywhere, Danube Delta starts to show its best side. Second, we had the perfect timing to just hit the ferry to Braila. Third, we found a large and nice apartment so far and had homemade Risotto. Award for 100km tour :)

    Most unpleasant experience:
    Doing one's business in nature is one thing. But I'd not recommend to decide for a place next to stagnant water... After 10 seconds, around 200 mosquitos were all over my body. When I was looking down my leg, it was covered by mosquitos!! After a panic attack and the fastest business ever done, I fled to the bike and to the sun and after killing at least 20 mosquitos, I still was left with more than 50 stitches. Aaarg.
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  • Crossing Moldova

    August 5, 2018 in Moldova ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    What did we do in Moldova? Have a lunch snack, buy a drink (paid with Romanian lei :D), talked a tiny bit with some people in the village (hand-foot communication only)

    Why? It's a new country and on the way to Ukraine

    How long? We stayed maybe 1hour in Moldova. Would be great to explore the country. But we need to save that for one of the next holidays ;)
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