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Go East
  • Herbert E
  • Meike Grothe

Go East

Ein 175-Tage Abenteuer von Herbert & Meike Weiterlesen
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  • Go East
    Muddy trail in the morning
    And back in Slovakia on Route 66Lake Strbske PlesoSome adventure in the afternoon

    Finishing the high Tatra half circle

    1. Juli 2020 in Slowakei ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    The morning started with an enormous breakfast, sun and nice views of the Tatra mountains. What else could you wish for as a cyclist?
    We left our guesthouse and started into a great day of cycling. The first little path was a bit adventurous and we had to push the bikes through some muddy bits. Then we followed the main road along the mountain range and Tatra National Park. We were happy we were here on a weekday. I can imagine it's very busy with tourists on weekends.
    The road led back into Slovakia, went around the Tatra on the East side and then turned West along the South side of the Tatra. We had to climb a lot, but with a steady elevation gain and spectacular nature it felt really easy. Plus, we also had some nice downhills.
    As we had some time left in the afternoon, we decided to do a little detour to Lake Strbske Pleso which was the highest point of our Europe trip so far. From here, we only had to roll downhill to Svit where we were welcomed by Tom and Luba, our warmshowers hosts. They also had to cut their Panamericana trip short because of Covid, so we had lots to talk about.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    Tom and Luba with their very friendly dogs Lolo and Phoebe
    View from the top of the lower Tatra1Ready for the final downhillCheers to a great day of riding

    Crossing the lower Tatra

    2. Juli 2020 in Slowakei ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    It rained when we woke up, so we didn't hurry to get on the bikes. Instead, we had a long breakfast with Tom and Luba and waited for the weather to clear up. We left around 10:30am and were lucky all day: no rain :)
    However, the trails were wet and muddy, so some sections turned out to be a bit of an adventure. Overall, we had a beautiful ride again. We cycled South towards Central Slovakia, mainly through some valleys, and climbed up the lower Tatra range. The downhill to the next valley was epic although we had to watch out for gravel and wet pavement in the turns. Before we reached our campground for the night, we had another steep climb over the next mountain range followed by an adventurous downhill on a grass trail. Exhausted but happy we enjoyed our beer after another great day of riding and exploring. Our German neighbours, Steven and Zivile, later invited us over and we spend a long night exchanging travel stories.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    First climb today
    Mud adventure1Downhill on MTB trailsPass no. 2Lunchbreak to wait for the rain to stopA stork's nest next to the road

    More mud adventures

    3. Juli 2020 in Slowakei ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Our ride started with a rolling climb on a small paved bike path. At the top, we were looking forward to a fast downhill, but were surprised by a changed surface: Lots of mud and grass and rocks and very steep. Probably fun on a proper MTB, but difficult with our pannier setup and no suspensions at all. However, it's an adventure and we are not in a hurry! Sometimes it's quite interesting and always a surprise, what route komoot has chosen for us 😉
    Once down in the valley, we had to climb again. 500m of elevation gain on a normal road and we got to the top of the pass. This time, the downhill was easier and really long, around 35km. The first part was a road in a pretty bad condition, so we had to navigate around heaps of potholes. We had to stop in some village to wait out the rain, but timed it perfectly with our lunchbreak. Then the road got smoother and we rolled easily along a small river.
    One last climb, some more descending on remote roads through a poorer region of Slovakia and we arrived at a campground at a lake. Not really our type of campground, but at least they have hot showers.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    2River crossing
    Lots of mud againBike washWelcome in Hungary in Norbert, Greta, Agós

    First impressions of Hungary

    4. Juli 2020 in Ungarn ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    It rained during the night, but stopped again in the morning, so we were lucky. We left the campground and headed in a Northeastern direction. Instead of going straight to Hungary, we wanted to stay in Slovakia a little bit longer.
    Soon, we went on one of these trails again... Difficult to see in the grass and very muddy due to all the rain. It was great fun riding as we had to use some technical skills especially for river and puddle crossings. But at the same time it was very strenuous because we also had to push through some mud sections. It took us quite a while to clean up the bikes and shoes afterwards to be able to continue the ride.
    The South of Slovakia appears to be considerably poorer than the North. Also, there's more people with darker skin colour and town names are written in 2 languages, Slowak and Hungarian. You can also see some German on advertisements.
    At some point, we reached a Slovakian village where we had our lunch stop at a supermarket. Here, we decided to cut our day shorter than originally planned. We found cheap accommodation on the Hungarian side, so decided to cross straight away. We almost missed the border sign which was hidden behind a tree.
    At our guesthouse, we received a Hungarian welcome. During the check-in, we had to drink a beer and a Palinka that the owner offered us. Next, some other guests invited us to their bbq where we had to drink more Palinka. Then, some friends of the owner as well as another cyclist group arrived. We had really fun night with everyone even ending up in a local pub to play some fussball. I guess it's gonna be fun with the Hungarians 😉    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    1Lake Josvafoi
    Jist before entering the forest2Hike your bikeLake RudabanyaHundreds of storksPeacocks at our campground

    Hungarian single trails

    5. Juli 2020 in Ungarn ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We were a bit tired from last night, but didn't have time to think about it. After a short downhill from the guesthouse and a little detour to a nearby lake, komoot sent us into the forest again. And this time, I think it mistook our means of transport. The trail was more a hiking trail but everything else, so we had to push our bikes a lot. At some section, we even had to push one bike with the two of us. We were covered in sweat and flies and insects trying to fly into our eyes and ears weren't helping either. It was exhausting, but a good adventure.
    Next, we went to a beautiful lake, Agós, the hotel owner from last night, had recommended. As it was lunchtime and we were hungry, we had some food there as well.
    Afterwards, we could get some distance covered. We passed very remote villages and were surprised by the poor standards of some of the houses. The nature though was nice with hills and forest. We also passed a field full of storks before starting a final climb of 500m elevation gain along a canyon road to our campground.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    Morning forest road
    EgerValley of the beautiful womanRelaxing in the mineral spa

    Relaxing at a seniors club bath

    6. Juli 2020 in Ungarn ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Before leaving the campground, we talked to our tent neighbour. He was interested in our trip as he organises long distance bike trips in Europe (such as St. Petersburg to Gibraltar) as a business. He can't work at the moment because of existing travel restrictions, so instead he is taking his wife and 2 little kids for camping and hiking trips.
    Our bike day started with a beautiful hilly road through the forest. It had uncountable turns and almost no cars, so we really enjoyed it, especially the final downhill into Eger. The city centre of Eger is very picturesque, a castle, some nice churches, old buildings, small streets and lots of restaurants and cafés.
    The Hungarians we had talked to so far, all recommended "Egri bikavér" (which translates into bull blood), a red wine very famous for the region. So we went to a place called "Valley of the beautiful woman". It's a park in Eger with 50 wine cellars. We sat down at one and tried the bikavér and its white equivalent.
    Here, we also decided to have an easy day. We booked a guesthouse nearby and used the afternoon for laundry and bike maintenance. Furthermore, we went to a mineral bath, as the region here is very famous for it. Not much to do here but sit and relax in the hot sulphur pools, but good for our legs for sure. We ended the day with a yoga session in our room, so we are totally ready to sleep now 😉    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    Mud adventure today 😏
    Lake TiszaLunch breakTownhall in KisújszállásOur hosts Elena and Gabriel

    A tailwind day

    7. Juli 2020 in Ungarn ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    After over 35°C yesterday, it rained all night and temperature dropped by about 15°C. So once it had stopped raining, it was actually nice weather for cycling.
    Last night, we had planned a nice route off the main roads. However, when we turned onto the gravel roads, we found out that the gravel was disgustingly sticky mud after a night of heavy rain. After only about 500m, my tyres blocked completely and I had to push/pull my bike further. Shortly after, we had to cross a river which allowed us to wash the bikes so we could continue riding.
    Unfortunately, this forced us to take paved roads for the rest of the day which are relatively busy in this part of Hungary. However, we could still enjoy riding on a bike path along Lake Tisza where we saw lots of other bikers as well as fishermen. We also passed heaps of sunflower fields which looked nice in today's light.
    A flat region and tailwinds all day got us quickly to Elena and Gabriel, our warmshowers hosts in Kisújszállás. We enjoyed a Ukrainian dish, local wine and a home made Palinka over an interesting exchange about different cultures.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    Cycling along a river
    Lots of storks' nest with the young onesBorder crossing to Romanian - there was even a bike path acrossImpressions of Oradea

    Leaving Schengen into Romania

    9. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    After another traditional Ukrainian meal for breakfast, we left Gabriel's and Elena's place. We cycled through the Southeast of Hungary which is completely flat. For the first 40km, we were faced by headwinds. Afterwards, we got more lucky and the winds pushed from behind.
    In this region, there's small rivers and lakes and lots of plains for birdwatching. We saw uncountable storks, some young ones tried their first steps or even flying.
    Before leaving Hungary, we wanted to eat some Gulasch. But as we couldn't find a Hungarian restaurant, we ate pizza instead.
    Then we crossed into Romania. Our first country outside of the Schengen area on this trip, but everything went smoothly. We cycled into Oradea where we can stay with our hosts Alin and Jo. We went for a walk around in the city which is quite beautiful. Obviously, the mayor is keen on having all the old impressive buildings renovated.
    Alin and Jo gave us many recommendations about what to see in Romania. It's gonna be a challenge fitting everything into our route 😉    Weiterlesen

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    Romanian farm experience

    9. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Alin and Jo told us about Glavoi, a nice campsite in the mountains, so that's where we are heading to now. And lucky us, Jo comes from a village half way, so we can stay at her mum's. And as her mum doesn't speak any English, Jo decided to stay a night in her family home :)
    So our destination today was Feneriş. On the way, komoot sent us along some interesting "paved" roads and through remote villages. Sometimes, we felt like being in Latin America again, as we passed people on horse carts, people with their herds of sheep, laundry hung up on the garden fence and people sitting around watching what's happening on the street.
    At Jo's mum, we were given a warm welcome with a yummy traditional meal out of products from the farm. We also played with the cats, watched the baby chickens, baby ducks and the baby cow and learned about the hard farm life. Jo took us for a walk to a nearby lake where we passed the vegetable garden, the orchard, and corn and wheat fields. From their backyard, we also had a beautiful view of the mountains that we are going to climb tomorrow.    Weiterlesen

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    Breakfast at the farm
    Valley road1Wild camping spot in Romania 🤔

    Wild camping in Romania

    10. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Jo prepared a huge breakfast of eggs, bacon, salad and homemade bread for us before we left. The first part was easy as we cycled through a bigger valley and passed some villages. After 31km, we had a short stop to fill up some calories as we knew we now had to climb 850m in on 18km. The road, however, was stunning. We rode next to a river and through a canyon before the real serpentines started.
    Once we got to the top, we turned onto a gravel road to reach our campspot. We were a bit overwhelmed what Romanians understand of the term "wild camping". There were hundreds of people, cars, caravans and even some shops. We bought some food, went for a little walk to a nearby valley and waited for Alin, Jo and their friends to arrived. They only got here quite late when we were already tired, so we only had a short talk. While they are going to go hiking tomorrow, we will continue our journey North to search for a place with less people!    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East

    Transilvanian gravel roads

    11. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We left the "wild campspot" early to escape the masses. Our ride today was exhausting, but really beautiful. It was a mix of asphalt and gravel on very remote roads. We only passed some tiny villages and were happy to find a store that sells the nonalcoholic Radler that we drink most of the days to fill up on calories in the heat.
    We were going to stay at a little campground tonight, but they had a private event this weekend and were therefore closed to the public. Instead, we got a room in a nearby guesthouse, but are already missing the outdoors.
    Overall, we really enjoy biking in Romania. The landscape is great, we find a good mix of adventurous trails and remote paved roads and people are amazingly friendly. Many start chatting to us on the road and the majority of them speaks at least a little English, some even German. Even the shepherds talk to us, although this is mainly sign languages due to our still missing Romanian language skills.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    Rain gear time
    Lunch stop1One of the wooden churches here in the region

    It sometimes rains in Transilvania

    12. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    What a temperature drop! After over 35°C yesterday, we woke up with about 15°C. And it didn't take long until we had to put on our rain gear in front of a typical coffee shop/bar. In order to warm up, we had a coffee when the shop opened at 9:30am. The locals, however, were eagerly waiting to get their first beer... Unfortunately, it didn't stop raining all day, so our lunch stop was in a bus stop, as it had a bench under a roof.
    The landscape looked pretty grey in general today, so it wasn't picturesque at all. We passed uncountable churches, so very bright, so you could see them in a distance, some of an old wooden architecture.
    There's also lots of stray dogs in Romania, similar to Central America. A couple of them chased us. One overestimated himself and jumped straight into Herbert's rear panniers when going for his leg. When I passed shortly after he was totally scared of the bicycle and didn't even dare to bark 😂
    We found a really cute campground for the night. Our neighbour seems to be a good guitar player, so we can relax and listen to some music.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    Baia Mare
    Old mosaic style house as a contrast to the huge mansion next doorLooking back to the valley we came fromRiver Theiß separating Romania and UkraineBackyard camping

    A look over the Ukrainian border

    13. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    When we got up, it was sunny again. Sweet! First, we cycled to Baia Mare and enjoyed a coffee in the historic center of the town. Then we headed towards the Ukrainian border while struggling with some nasty headwinds. The road was quite busy, so cycling in general wasn't that much fun.
    The villages in Northern Romania are interesting. We expected old little Romanian style houses. Instead, most of the properties were huge, like mansions. The region in general was nice, some mountains, lots of forest and vineyards.
    We reached the river Theiß which forms the border between Romania and Ukraine. As Ukraine is still closed for tourists due to Corona, we won't be able to pass, but we could at least look over to the other side.
    Many people in this region offer there backyards for tourists to camp for a small amount of money. So that's where we are camping tonight.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    The Cheerful Cemetery
    GravestonesBarsana MonasteryFixing Herbert's tyre again...

    A cheerful cemetery

    14. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Our first attraction today was a visit of the "Cheerful Cemetery". It's basically a cemetery, but a little bit different than others. Every dead person receives a wooden gravestone picturing the reason for the death. There's also a very short funny story under each picture. But as it was in Romanian, we couldn't understand it.
    Afterwards, we first cycled some kilometres on a busy main road passing some communist monuments before we could turn into a smaller valley road. The valley itself was very nice. Beautiful landscape and uncountable churches and monasteries. We stopped at Barsana Monastery, a real gem that reminded us of the monasteries in Nepal. We also had our lunchstop here and tried some Romanian fast food which tasted good.
    Today's ride itself was really slow. We had to go continuously uphill, were confronted with a slight headwind and the road conditions were bad. Overall, no good conditions for a fast day. In the end, Herbert even got a flat rear tyre again (the first on the European part of our trip). The quick fix at the side of the road wasn't too stable, so we had to stop every 20 minutes to pump it up again. However, we made it to another backyard campsite where Herbert could properly repair it.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    Horses Waterfall
    1Valley view11Dinner on the swing

    Too lazy for biking, let's go hiking

    15. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    We had some big plans for today: Climb a lot, see a waterfall, cycle some more... But then, things changed. We climbed a bit and looked for a place to lock the bikes while hiking to the waterfall. While considering if the place was safe enough, we decided, we may as well book a guesthouse, leave the bikes there and go for a longer hike.
    We found a nice one right behind us and went for a hike. First, we walked to the waterfall which is the biggest in Romania with 90m. From here, we climbed higher to have a nice view over the valley and the Capartian mountains. At the top, we saw lots of horses. Maybe that's why the waterfall is called "Horses Waterfall"?!
    We hiked back into the valley, stopped at a café, went grocery shopping, did a short yoga session outdoors and cooked a nice potato dish for dinner which we enjoyed on the swing with mountain view.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    Climbing uphill
    Prislop Pass - first one done for the dayBeautiful downhill ahead of usCommon ornaments on the houses in this region

    A very long downhill ride

    16. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    15km of consistent climbing followed by a 50km downhill - that's how we like it! In general, it was pretty cold today. We are really surprised by our European summer. However, for cycling, it's actually not too bad as we don't sweat as much as in Central America 😉
    Overall, the day was uneventful. After the downhill, we climbed another smaller pass followed by another downhill. As roads were smooth, we arrived early in the village where we wanted to stay the night. We looked for some backyard camping again. But as we couldn't find any, we stayed in a guesthouse. Actually a lucky move, as shortly after we were in the house, there was a huge storm outside and it looked like the world's end. At least we stayed dry.
    In this region, the houses look different again. After the mosaic ornaments in the West and wood carvings in the Theiß valley, the houses now have some kind of mosaic stripes and flowers pictures on them.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    View at the top of Trans-Rarau road
    Little bridges connecting some properties with the main roadLunch break with a storm coming up1Lake Bicaz and evening view from our campsite

    Trans-Rarau

    17. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    A new day, a new climb. This time, a bit steeper than yesterday. The road we took is called "Trans-Rarau" and the views are stunning! We cycled 600m uphill in under 1h30m and as there was a little coffee shop, we decided we deserved a coffee and a pastry at the top.
    The downhill was great fun! In less than 15min on a steep, tiny, curvy road we were back at the elevation where we started.
    The next 70km or so were very scenic. The road took us along a river with high foresty mountains on both sides. We saw many houses that are only reachable via small wooden bridges. People were also very friendly. Kids ran towards us to give us a "high 5", an elderly lady sent us some air kisses and people shouted "Drum bun" (= safe trip).
    We stopped on one of those bridges for lunch and really had to hurry afterwards, in order to avoid getting drowned. We always saw the dark clouds around us, but managed to escape until the very end. 2 minutes before we reached the campground it started raining. Luckily, the campground had some kind of an indoor space. So we could cook dinner while waiting out the heavy rain. Later, it even cleared up, so we could see the nearby mountains and go for a little walk before going to sleep.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    Morning in the fog
    Cycling on the hiking trailsAbove the cloudsClimbing the second pass of the day on a nice valley road1At the top of the second pass1Campspot for the night

    4000km through Europe

    18. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    As expected, we were surrounded by fog in the morning. So we packed up our wet tent, had breakfast and hit the road. Soon, we arrived at the National Park entrance as we had taken a wrong turn. A ranger stopped us and told us we had to go back down again to get on the main road as it wouldn't be possible to cycle the trails by bike. Herbert convinced him that we can do those few hundred meters with our bikes, so the ranger let us pass with a smile on his face. Of course, this led into us pushing the bike through mud. At one section, we even had to push each bike with the two of us. But hey - we made it to the main road again without having to go back down first 😁
    The main road was actually a dirt road, so climbing was exhausting and slow. But soon, we reached an altitude above the clouds which looked awesome. Plus, there were only few cars on it, so the ride was very enjoyable.
    After some 20km, we started the descent until we reached the town of Biscaz. From here, we had to go on a busy main road before turning into a smaller valley. This was pretty cool again. Almost no cars, great landscape and a river next to the road. We had to climb on gravel again, so hard work, but the view from the top was well worth it. We decided to stop to eat something and dry our tent.
    After the climb, we could descent again. We also looked for a wild camping spot for the night. There were a few, but as it was still relatively early, we always decided to go on. When it was actually getting later and we did need a campspot, there was none anymore. Neither a campground nor a guesthouse. We checked some apps and found an indicated place about 25km and 400m of elevation gain away from us. As we didn't have much other options, we went for it and ended up on a ridge with a 360 degree view in the middle of colorful wild flowers. It could definitely be worse! 😉
    We also realized that we have already cycled more than 4000km since being back in Europe.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    Breakfast at Miercurea Ciuc
    View of the volcanoOur tarp construction to stay drySanta Ana Crater LakeFound a roof to cook dinner and stay dry

    Rainy ride

    19. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    When we woke up, it was raining. So we stayed a bit longer in the tent. Once it stopped, we quickly packed up and descended to Miercurea Ciuc where we had our breakfast in the town center.
    As soon as we finished our breakfast, it started raining again. So we had to continue our ride with full rain gear on. Our destination was Santa Ana Lake, the only crater lake in Romania. We could already see the volcano from the valley when we had a short bright moment.
    After we passed the tourist village of Tusnad, the climb to the rim of the Crater started. As well as the really bad rain. We had to stop twice in order to hide under our tarp as the rain was too heavy to continue cycling. Finally, we reached the crater lake, a beautiful spot even in the rain. Unfortunately, we didn't see any bears. They probably hide in the rain as well.
    There was a campground at the rim of the lake. The weather wasn't really inviting to camp, but it was late already and more cycling in heavy rain didn't appeal to us either. Plus, the guard was really nice, gave us a discount and promised to fire the oven so we could have a hot shower (I think he felt pity for us soaked cyclists).
    We bought some Langos at the food stall and cooked dinner before we had a short window to pitch the tent. After the best hot shower ever, we directly went into our sleeping bags to hide from the nasty rain again.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    Rainy road down the volcano
    A glimpse of the valley we came from yesterdayRiding into the next stormAt the top of the pass (National Park Vrancea)Finally clearing up a little during the descentOur guesthouse with all our stuff hanging at the balcony

    Missing gene

    20. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    It rained all night, so we woke up quite often from the noise of the rain on the tent. In the morning, we had a short dry window to pack the tent, have breakfast and leave the campground.
    Then it started raining again. Today, we didn't even try to find shelter as we knew it would rain most of the day anyways, so no point trying to avoid it. It seems like we are missing a gene that keeps people and animals from leaving their warm shelter when the weather outside is bad 😂
    However, we wouldn't get to see this much if we had that gene. We first descended down the volcano on a nice and curvy valley road. After about 40km, we stopped for a coffee and a second breakfast. It didn't rain at this moment and we didn't want to be hungry when we had to climb up a mountain in the rain again (which we already saw ahead of us).
    Going uphill was quite tough, heavy rain and all rain clothes on with an elevation gain of 9-10%. We felt like in a glasshouse. At the top, it had cleared up a little, but it was still raining during the descent. So we were really cold.
    BUT good we don't have the "stay-at-home-gene", as we saw a mother bear with her cub walking right next to the road. She disappeared quickly into the woods when she saw us, so unfortunately, we couldn't take a photo. The downhill was fun and we easily rolled into the next valley.
    As we were cold, we decided to stay in a guesthouse instead of camping tonight and also found one after a bit of searching. We must have looked pretty miserable. The receptionist brought us a hot tea and one of the other guests invited us for a beer afterwards. When the sun finally came out, we warmed up and could also dry our clothes.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    Breakfast with the sun
    Waterfall and mountain viewGoats crossing and our stop at the river SiretGetting fresh water4Mysterious castle housesOur wild camp spot

    Little detour

    21. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    As the Republic of Moldova is still closed for tourism, we decided to do a little detour to the Danube delta at the Black Sea. Furthermore, the weather at the sea is usually better 😉
    But this morning, we couldn't complain as the day welcomed us with sunshine. What a difference! Our route was really scenic, lots of short climbs followed by downhills. We stopped at a waterfall, cycled on a beautiful remote dirt road, followed a couple of rivers and canyons.
    And after about 50km, everything was suddenly flat and we were in the plains of Moldova, the Romanian province that has the same name as the country. This part appears to be very poor with lots of rundown houses along the road.
    As it was pretty hot (we are almost at sea level again), we decided to have a long afternoon stop at a river. We cooked dinner and went for a bath until it was about 6pm. Then we wanted to continue cycling for 2 more hours and look for a wild campspot. But first, we had to fill up water. In Romania, many people cannot drink the water from the tab. That's why they have fountains in the villages. Good for us as we can fill up our water bottles there as well. The locals were really friendly and helped us pulling up the bucket with the wheel. Cycling in this area was fun. People shouted and kids cheered.
    Then we had to go on a main road for a few kilometers which was terrible due to the traffic. When we finally reached our turn, we were totally surprised. The street we took was full of castle-like houses and heaps of families in traditional dresses sitting in front. We have to spend some time finding out what that was... A few kilometers later, we found a spot to camp. Not as scenic as the last one, but hopefully quiet to catch some sleep.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    Sunrise on the road
    Crossing the Danube River by ferry1The French guy pushing his wife's bicycleNice lake for fishing, but unfortunately not for swimmingMoldova on the other side of the riverTulcea

    On the Eurovelo 6 again

    22. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Did I say everything is flat here in this region? Today, we had to climb a total of 1150m. And the highest "peak" was only 160m above sea level. So you can imagine how many hills we had to climb in order to reach the total... In sum, it was a pretty exhausting, rolling section today.
    As we expected this, we were on the road by 5:45am and could even admire the sunrise. Morning hours are the best as they are still cool and the colours are beautiful. After almost 60km, we arrived at the Danube river and the Eurovelo 6 again which we left about a month ago. As there's no bridges at this part of the river anymore, we had to cross by ferry.
    On the way, we met a French couple who were also biketouring. On the picture below you can see the guy pushing both loaded bikes up a hill while the woman is walking behind. (I'm doing something wrong, Herbert nevers pushes my bike...)
    We checked out a lake for some wild camping option. But it didn't look inviting for a swim, so we decided to continue. A day like today without a shower or bath in fresh water was no option. We followed the road along the Danube river which, in this part, forms the border between Ukraine and Romania.
    We arrived in Tulcea, a pretty ugly city in general. It's a tourist base for tours in the Danube delta, so at least the harbour is quite busy and kind of pretty. Here, we found a campground with a shower and a washing machine.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East

    Arrival at the Danube Delta

    23. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    After two long days, we had a short one today. We cycled to Murighiol from where we want to take a boat trip in the delta area. It was a little cloudy, so the temperature was ok. The landscape here is relatively flat, some small hills and few villages. Nothing too special.
    We found a nice private campground for the night, relaxed and went for a ride around the village and to the harbour. Herbert also did some bike maintenance.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    2
    1Pelican starting his flightSpot the frog 😉1

    Exploring the Danube Delta

    24. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Our boat trip in the Danube delta started at 6am. It's definitely the best time to see the animals. We had booked a 3 hour tour around some lakes with our campground hosts and it was absolutely fantastic! Apart from white pelicans, cormorants, a couple of eagles and kingfisher, we saw thousands of other birds. It was very impressive. Furthermore, we could observe frogs and snakes and the local fishermen. Our captain knows the area very well, so he took all the shortcuts through the high reeds which was fun. What a great experience altogether, the detour was definitely worth it!
    After we got back to the campground, we had a second breakfast and took off. We had a lunch break in a small village and as it was still early, we continued to a campground in Jurilovca. Here, we had a look at the harbour where the boats leave to bring the tourists across the lake to the Black Sea. Afterwards, we decided to give ourselves a treat and went to a restaurant for dinner. We ordered fish for the taste and pizza for the calories and tried the local wine. Before going to bed, we cycled to a nearby cape to see the sunset and had a beer with our camp neighbours, a Belgium couple with 3 kids.    Weiterlesen

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  • Go East
    Breakfast stop at a minimarket
    Lunch stop at the Danube riverCrossing the Danube via a toll bridge (free for cyclists)Horse cart parked in front of the bar1Camping on a field while the farmer worked it

    Flat spinning

    25. Juli 2020 in Rumänien ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Enough time spent in the coastal area, it's time to get back to the mountains! Looking forward to a mosquito - free time again 😉
    We knew we had a long day ahead of us, so we left at 6:30am without breakfast. In Romania, almost every village, no matter how small, has a minimarket. They usually have tables, chairs and an umbrella for sun or rain protection. As the Romanians can't live without coffee, any store has a coffee machine where you can get pretty decent coffee for less than 1€. So that's where we had our breakfast stop after 25km.
    The next 80km were easy as the wind was in favor of us blowing strongly from Eastern directions. And as we could take mainly back roads, we didn't see many cars at all.
    At about 2pm, we arrived at the Danube River again. We went to a wild campspot indicated in one of our apps. The place was nice - theoretically - right at the Danube, shade from the trees and a hot spring for a bath. However, the Romanians love camping and it's Saturday, so the place was totally overcrowded and dirty. Too many people sadly leave their rubbish behind 😢
    We decided to go a bit further along the shore and found a quieter spot where we cooked lunch, went for a swim and relaxed for a while. There was a group of families camping next to us and they had a karaoke machine, so we were entertained.
    We could have camped here, but felt fresh after the bath and the food. Plus, the wind was still good for our direction. That's why we decided to go further and look for another wild campspot. In one of the villages, we saw people coming to the bar by horse cart. We've seen this before and could finally take a picture of the parked "car".
    Finding a place to camp was difficult, as everything is dead flat in this area and there's only very few trees or bushes. At some stage, we saw some grass and bushes and decided to pitch the tent there. 5 minutes later, the farmer and his 2 sons came with a tractor to work on the fields. We were worried, we had to find another campsite, but the farmers were super friendly and told us that it was no problem at all camping on their field. They were even interested in our trip and we had a fun conversation in sign language.    Weiterlesen

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